n June 9, The Intercept Brasil disclosed what could be the beginning of an unprecedented crisis in Brazil. Private conversations through the communication app Telegram were obtained from an anonymous source showing a less-than-republican chat between judge Sérgio Moro and members of the attorney general’s office, including Deltan Dallagnol, the public prosecutor who coordinates the task force of Operation Car Wash that investigates corruption crimes at Petrobrás and other state-owned companies.

Among the conversations, the report shows Dallagnol reticent about the robustness of evidence against former President Lula da Silva and the disclosure of an apparent coordination of Car Wash prosecutors to prevent former president Lula da Silva from being interviewed while in prison before the 2018 presidential elections. Prosecutors feared the interview would help then candidate Fernando Haddad, supported by Lula.

Finally, and even more seriously, is the clear and illegal collusion between Moro and prosecutors to convict those involved in the operation. The material could have been obtained through a hack on the cell phones of several judges and members of the prosecution.  Leandro Demori, editor of The Intercept, tweeted that they don’t talk about their sources, which means that any attempt to find out if there really were hackers involved or if someone with access to the conversations decided to disclose them anonymously will be nothing more than a lucky guess.

Full article at InsideOver’s website. Date of publication: 13/06/2019.