Vaza Jato: Intercept messages, Operation Spoofing and use by the STF

Sergio Moro · Deltan Dallagnol · Ricardo Lewandowski · Lula · Walter Delgatti

On June 9, 2019, The Intercept Brasil published messages attributed to Moro and to Lava Jato prosecutors, which it said it had received from an anonymous source. Moro and the task force spoke of a criminal hack and content taken out of context; in the Senate (June 19, 2019) Moro said he was not acknowledging authenticity. The Federal Police launched Operation Spoofing; in 2023 Walter Delgatti Neto was convicted at first instance to 20 years and 1 month for hacking cell phones. Lewandowski, in Rcl 43.007, gave Lula's defense access to the seized messages (decisions of December 28, 2020 and February 1, 2021) and the Second Panel upheld the access on February 9, 2021. The STF, in recognizing Moro's bias, at times considered the messages and at times excluded them (Cármen Lúcia said she did not consider conversations outside the case record).

Status as of October 24, 2026: The authenticity of the messages was not declared in any decision we located; Moro said he did not recognize it, the STF allowed Lula's defense to use them in court, and the STF did not decide on the validity of the material in Plenary in the sources consulted. We did not locate Dallagnol's individual written position on authenticity (only the task force's statement); nor PF reports on authenticity; nor the outcome of the appeal in the Spoofing criminal case.

Sources (2)

On February 9, 2021, the STF Second Panel, by majority (Lewandowski, rapporteur, Nunes Marques, Cármen Lúcia and Gilmar Mendes; Fachin dissented), declined to admit the appeal by the Lava Jato prosecutors and maintained Lula's access to the Operation Spoofing messages that concern him; the majority said the judgment did not address the validity of the evidence, only access to elements held by the State.

Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document

Source: 2ª Turma garante a Lula acesso a arquivos da Operação Spoofing — Supreme Federal Court, Feb. 9, 2021 · body of the news item · open original ↗

On August 21, 2023, substitute judge Ricardo Leite of the 10th Federal Criminal Court of the DF sentenced Walter Delgatti Neto to 20 years and 1 month in prison in Operation Spoofing; six people were convicted (five with prison sentences and one with a judicial pardon for cooperating).

Judicial or administrative decisionSingle source

Source: Justiça do DF condena hacker Delgatti a 20 anos de prisão pela Operação Spoofing — CNN Brasil, Aug. 21, 2023 · body of the article · open original ↗

Accusation: The Intercept Brasil: The Intercept stated that the messages indicate 'prohibited collaboration' between the judge and the prosecutors and unethical conduct within the task force.
Sources (1)
On June 9, 2019, The Intercept Brasil published excerpts of messages attributed to Moro, then Minister of Justice, and to task force prosecutors, which the site said it had received from an anonymous source and which, according to the site, would indicate 'prohibited collaboration' between judge and prosecutors.
News reportSingle source
Source: Site publica mensagens atribuídas a Moro e à força-tarefa da Lava Jato — Agência Brasil, June 10, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗
Response: Sergio Moro: In a statement of June 9, 2019, Moro said the 'alleged messages' show no abnormality or steering of his conduct as a magistrate, that the source would have committed a criminal hack, and that the site did not contact him. — verbatim quote
Sources (1)
In a note of June 9, 2019, Moro said the content of the 'alleged messages' showed no abnormality or steering in his conduct as a magistrate, regretted the failure to identify the source, to whom he attributed the criminal intrusion into prosecutors' cell phones, and criticized the site for not contacting him beforehand.
Response/defenseSeveral independent sources
Source: Site divulga mensagens mostrando colaboração entre Moro e Dallagnol na Lava Jato — InfoMoney, June 10, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗
Sergio Moro: On June 19, 2019, in the Senate, Moro said he was not saying that he recognized authenticity, raised the possibility of tampering, and said he no longer had the conversations. — verbatim quote
Sources (1)
On June 19, 2019, at the Senate's CCJ, Moro said he was not acknowledging the authenticity of the messages and had no way of saying, raised the possibility of alteration before publication and said he no longer had the content of the conversations.
StatementSingle source
Source: Moro na CCJ do Senado: 'Não tenho essas mensagens para afirmar se conteúdo é autêntico ou não' — Estado de Minas, June 19, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗
Deltan Dallagnol: The task force, in a statement, expressed concern about possibly fraudulent messages or messages taken out of context and said it was the victim of a criminal attack by a hacker.
Sources (1)
The task force said, in a note, that it was concerned about possibly fraudulent messages or messages taken out of context, that the extent of the intrusion was unknown and that it was a victim of a criminal hacker attack; it acknowledged that group conversations among friends can be misinterpreted.
Response/defenseSeveral independent sources
Source: Site publica mensagens atribuídas a Moro e à força-tarefa da Lava Jato — Agência Brasil, June 10, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗

