Bolsonaro: “Phone hacking is a crime, period”

In a statement read by his spokesman Otávio Rêgo Barros yesterday (Jul 29), President Jair Bolsonaro said hacking the phones of authorities “is a crime, period.” The opinion refers to private communications intercepted between Minister Sergio Moro and numerous other officials. The probe launched by the Federal Police on the case, Operation Spoofing, saw the arrest of four suspects of the crime last week.

“The president has uttered his opinion, understanding that the action of hackers ‘aims to affect [Operation] Car Wash, Minister Sergio Moro, myself [President Bolsonaro], and to discredit and undermine the government,” further noting that ‘hacking phones is a crime, period,’” the spokesman said during a press conference at the Planalto presidential palace.

In his testimony, the main suspect of having intercepted the communications, Walter Delgatti Neto, said he voluntarily handed over the content of the messages to US journalist Glenn Greenwald, adding he was not paid for it.

Greenwald is the founder of news website The Intercept, which has published the exchange of messages assigned to Car Wash prosecutors and Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro, the judge spearheading Car Wash probes in Curitiba, Paraná state, at the time.

Last weekend, Bolsonaro said Glenn Greenwald “could go to jail here in Brazil.” According to the government’s spokesman, this can be described as an act personal interception targeting the president.