Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis compared the Supreme Court leaking of a momentous abortion opinion to a “judicial insurrection.”
The governor joined the ranks of politicians and commentators suggesting that the leak of the draft Roe v. Wade opinion was intended to intimidate and pressure the court.
“I think it was really an attack on a lot of the justices,” DeSantis said Tuesday afternoon. “I think it was an intentional thing to try to whip up a lot of the public, try to make it very political, potentially try to bullying them into changing one of their positions.”
“That is not something that is appropriate for the judicial branch,” he said. “I know they launched an investigation, they need to figure out who did that, and they need to hold them accountable, because that is a real significant breach of trust.”
The governor emphasized that he was “really surprised” that the leak took place, noting, “You wanna talk about an insurrection, that’s a judicial insurrection, to be taking that out and trying to kneecap a potential majority through kind of extra constitutional means.”
WATCH:
“You wanna talk about an insurrection, that’s a judicial insurrection.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade pic.twitter.com/LhU69qLFg7
— The Recount (@therecount) May 3, 2022
POLITICO broke the news Monday that the Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark decision, reporting that Justice Samuel Alito had written a draft that is an “unflinching repudiation” of Roe v. Wade.
The draft majority opinion, which is not final, says Roe v. Wade was egregiously wrong. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
The unprecedented leak has sent shockwaves throughout Washington, with many commentators noting that a draft decision has never been publicly released in the modern history of the court.
“The leak appears to be totally political in nature, not only intended to damage the Court and pressure the justices, but more immediately to incite Democrats to push their laundry list of terrible anti-life ideas, including blowing up the filibuster and attempting to codify abortion violence at the federal level prior to the November elections,” Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel at Americans United for Life (AUL), told The Daily Wire late Monday evening.
On Tuesday, Chief Justice John Roberts released a statement confirming that the draft document is real but emphasizing that it did not represent the Supreme Court’s final decision.
“We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce — permanent employees and law clerks alike — intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law,” the chief justice said.
“This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here,” he added, noting that he has “directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.”