Isaac Chotiner writes:

On Tuesday, Brazilian prosecutors charged the journalist Glenn Greenwald with “cybercrimes” as part of what the government claims was his role in a “criminal organization.” They allege that Greenwald—who reported on wrongdoing in Brazil’s judicial establishment last year for the Intercept, the Web site he co-founded—participated in the hacking of cell phones, the content of which was later used in his stories. But the reporting itself is the reason much of the Brazilian government is furious with Greenwald. He has repeatedly antagonized the country’s new far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro, who rode into office amid a sprawling corruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash, which brought down two former Presidents. Sérgio Moro, who led the operation, was later made Bolsonaro’s Minister of Justice and became the subject of much of the Intercept’s reporting. A number of leaders across the Brazilian political spectrum have criticized the charges against Greenwald, which were met with outrage by civil-liberties organizations around the world.

Greenwald, who is best known for covering Edward Snowden’s disclosures, lives in Rio de Janeiro with his husband, David Miranda, a Brazilian congressman, and their children. We spoke by phone on Tuesday, after the charges were announced. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed his life in Brazil since Bolsonaro’s election, the reasons the President has gone after him, and his different approaches to the rise of the far right in Brazil and the United States. [Continue reading…]