Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday became the latest 2020 presidential candidate to condemn the cybercrime charges brought in Brazil against American journalist Glenn Greenwald.
Ms. Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, spoke out on Twitter against the charges brought against Mr. Greenwald this week by the administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“The Bolsonaro government is pursuing state retaliation against Glenn Greenwald because of his work as a journalist to expose public abuse and corruption,” Mr. Warren tweeted. “Brazil should drop the charges immediately and stop its attacks on a free and open press.”
Mr. Greenwald, a Pulitzer Prize winner and co-founding editor of The Intercept, has been charged by federal prosecutors in Brazil under a criminal complaint made public Tuesday.
A native New Yorker residing in Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Greenwald stands accused of aiding a “criminal organization” that hacked into the phones of several Brazilian government officials and obtained embarrassing text messages later reported by The Intercept.
Mr. Greenwald, 52, has called the charges “a grave and obvious attack on a free press” and said he will “not be intimidated by authorities abusing their power.”
He took to Twitter later Thursday to thank Ms. Warren for her support, which came on the heels of at least two other White House hopefuls expressing similar sentiments.
Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii Democrat, voiced support for Mr. Greenwald from their respective Twitter accounts Wednesday.
“The free press is never more important than when it exposes wrongdoing by the powerful. That is why President Bolsonaro is threatening Glenn Greenwald for the “crime” of doing journalism,” Mr. Sanders tweeted. “I call on Brazil to end its authoritarian attack on press freedom and the rule of law.”
“For years, @ggreenwald has exposed abuses at the highest levels of government and his investigative journalism deserves our support. If we allow the powerful to silence such journalists, our democracy and freedom is in peril,” Ms. Gabbard tweeted.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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