Opinion | Where Do You Turn When the Anti-Corruption Crusaders Are Dirty?

After a few days, though, Mr. Moro changed strategies. He started to question the authenticity of the messages, which, in his opinion, could have been tampered with. During a Senate hearing on June 19, in an apparent attempt to confuse either us or himself, he tried out both explanations at the same time: If a certain message “is authentic,” he said, “even if it is authentic, the content is absolutely legal. There is no problem with that kind of statement. If that message is totally authentic. Like I said: I cannot remember three years ago if I sent a message of that nature.”

(By the way, my favorite excerpt from the leaked material is an exchange between Mr. Moro and Mr. Dallagnol. In the message, Mr. Dallagnol informs Mr. Moro that he has submitted a petition as a strategic move but that it is “not essential.” Mr. Moro, Mr. Dallagnol says, should “feel free, needless to say, to deny” the request. I admire the politeness of the prosecutor here, who doesn’t want to seem too pushy and even offers the judge the choice of ruling freely, this time.)

In addition to the legal collaboration of Mr. Moro, the texts also reveal other offenses, such as the fact that the prosecutors discussed strategies to prevent Mr. da Silva from giving interviews from jail before the elections, since this could help the Worker’s Party candidate, Fernando Haddad.

All in all, the leaks reveal an immoral judge, who teamed up with electorally-motivated prosecutors, in order to arrest and convict individuals that they already considered guilty. Their only question was how best to do it.

The shocking content of these exchanges could give defense lawyers new grounds on which to appeal convictions. Last year, Mr. da Silva’s lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court and demanded a retrial, making the argument that Mr. Moro had failed to be impartial; the leaked messages have now been added to the petition, strengthening their case.

The Brazilian Bar Association has called for the suspension of those involved in the scandal, saying, in a written statement, that “The gravity of the facts cannot be disregarded, requiring a full, unbiased and impartial investigation.”

But almost a month has passed since The Intercept’s first reports. Effectively nothing has been done.

And incredible as it may seem, Sergio Moro is still our justice minister.