Journalist Glenn Greenwald is in hot water today, having been charged with cybercrimes by federal prosecutors in Brazil for his alleged role in hacking the cell phones of prosecutors and public officials.

Authorities in Brazil charged the journalist Glenn Greenwald with being part of a "criminal organization" after The Intercept Brasil published several articles based on leaked messages he said he received last year https://t.co/88O5On5eCC — The New York Times (@nytimes) January 21, 2020

More from the New York Times:

Mr. Greenwald, an ardent critic of Brazil’s far right president, Jair Bolsonaro, is a deeply polarizing figure in Brazil’s bitter political divide. This perception was fueled when the organization he co-founded, The Intercept Brasil, published articles last year based on the leaked cellphone messages that raised questions about the integrity and the motives of key members of Brazil’s justice system. The articles cast doubt on the impartiality of a former judge, Sérgio Moro, and of some of the prosecutors who worked on a corruption investigation that landed several powerful political and business figures in prison. Among them was a former president, a popular leftist whose conviction paved the way for Brazil’s radical rightward shift and the election of Mr. Bolsonaro. Mr. Moro is now Mr. Bolsonaro’s minister of justice. In a statement, Mr. Greenwald called the charges “an obvious attempt to attack a free press in retaliation for the revelations we reported about Minister Moro and the Bolsonaro government.”

Things could get very ugly for Greenwald very quickly.

Important context for arrest of ⁦@ggreenwald⁩ — Brazilian President Bolsonaro has been threatening Greenwald for a long time because of his aggressive and excellent journalism https://t.co/lmuvs3v2dA — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 21, 2020

2/ As @pressfreedom notes this began after The Intercept Brasil published stories based on anonymously leaked documents, recordings, and private WhatsApp messages raising ethical and legal questions about the conduct of government officials https://t.co/EXB2XSk9bM — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 21, 2020

3/ Glenn last November was even physically assaulted by a pro-Bolsonaro pundit while live on the air, an event he said illustrates how “press freedoms and the democratic order” in Brazil are now endangered with violencehttps://t.co/iNpxhEH05Q — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 21, 2020

Glenn today notes that “two months ago, the Federal Police, examining all the same evidence…stated explicitly that not only have I never committed any crime but that I exercised extreme caution as a journalist never even to get close to any participation… — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 21, 2020

“We will not be intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to silence journalists…” https://t.co/oB2XzPPhzR — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 21, 2020

Some words from Greenwald himself:

Regarding the criminal charges brought by the Bolsonaro government: it’s a grave and obvious attack on a free press, brought by a far-right judge. We’re going to defend a free press, not be intimidated by authorities abusing their power. The reporting will continue. pic.twitter.com/kd9b8Kggx3 — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 21, 2020

A number of journalists are coming to Greenwald’s defense:

Glenn Greenwald has called me a "deceitful" mouthpiece of the national security state and I assure you I've rarely had a nice thing to say about him. But this is an outrageous assault on press freedom that should alarm every American. https://t.co/7LUKHAtPud — Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) January 21, 2020

No matter what you think of @ggreenwald, this is clearly an investigation motivated by Brazil's homophobic President who behaves like an autocrat and doesn't want to have corruption exposed. https://t.co/gs3NR2WDuw — Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) January 21, 2020

Glenn's been awful on US politics for years. But these charges are almost certainly bullshit. https://t.co/ZbfYULYr2s — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 21, 2020

Like others, I've had my disagreements with @ggreenwald over the years. But this isn't the time for those. The Bolsonaro government's effort to intimidate and threaten him is chilling. Everyone who cares about press freedom anywhere should denounce it. https://t.co/ppBIt0wttz — Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 21, 2020

This looks like an effort to criminalize journalism. Whether you like or despise Glenn, you should oppose this. https://t.co/hdS023SmlL — Eli Lake (@EliLake) January 21, 2020

Stay tuned to see how this shakes out.