Hacking charges filed against far-right lawmaker

Brazil’s prosecutor general, Paulo Gonet, filed charges against far-right Congresswoman Carla Zambelli and notorious hacker Walter Delgatti for breaking into the systems of the National Justice Council (CNJ), a watchdog of the country’s court system.

The case remains sealed. The Federal Prosecution Office has acknowledged the charges, but the specifics, including the crimes and the date of filing, are undisclosed. The investigation was initiated following a groundbreaking report by The Brazilian Report.

In early 2023, we uncovered that Mr. Delgatti was working for Ms. Zambelli. After initially denying any relationship with him, Ms. Zambelli admitted to it the following month. Subsequently, the Federal Police raided Mrs. Zambelli’s offices and home, leading to Mr. Delgatti’s arrest for disrespecting court-mandated restrictions on internet use.

Mr. Delgatti was accused of breaking into the systems of the CNJ and inserting false release orders in favor of 11 people in police custody and a false arrest order against Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a lightning rod for the far right’s vitriol. Since 2022, he has held the rotating presidency of the Superior Electoral Court, Brazil’s top electoral body.

Days after his arrest, Mr. Delgatti told lawmakers in the select committee on the January 8 riots that he was given a mission by then-President Jair Bolsonaro himself to discredit the electoral system. 

The 2023 warrants, authorized by Justice Moraes, cite excerpts from The Brazilian Report’s story detailing the plan to hack the justice — part of an effort to dig up dirt on the chief electoral justice and sow distrust in the 2022 presidential race. In a separate case, Mrs. Zambelli is a defendant in the Supreme Court for pointing a gun at a black journalist who criticized her and chasing him on the streets of São Paulo on the eve of the presidential runoff.

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