Despite Death Threats, Glenn Greenwald Speaks Out About Exposing Large Corruption Scandal in Brazil

Glenn Greenwald: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of The Intercept. JULY 09, 2019 (democracynow.org) A political crisis in Brazil is growing in the wake of The Intercept’s investigation into a judge who likely aided federal prosecutors in their corruption case against former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Bolsonaro administration announced Monday that Brazilian Justice Minister Sérgio Moro has been granted a leave of absence from July 15-19 to “deal with personal matters.” Leaked cellphone messages among Brazilian law enforcement officials and other data obtained by The Intercept point to an ongoing collaboration between then-Judge Sérgio Moro and the prosecutors investigating a sweeping corruption scandal known as Operation Car Wash. Lula was considered a favorite in the lead-up to the 2018 presidential election until he was put in jail and forced out of the race on what many say were trumped-up corruption charges. The leaked documents also reveal prosecutors had serious doubts about Lula’s guilt. The jailing of Lula helped pave the way for the election of the far-right former military officer Jair Bolsonaro, who then named Judge Sérgio Moro to be his justice minister. The news of Moro’s leave of absence comes amid increased calls for him to step down after new revelations of Moro’s questionable role in Operation Car Wash were published in Brazil’s leading conservative magazine, Veja, in partnership with The Intercept. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of The Intercept. Greenwald has faced death threats and a possible government investigation due to his reporting on the scandal.