Greenwald harassment a worrying sign for press freedoms in Brazil

Earlier this week, right-wing blog O Antagonista published a shocking post that went almost unnoticed. It stated that the Federal Police—which operates under the wing of Justice Minister Sergio Moro—requested that money laundering enforcement agency Coaf scrutinize Glenn Greenwald’s financial records. If true—which Mr. Moro has chosen neither to confirm nor deny—it would be an appalling attack on free speech.

Mr. Greenwald is the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist ahead of news website The Intercept. For the past month, the site’s Brazilian desk has been publishing leaked phone messages exchanged between Mr. Moro and Operation Car Wash prosecutors, from back when the Justice Minister was the presiding judge of Car Wash cases.

The leaks show Mr. Moro failed to fulfill his role as a neutral umpire in the investigation. In messages exchanged (which have now been verified by multiple news outlets), the former judge recommended prosecutors include specific pieces of evidence in cases against defendants, coached prosecutors into speeding up or slowing down operations, and essentially acted as the lead prosecutor.

Now, if the report on the move against Mr. Greenwald is true, the Justice Minister is once again using his power to go after one of his foes. O Antagonista has been the outlet of choice for high-profile Car Wash figures to talk about the leaks.

The case of Greenwald and the ‘mysterious peacock’

After the first waves of leaks were reported, a Twitter account named the “Mysterious Peacock” published a bungled series of fake documents supposedly linking Mr. Greenwald and his husband—left-wing member of Congress David Miranda—to an international conspiracy to undermine the Jair Bolsonaro administration.

He was accused of...