- President Lula's Sept. 6 address leaned into sovereignty and natural-resource themes, and Brazil's top electoral court cleared it for national broadcast despite pre-election limits on official messaging.
- Justice Alexandre de Moraes is under fire over a R$131 million (roughly $25 million) legal contract his wife's firm signed with Banco Master's jailed founder — file metadata shows Moraes personally edited the final draft.
- Justice André Mendonça and Moraes have each asked the court to sanction the other, a standoff the Associated Press has described as an "institutional crisis."
- Contrary to what many assume, Moraes is not currently under U.S. sanctions: Washington lifted its Magnitsky designation in December 2025, though reports say officials are weighing whether to reimpose it.
- With the Oct. 4 vote weeks away, polling shows Lula, 80, locked in a near-even race with challenger Flávio Bolsonaro — tighter than earlier this summer.
