The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Viviane Barci de Moraes, the wife of Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, escalating a confrontation over the judge’s handling of cases against former president Jair Bolsonaro, Politico reported.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Justice de Moraes of leading a campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions and politicized prosecutions and said Washington would continue to target anyone providing him material support.
The measures bar U.S. persons from transacting with de Moraes’s wife and further restrict any family assets under U.S. jurisdiction, according to Politico.
Brazil’s government condemned the move as “undue interference” and a politicization of the Global Magnitsky sanctions law, while large street protests over efforts to shield Bolsonaro and his allies underscored the country’s tensions.
Separately, the State Department moved to revoke visas for several current and former Brazilian judicial officials and immediate family members, a U.S. official told Politico.
The steps follow months of criticism from U.S. officials of de Moraes’s role in Bolsonaro-related prosecutions and come amid heightened bilateral strains after Bolsonaro’s conviction. Politico noted the actions deepen the administration’s broader campaign to penalize those it says are involved in human rights abuses and attacks on free expression in Brazil.
Read more at Politico