Justice Minister Sergio Moro will have to answer questions about whether Brazilian authorities are investigating U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, whose online news site has published material critical of the minister and President Jair Bolsonaro's administration.
Supreme Court President Dias Toffoli on Monday ordered that Moro, federal police, the attorney general's office and the Economy Ministry provide information on any investigations into Greenwald, following media reports that investigators are looking into his finances.
Greenwald's The Intercept Brasil has been publishing leaked messages it says show improper collusion between Moro and prosecutors when Moro was a judge overseeing the prosecution of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The conviction helped block da Silva from seeking the presidency again in October's election and Moro went on to become justice minister for the winning candidate, Bolsonaro.
The reports have tarnished the image of "Super-Moro," who was heralded as a leading figure in the global fight against corruption, as well as the anti-graft probe he oversaw as a judge. Operation Car Wash, launched in 2014, has looked into billions of dollars in contracts with oil-giant Petrobras and ended the careers of some of the most prominent business and political figures in the South American nation and abroad.
Greenwald, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, says he has been receiving death threats and homophobic comments. So far, questions on possible investigations into his finances have been left unanswered by authorities.
But a political party known as the Sustainability Network filed a petition with the high court on July 10, arguing that such investigation would be unconstitutional and asking for the immediate suspension of all inquiries.
The Sustainability Network cites news articles reporting that the federal police had asked the Council for Financial Activities Control, a body attached to the Economy Ministry, to investigate possible criminal activities related to the leaks published in The Intercept.
The Associated Press reached out to the federal police's press department, which was not immediately able to confirm or deny the allegations.
Moro said on Twitter that "this campaign" against him and anti-graft prosecutors was "bordering on the ridiculous."