Brasilia, July 12 (RHC)-- Brazilian Justice Minister Sergio Moro is a threat to press freedom, Intercept journalist Glenn Greenwald said Thursday before the nation's Senate Justice Commission.

"The climate that the minister is trying to create is a threat to the free press," Greenwald told Brazilian Congress members, noting that prior to The Intercept Brazil releasing damning text messages between Moro and state prosecutors, he attempted to shush the media and get the documents himself.

In June, Greenwald led the publication of a three-part expose in The Intercept Brazil, which revealed massive wrongdoings by current Minister of Justice Sergio Moro during the trial he previously presided over that charged former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of taking bribes in the far-reach Odebrecht construction case. Moro eventually sentenced Lula to 12 years in jail, which has since been reduced.

The U.S. journalist assured the investigations were thoroughly fact checked and "Moro was not only collaborating with the prosecutors," but headed what the famed reporter called the "Lava Jato working group."

Last week, Brazilian Federal Police demanded an investigation into the journalist’s personal finances under alleged acts of money laundering, although the finance ministry has denied any involvement in the case.

The journalist said that he received the information from a source that does not want to be revealed and stressed that Brazil's constitution and its Code of Ethics both guarantee him and his sources confidentiality.

Legislators from President Jair Bolsonaro's Social Liberal political party as well as Minister Moro have threatened the famed reporter.