The U.S. State Department on 5 August publicly condemned the decision by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to place former president Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest. In a written statement, the department said it would "hold accountable" anyone who assists or encourages actions that have already been sanctioned by Washington. The rebuke escalates tensions between the two countries’ executives and Brazil’s judiciary. Moraes, who is overseeing multiple investigations into Bolsonaro’s efforts to overturn the 2022 election result, was hit with Global Magnitsky Act sanctions by the Trump administration on 30 July. Those measures froze any of the judge’s assets in the United States and barred him from entering the country. State Department officials said the latest move by Moraes violates Bolsonaro’s fundamental rights, echoing the Trump administration’s earlier description of the judge as a “human-rights violator.” The Brazilian Supreme Court has not yet responded publicly to Washington’s criticism.