Decisions

Date	Body and case	Sphere	Outcome
Dec. 28, 2020	STF · Justice Ricardo Lewandowski Rcl 43.007	Procedural decision	Lula was guaranteed access to the Operation Spoofing messages that concern him; reiterated on February 1, 2021 with an order to the 10th Federal Criminal Court of the DF. Sources (1) On February 1, 2021, Lewandowski lifted the secrecy of Rcl 43.007 and ordered the 10th Federal Criminal Court of the DF to ensure that Lula be given access to the messages that concern him, directly or indirectly, and those related to the investigations and cases against him in the 13th Court of Curitiba or in any jurisdiction; the earlier decision is dated December 28, 2020. Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document Source: Operação Spoofing: Lewandowski retira sigilo da reclamação em que garantiu a Lula acesso a mensagens — Supreme Federal Court, Feb. 1, 2021 · body of the news item · open original ↗
Feb. 9, 2021	STF · Second Panel Rcl 43.007 (agravo regimental)	Procedural decision	News report of February 9, 2021 (session date not given). By majority, the Lava Jato prosecutors' appeal was held inadmissible; Lula's access was upheld; Fachin dissented. The validity of the evidence was not discussed. Sources (2) On February 9, 2021, the STF Second Panel, by majority (Lewandowski, rapporteur, Nunes Marques, Cármen Lúcia and Gilmar Mendes; Fachin dissented), declined to admit the appeal by the Lava Jato prosecutors and maintained Lula's access to the Operation Spoofing messages that concern him; the majority said the judgment did not address the validity of the evidence, only access to elements held by the State. Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document Source: 2ª Turma garante a Lula acesso a arquivos da Operação Spoofing — Supreme Federal Court, Feb. 9, 2021 · body of the news item · open original ↗ Fachin, outvoted, recognized the prosecutors' standing as aggrieved third parties and voted that the material should not be used in any case until the Plenary decided on validity, sharing and jurisdiction. Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document Source: 2ª Turma garante a Lula acesso a arquivos da Operação Spoofing — Supreme Federal Court, Feb. 9, 2021 · section on the dissent · open original ↗
Aug. 21, 2023	Federal Courts of the Federal District · 10th Federal Criminal Court of the DF (substitute judge Ricardo Leite) Operação Spoofing (número não informado)	Criminal sphere	Walter Delgatti Neto convicted to 20 years and 1 month; five other people convicted (one with judicial pardon). First-instance sentence. Sources (1) On August 21, 2023, substitute judge Ricardo Leite of the 10th Federal Criminal Court of the DF sentenced Walter Delgatti Neto to 20 years and 1 month in prison in Operation Spoofing; six people were convicted (five with prison sentences and one with a judicial pardon for cooperating). Judicial or administrative decisionSingle source Source: Justiça do DF condena hacker Delgatti a 20 anos de prisão pela Operação Spoofing — CNN Brasil, Aug. 21, 2023 · body of the article · open original ↗

“Conviction” and “acquittal” apply only in the sphere indicated: a civil or disciplinary decision is not a criminal conviction.

Cases: Claim 43.007 (STF) — access to Operation Spoofing

Quotes

Sobre supostas mensagens que me envolveriam publicadas pelo site Intercept neste domingo, 9 de junho, lamenta-se a falta de indicação de fonte de pessoa responsável pela invasão criminosa de celulares de procuradores. Assim como a postura do site que não entrou em […]

Portal translation: Regarding supposed messages involving me published by the site Intercept this Sunday, June 9, we regret the lack of identification of the source, the person responsible for the criminal invasion of prosecutors' cell phones. We also regret the stance of the site, which […]

Sergio Moro · June 9, 2019 · Note/letter · Statement from the Minister of Justice (Migalhas)

Context, original and sources →

Não estou dizendo que reconheço autenticidade, não tenho como dizer disso.

Portal translation: I am not saying that I recognize authenticity, I have no way of saying that.

Sergio Moro · June 19, 2019 · Testimony · Hearing at the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee

Context, original and sources →

Evidence

On June 9, 2019, The Intercept Brasil published excerpts of messages attributed to Moro, then Minister of Justice, and to task force prosecutors, which the site said it had received from an anonymous source and which, according to the site, would indicate 'prohibited collaboration' between judge and prosecutors.

