It all started with an anonymous message in November. This week, The Brazilian Report published one of the most shocking revelations in Brazilian politics this year, showing that the head of the electoral courts, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, considered to be former President Jair Bolsonaro’s fiercest nemesis, came close to having his cell phone’s SIM card hacked. A scandal that could have had political and even electoral implications.
Backed by our team of journalists, reporter Amanda Audi spoke to an anonymous source who sent audio messages explaining the plan, allegedly recorded by Walter Delgatti Neto — a hacker and con man who became famous for being behind the so-called Car Wash Leaks, targeting former federal judge (now senator) Sergio Moro and prosecutor (now congressman) Deltan Dallagnol.
We confronted Mr. Delgatti with the recordings, and he admitted that yes, he did plan to hack Judge Moraes, and yes, that was his voice in the audio messages we received. In fact, while he insisted that the hack was his idea, he also confirmed that he was employed by pro-Bolsonaro congresswoman Carla Zambelli.
Ms. Zambelli denies any involvement with Mr. Delgatti in the attempt to hack Judge Moraes.
These revelations are extremely serious in and of themselves. But they take on even more serious contours when placed alongside other elements.
After radical supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed and ransacked the headquarters of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on January 8, federal police searched the home of former Justice Minister Anderson Torres and found a draft decree that would place the electoral courts under a “state of defense” and allow Mr. Bolsonaro to stage a coup.
Last week, a pro-Bolsonaro senator told Veja magazine that the former president had tried to recruit him to wiretap Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The idea, which the judge himself described as a fool’s errand, was to secretly record the head of the electoral court in the hope that he would say something that would raise suspicions about last October’s election results.
Taken together, the two events provide evidence of a coup plot at the heart of the Bolsonaro government. The Brazilian Report‘s revelations add new elements to this conspiracy.
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