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Brazilian prosecutors have charged controversial American journalist Glenn Greenwald with cybercrimes after he published hacked text messages exposing corruption among public officials.

Greenwald, the co-founder of The Intercept and a former columnist for Salon and the Guardian, was accused of being part of a “criminal organization” that hacked the phones of multiple public officials and prosecutors in a 95-page criminal complaint on Tuesday, The New York Times reports. Prosecutors alleged that he aided the hackers, which Greenwald denied.

Greenwald, a staunch critic of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, published conversations involving Brazilian Justice Minister Sérgio Moro that showed Moro had coordinated with prosecutors while he was a judge overseeing a wide-ranging corruption allegation that led to the conviction of former President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, paving the way for Bolsonaro’s election. Moro, himself a popular far-right figure in the country, now serves in Bolsonaro’s cabinet.

Prosecutors alleged in the complaint that Greenwald played a “clear role in facilitating the commission of a crime” because he urged the hackers to delete archives they shared with The Intercept Brasil to cover their tracks, according to the Times. Prosecutors said Greenwald spoke with the hackers while they were monitoring private chats. Six other people were charged in the complaint, including four who were detained last year in connection with the hacks.

Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes issued an order last year banning the federal police from investigating Greenwald’s role in the hacks. Prosecutors said on Tuesday they complied with the order but found new messages they claimed implicated Greenwald. The charges come after Brazilian federal police had issued a report clearing Greenwald of criminal conduct in the hacks.

“The one thing I could not do is give direction,” Greenwald told the Times. “That’s crossing a line. I was very careful.”

Greenwald, who previously published National Security Agency documents leaked by Edward Snowden, suggested that he was concerned he was being charged in retaliation for his reporting last year, according to The Times. Bolsonaro himself has attacked Greenwald for being gay and said he may “do jail time in Brazil” last year.

Greenwald, who lives in Brazil and is married to Brazilian congressman David Miranda, told the Times that the charges were “an obvious attempt to attack a free press in retaliation for the revelations we reported about Minister Moro and the Bolsonaro government.”

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