News reportSingle source

Source: Site publica mensagens atribuídas a Moro e à força-tarefa da Lava Jato — Agência Brasil, June 10, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗

News report · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

In a note of June 9, 2019, Moro said the content of the 'alleged messages' showed no abnormality or steering in his conduct as a magistrate, regretted the failure to identify the source, to whom he attributed the criminal intrusion into prosecutors' cell phones, and criticized the site for not contacting him beforehand.

Response/defenseSeveral independent sources

Excerpt: “não se vislumbra qualquer anormalidade ou direcionamento da atuação enquanto magistrado”

Source: Site divulga mensagens mostrando colaboração entre Moro e Dallagnol na Lava Jato — InfoMoney, June 10, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗

News report · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

The task force said, in a note, that it was concerned about possibly fraudulent messages or messages taken out of context, that the extent of the intrusion was unknown and that it was a victim of a criminal hacker attack; it acknowledged that group conversations among friends can be misinterpreted.

Response/defenseSeveral independent sources

Excerpt: “manifestam preocupação com possíveis mensagens fraudulentas ou retiradas do devido contexto”

Source: Site publica mensagens atribuídas a Moro e à força-tarefa da Lava Jato — Agência Brasil, June 10, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗

News report · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: Note signed by the task force, not by Dallagnol individually (InfoMoney).

On June 19, 2019, at the Senate's CCJ, Moro said he was not acknowledging the authenticity of the messages and had no way of saying, raised the possibility of alteration before publication and said he no longer had the content of the conversations.

StatementSingle source

Excerpt: “Não estou dizendo que reconheço autenticidade, não tenho como dizer disso.”

Source: Moro na CCJ do Senado: 'Não tenho essas mensagens para afirmar se conteúdo é autêntico ou não' — Estado de Minas, June 19, 2019 · body of the article · open original ↗

News report · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document

Source: 2ª Turma garante a Lula acesso a arquivos da Operação Spoofing — Supreme Federal Court, Feb. 9, 2021 · body of the news item · open original ↗

Release (primary) · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Fachin, outvoted, recognized the prosecutors' standing as aggrieved third parties and voted that the material should not be used in any case until the Plenary decided on validity, sharing and jurisdiction.

Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document

Source: 2ª Turma garante a Lula acesso a arquivos da Operação Spoofing — Supreme Federal Court, Feb. 9, 2021 · section on the dissent · open original ↗

Release (primary) · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

On February 1, 2021, Lewandowski lifted the secrecy of Rcl 43.007 and ordered the 10th Federal Criminal Court of the DF to ensure that Lula be given access to the messages that concern him, directly or indirectly, and those related to the investigations and cases against him in the 13th Court of Curitiba or in any jurisdiction; the earlier decision is dated December 28, 2020.

Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document

Source: Operação Spoofing: Lewandowski retira sigilo da reclamação em que garantiu a Lula acesso a mensagens — Supreme Federal Court, Feb. 1, 2021 · body of the news item · open original ↗

Release (primary) · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: The news item does not address any forensic examination or authenticity report.

Judicial or administrative decisionSingle source

Source: Justiça do DF condena hacker Delgatti a 20 anos de prisão pela Operação Spoofing — CNN Brasil, Aug. 21, 2023 · body of the article · open original ↗

News report · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Limitations: First-instance judgment; we did not find the outcome of any appeal. The report does not mention a forensic examination of the messages' authenticity.

Nunes Marques voted against the bias ruling: he found that bias should be raised in a bias challenge (exceção de suspeição), with production of evidence and adversarial proceedings, and not in a habeas corpus, and that the released conversations between Moro and the task force were obtained unlawfully and could not be accepted.

Judicial or administrative decisionProven in a document

Source: 2ª Turma reconhece parcialidade de ex-juiz Sérgio Moro na condenação de Lula no caso Triplex — Supreme Federal Court, Mar. 23, 2021 · section on arguments · open original ↗

Release (primary) · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Marco Aurélio and Luiz Fux, outvoted, stated that the bias ruling was based on unlawful evidence; Fux said the recordings of conversations between Moro and prosecutors were obtained by unlawful means.

StatementProven in a document

Source: STF confirma suspeição de Sergio Moro na ação do triplex do Guarujá — Supreme Federal Court, June 23, 2021 · section on votes · open original ↗

Release (primary) · excerpt examined · accessed on Oct. 24, 2026

Identifier: ep:vaza-jato-spoofing