The negative and corrosive impacts of corruption in the fields of economics, politics, and law are widely discussed. Less understood are the potentially negative impacts of anti‐corruption struggles and strategies themselves. This article presents a case study of Brazil's ‘Car Wash’ (‘Lava Jato’) scandal from a legal and political perspective. Although the subsequent Operation Car Wash investigation was widely regarded as remarkably successful, supposedly buttressing the rule of law through high‐profile prosecutions of leading politicians and businesspersons, the article argues that legal due process, wider constitutional law, and the political process were undermined. While the use of media leaks to strengthen the investigation proved tactically successful, when coupled with new legal instruments it undermined the presumption of innocence and contributed to a climate in which political and legal debates themselves became increasingly subordinated to simplistic polarizing anti‐corruption discourses, thereby undermining an already fragile political and institutional environment.

中文翻译：

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陷入了自己制造的威权陷阱？巴西的“拉瓦·贾托”反腐败调查与检察过度的政治

腐败在经济，政治和法律领域的负面影响和腐蚀影响得到了广泛讨论。人们对反腐败斗争和战略本身的潜在负面影响了解得很少。本文从法律和政治角度介绍了巴西“洗车”（“ Lava Jato”）丑闻的案例研究。尽管随后对洗车行动的调查被广泛认为是非常成功的，据说可以通过对主要政客和商人的高调起诉来支持法治，但文章认为，法律正当程序，更广泛的宪法和政治程序都受到了破坏。虽然使用媒体泄漏加强调查在战术上是成功的，