The reports in The Intercept Brazil have led to questions about whether Justice Minister Sergio Moro improperly consulted with prosecutors when he was a judge overseeing the mammoth "Operation Car Wash" corruption investigation. Moro, whose work in that probe has made him a hero for many Brazilians, is a key member of President Jair Bolsonaro's Cabinet.
Bolsonaro has sharply criticized Greenwald for the reports, and local media said he was asked at a military ceremony Saturday whether the journalist might be kicked out of Brazil under new rules announced a day earlier allowing a fast-track deportation of foreigners deemed "dangerous" or who are found to have violated the constitution.
The president responded that Greenwald is covered by the regulations because he is a resident of Brazil who is married to a Brazilian, legislator David Miranda, and they have adopted children together. But Bolsonaro added: "Maybe he will be imprisoned here in Brazil."
Greenwald responded defiantly to Bolsonaro on his Twitter account.
"Contrary to what the president says, he is not (yet) a dictator," Greenwald wrote. "He doesn't have the power to order people to stop. To detain someone, you need to present evidence to a court showing that a crime was committed. That evidence does not exist."
The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism condemned the president's comment about jail.
"By threatening a journalist who publishes information that he dislikes, the president promotes and instigates serious attacks on freedom of expression. Without free journalism, the other freedoms will also die," the group said.