Vaza Toga: The Witch, the Infiltrator, and the Informant

New leaks suggest that evidence was fabricated after a police raid on pro-Bolsonaro businessmen

David Agape

Our investigation had exclusive access to WhatsApp conversations between Eduardo Tagliaferro — then head of the Special Office for Combating Disinformation (AEED) at Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) — and journalist Letícia Sallorenzo, known by insiders as “the Witch.” The messages reveal how, in August 2022, at the height of Brazil’s presidential campaign, private data from businessmen aligned with Jair Bolsonaro was secretly funneled to the court, just days after Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered raids against them. 

The August 23 operation, justified solely on the basis of a single news article, struck at the core of the business network seen as crucial for financing and digitally amplifying Bolsonaro’s campaign. With bank accounts and social media profiles frozen overnight, the group’s ability to mobilize was abruptly dismantled — silencing influential voices just days before the first presidential debate on August 28. 

Moraes only archived most of the case a year later, once Lula was in office. The minister admitted that, for six businessmen, there was no evidence to justify prosecution. Two remained as targets: real estate mogul Meyer Joseph Nigri and retail tycoon Luciano Hang. Federal Police alleged that Nigri had direct ties to Bolsonaro in spreading anti-electoral system messages, while in Hang’s case Moraes claimed further analysis of his password-locked phone was still pending. Hang’s social media accounts remained suspended for over two years, until Moraes finally lifted the block in September 2024. The case file remains fully sealed. 

The leaked chats obtained by A Investigação show that, faced with flimsy evidence and growing backlash, Moraes pressured his staff to produce backdated documents. To meet the demand, Tagliaferro turned to Sallorenzo, who served as a bridge between the court and an infiltrator inside the WhatsApp group “Entrepreneurs & Politics.” A Investigação identified this informant as journalist Lucas Mesquita, who now works as an aide in Lula’s government. 

In other words, an organized infiltration fed material directly to the TSE, with no formal chain of custody. Screenshots, membership lists, and even full exports of private conversations were handed over on the night of August 27, with the explicit aim of “reassuring the friend” — a reference to Moraes, anxious to quiet criticism.

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