The journalist who broke many of the stories related to Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency leaks has been charged in Brazil for cybercrimes.
Glenn Greenwald, a co-founder of the Intercept, has been critical of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and was assaulted on live television in November by a Brazilian journalist after Greenwald confronted the fellow reporter for criticizing his marriage to Brazilian politician David Miranda.
Brazilian authorities claim Greenwald, 52, worked with a “criminal organization” to hack into the phones of public officials and prosecutors.
Greenwald’s discoveries, published by the Intercept Brasil, caused controversy after the messages he obtained exposed prosecutors and members of the Brazilian anti-corruption task force. The criminal complaint accuses him of doing more than just receiving the hacked messages and instead claims he had a “clear role in facilitating the commission of a crime” by communicating with the hackers.
In a statement to the Daily Beast on Tuesday, Greenwald accused Bolsonaro of trying to “silence” him.
“Less than two months ago, the federal police, examining all the same evidence cited by the Public Ministry, stated explicitly that not only have I never committed any crime but that I exercised extreme caution as a journalist never even to get close to any participation,” he said, calling the charges against him an “obvious attempt to attack a free press in retaliation.”
Greenwald added: “We will not be intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to silence journalists. I am working right now on new reporting and will continue to do so. Many courageous Brazilians sacrificed their liberty and even life for Brazilian democracy and against repression, and I feel an obligation to continue their noble work.”
In addition to working with Snowden, Greenwald also helped former intelligence specialist Reality Winner in leaking classified information about Russian interference in the 2016 election by publishing a copy of a report she had obtained in the Intercept in 2017. Winner was later arrested and sentenced to five years in prison.
