Brazil’s Supreme Court is facing its most serious crisis since the return of democracy in the 1980s, as two high-profile judges, Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça, have engaged in a public feud just weeks before the presidential election. The conflict intensified during a livestreamed hearing, where Moraes accused Mendonça of being aligned with a political group that attempted a coup. Mendonça denied the claim, calling it a lie. Another judge, Gilmar Mendes, criticized Mendonça for using the court’s authority to create political chaos and influence the October election. Mendonça, in turn, warned Mendes to respect the court, while Mendes argued that respect must be earned, not given. This courtroom drama is widely seen as a reflection of the broader political battle between left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. Moraes, appointed by former right-wing president Michel Temer, has a complicated relationship with Lula. He previously led the prosecution of Flávio Bolsonaro’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, for attempting a failed coup after losing the 2022 election. Meanwhile, Mendonça was appointed during Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency and is viewed by critics as a supporter of the ex-president, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence for his failed attempt to seize power. With less than three weeks until the election, the conflict between the judges has been compounded by the unfolding of Brazil’s largest banking scandal, involving Banco Master. The scandal began last November with the arrest of Daniel Vorcaro, the bank’s owner, who was about to board a private jet to Malta. Investigations have revealed links between Vorcaro and high-profile figures in Brazil’s political and judicial circles, including Flávio Bolsonaro and Moraes. Other members of the Supreme Court and their relatives have also been linked to Vorcaro. Mendonça has been accused of prioritizing the investigation into Moraes while slowing down the inquiry into Vorcaro’s connections to the Bolsonaros and the banker’s funding of a film about Jair Bolsonaro. Earlier this month, Mendonça released a controversial police dossier that included WhatsApp messages between Vorcaro and Moraes, as well as a $25 million contract between Banco Master and the law firm of Moraes’s wife. In one message, Vorcaro asked Moraes if he thought he needed to flee the country before his arrest. Moraes has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated "criminal lies" and blaming right-wing forces behind the January 2023 riots in Brasília. He also suggested that the attacks might have involved foreign actors trying to interfere in Brazil’s election. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court met in Brasília to decide whether to open an investigation into Moraes’s conduct, while Moraes has demanded an investigation into Mendonça. The judicial scandal has erupted just as Brazil’s election campaign is reaching its peak, with polls showing a tight race between Lula and Bolsonaro, who are expected to face off in a second-round run-off on October 25. Eloísa Machado, a constitutional law professor, warned that the timing is problematic, as the country is already dealing with rising extremism and anti-democratic groups. She noted that Lula had no role in appointing Moraes, but the crisis could still hurt Lula’s chances of winning a historic fourth term due to the public association between him and Moraes. Flávio Bolsonaro, meanwhile, blamed the scandal on Lula’s administration in a social media post, without addressing his own alleged ties to Vorcaro. Political analyst Thomas Traumann predicted the scandal would intensify the election campaign’s descent into a "carnival of mudslinging," as both sides try to undermine each other ahead of the vote.