Journalists, ministers, members of parliament and even family members of authorities were targets of a broad illegal espionage scheme operated within the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin, for its acronym in Portuguese) between 2019 and 2021, during the Jair Bolsonaro government, according to the final report by the Federal Police, released this Wednesday [June 19]. According to the investigation, at least 1,796 telephone terminals were monitored without judicial authorization, using the Israeli software First Mile.
Among the journalists who were spied on were Reinaldo Azevedo, Vera Magalhães and Luiza Bandeira, who were targets of information gathering, defamation and coordinated attacks using fake profiles. In Bandeira's case, even her mother was tracked using geolocation tools. The Federal Police points to Bolsonaro and his son Carlos as leaders of the so-called “parallel Abin,” used to spy on opponents and protect allies. The scheme produced more than 60,000 clandestine consultations, according to the Federal Police.
