Is Someone Trying To Silence Glenn Greenwald?
Is Someone Trying To Silence Glenn Greenwald?
On Thursday, a Brazilian account released a compromising video of someone who appeared to be the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (with today's AI, one can't be sure). In it, a man who looks like Glenn Greenwald is wearing a plaid skirt and some kind of lace top while he kisses a black man's hand and foot (the video is filmed from the black man's POV). Then, he picks up his laptop and apparently transfers thousands of reais to the camera man.
Update–Greenwald Responds
"About the videos"
About the videos: pic.twitter.com/TfkSyWowMJ
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 30, 2025
Who Would Want To Silence Greenwald–And Why?
Unfortunately, it's a long list:
| Issue | Greenwald’s stance | Who it angers |
|---|---|---|
| Russiagate | Denounced the Trump‑Russia‑collusion narrative as evidence‑thin and media‑driven. | Liberal media figures, Democratic partisans. Reporters Committee |
| Ukraine war | Says U.S. arms prolong conflict & risk escalation. | Foreign‑policy hawks in both parties. The Rio Times |
| Big‑Tech bans | Calls platform takedowns of Trump, Hunter‑laptop story “corporate‑state censorship.” | Silicon‑Valley execs, pro‑regulation Democrats. Reason.com |
| Israel/Palestine | Harsh critic of Israeli policy, U.S. aid. | AIPAC‑aligned lawmakers, many centrist pundits. Washington Brazil Office |
| Brazil’s right (2019‑20) | Vaza Jato leaks embarrassed Bolsonaro allies; faced criminal indictment. | Bolsonaro government, far‑right media. WIRED |
| Brazil’s left (2023‑‑): see below | Accuses left‑leaning judges & ministers of “lawfare” and mass censorship. | Supreme‑Court justices Alexandre de Moraes & Flávio Dino, Lula allies. |
Newest Front: Greenwald Versus Brazil's Leftist Judiciary
| Target & action | Greenwald’s criticism | Key source |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Alexandre de Moraes – banned X (Twitter) nationwide, threatened to jail execs, froze Starlink funds | Called him a “monstrously tyrannical chief‑censorship judge” and said the orders “have no legal basis under Brazil’s own constitution.” | X thread, Apr 2025 X; Reason podcast, Sep 2024 Reason.com |
| Flávio Dino – Lula’s Justice Minister (2023‑24), now a Supreme‑Court justice, backed fake‑news bill and voted to uphold the X ban | On System Update and Substack, argued Dino “weaponized federal‑police probes” against reporters covering the Twitter‑Files Brazil leaks and now “owns the same censorship regime” he once criticized. | Google‑takedown row (2023) where Greenwald called it “the most blatant authoritarianism I’ve ever seen.” NaturalNews.com |
| Broader campaign – secret takedown orders, sealed investigations into critics | Greenwald’s March 2024 testimony to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies: Supreme‑Court censorship “lacks due process and violates press freedom.” | House Judiciary interim report citing his evidence House Judiciary Committee Republicans |
| International fallout | U.S. Republicans urge Magnitsky sanctions on de Moraes for extraterritorial censorship. | Financial Times, May 28 2025 Financial Times |
What’s changed?
The same toolkit once aimed at Bolsonaro supporters is, in Greenwald’s telling, now pointed at X, Rumble, and journalists—including him. By confronting a left‑leaning court and Lula‑appointed justices, he lost his old progressive shield, leaving him exposed to law‑fare from both sides of the aisle.
Why A Smear Or Blackmail Attempt Is Plausible
Multi‑front enemies list: U.S. & Brazilian security agencies (Snowden, Vaza Jato), Big Tech, partisan media, and now Brazil’s judiciary.
Prior retaliation playbook: criminal indictments (2019‑20), sealed probes (2024‑25), doxing threats, de‑monetization, cyber‑harassment. BMier
Cross‑ideological isolation: By criticizing right and left with equal vigor, he lacks a built‑in partisan defense bloc, making kompromat leaks a low‑risk, high‑reward tactic for adversaries.
Take-Away
Glenn Greenwald’s reporting has embarrassed institutions across the political spectrum—from the U.S. NSA to Brazil’s Supreme Court. His latest battles with Brazil’s left‑wing judiciary, especially Justices de Moraes and Dino, add new, powerful actors to the long list of people who might prefer him silent. Whatever the authenticity of the leaked video, the incentives for a coordinated smear are obvious—and consistent with the pressure campaign he has faced for a decade.
Things To Come
Tacking back to investing briefly, in a popular post earlier this week, we looked at some picks & shovels plays on the coming nuclear boom.
⚡️The Nuclear Boom's Overlooked Beneficiaries⚡️
— Portfolio Armor (@PortfolioArmor) May 27, 2025
While the more obvious names like $OKLO skyrocketed after President Trump's executive orders on Friday, a couple of picks & shovels plays nuclear build-out barely budged. https://t.co/0uMYUorSQI
Next week, we're going to do something similar for AI--looking at some overlooked, picks & shovels names there. If you'd like a heads up when we post it trades based on it, feel free to subscribe to our trading Substack/occasional email list below.
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