American journalist Glenn Greenwald has been charged by Brazilian authorities with cybercrimes in what he calls government retribution for a series of scathing exposés.

In a criminal complaint unveiled on Tuesday, Greenwald, 52, is accused of assisting a group of hackers who tapped into the cellphones of prosecutors and other government figures in furtherance of his reporting.

Greenwald’s outlet, The Intercept, last year published damning conversations between then-judge Sergio Moro — now Brazil’s Justice Minister — and prosecutors in the Car Wash investigation into widespread government corruption.

The conversations showed that Moro colluded with the prosecution to get some of Brazil’s wealthiest off the hook after they were ensnared in the sprawling probe.

Greenwald — whose claim to journalistic fame is the 2013 publication of US secrets leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden — has said that the conversations were passed to The Intercept after they had already been hacked.

Federal prosecutors allege, however, that Greenwald worked in lockstep with the alleged hackers to cover their tracks, citing an audio recording that purports to capture the journalist telling one snoop to delete any messages linking them.

“The dialogues demonstrated that Glenn Greenwald went beyond [the bounds of journalism] by indicating actions that would hinder the investigation and reduce the possibility of criminal liability,” said prosecutors in a statement.

Greenwald, a native New Yorker who now lives in Brazil with his politician husband, faces charges including criminal association with the alleged hackers.

In a statement of his own, Greenwald maintained that he worked within the bounds of both the law and journalistic ethics, and said that the charges were payback by the government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

“Less than two months ago, the Federal Police investigated the evidence cited by the ministry and concluded that I had not committed a crime, but that I handled myself with a great deal of caution as a reporter,” tweeted Greenwald in Portuguese.

“The Federal Police, which is under the command of Minister Moro, said that it was clear that I did nothing but my job as a reporter and I did so without breaking any laws.”

Greenwald, who is yet to be indicted, added that he would not back down from his work.

“This denunciation … is an obvious attempt to attack a free press in retaliation for the revelations that we brought forth against the Moro ministry and the Bolsonaro administration,” he continued. “We will not be intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to silence reporters.”

With Post Wires