BRASILIA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Minister of Justice and Public Security Sergio Moro said Wednesday that he would resign if irregularities are proven during his tenure as presiding judge in Operation Carwash.
The minister made the remarks before the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee in response to the recorded conversations between Moro and prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, which were published in the online site, The Intercept.
The published conversations are "completely normal," Moro said, confirming he could not acknowledge the authenticity of the leaked material.
He argued that the leaked conversations were the work of a group of computer hackers who acted with "criminal audacity."
"I have no attachment to the position itself. Let the site show all, all of the conversations, and if there is an irregularity, I will leave the office," he said.
Moro demanded that The Intercept should hand over to authorities all the recordings so that all of the information comes to light.
From 2015 to 2018, Moro served as a federal judge and was in charge of judging corruption cases investigated by the Federal Police's Operation Carwash against a large bribe scheme involving contracts between the government and the private sector.
He sentenced former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to nine years in prison for corruption and money laundering in 2018.
According to The Intercept, copies of the conversations, which were made by means of a massaging app Telegram, were given to the online news site by a source who asked to remain anonymous.
