In March, Marcos do Val challenged Moraes to take a diplomatic passport: 'Cowardly thing to do'

In March of this year, Senator Marcos do Val (Podemos-ES) challenged Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after having his passports frozen by order of the court. During a speech from the Senate floor, do Val called the decision "cowardly" and mocked Moraes' authority.

"Come, Minister, and take my passport. Suspending it is a coward's act. Come here and take it from me," he said. The provocation came after the First Chamber of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) unanimously rejected an appeal filed against the seizure of his ordinary and diplomatic passports.

The senator stated that the action had been taken by the Senate's legal department, not by him personally, and questioned the legality of the process: "What process am I responding to? I don't know."

Even with the Supreme Court's order to withhold his passports, the senator traveled to the United States during the parliamentary recess. The Federal Police had searched his residence for the documents, but were unsuccessful.

Shortly after the trip was revealed, Do Val appeared on a livestream from Disneyland in Florida, claiming to be on vacation with his family: "My daughter is on vacation and we're on parliamentary recess." During the broadcast, the senator displayed several passports, including a diplomatic passport, a Brazilian civil passport, a European passport, and two American passports.

He also denied that he was fleeing and claimed to have informed the authorities about the trip, citing the Federal Police, the Ministry of Justice, the President of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), and Minister Alexandre de Moraes himself.

Do Val also defended his right to a diplomatic passport, arguing that the law guarantees this benefit while he is in office: "If I'm in office, I could have committed a crime, but I haven't been tried and convicted yet. The law guarantees me that I still have the passport."

In response to the trip, Moraes ordered the blocking of bank accounts , Pix keys and cards registered in the senator's name.