Chief Justice John Roberts launched an investigation into the leak of a draft decision overturning Roe V. Wade, suggesting the “egregious breach of that trust” was an inside job.
Politico on Monday evening released the draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito and signed onto by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The decision was expected sometime in the coming weeks, but the draft decision, confirmed as authentic by Roberts, rattled the high court. Roberts said he has “directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.”
“Yesterday, a news organization published a copy of a draft opinion in a pending case. Justices circulate draft opinions internally as a routine and essential part of the Court’s confidential deliberative work,” the release said. “Although the document described in yesterday’s reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final portion of any member on the issue in the case.”
Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court,” Roberts wrote. “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.”
BREAKING – Chief Justice on #SCOTUS leak: pic.twitter.com/a346EUHjoD
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) May 3, 2022
Following the leak, Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel at Americans United for Life (AUL), told The Daily Wire the move was likely “totally political.”
“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,” Glenn said.
Carrie Severino, co-author of “Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court,” slammed the leak as “an outrageous betrayal of trust.”
“The Supreme Court is the only institution in town that doesn’t leak, and to do this is a real attack on the institution of the court. Not to mention just an outrageous breach of trust to the justices to do so,” Severino told The Daily Wire.
Related: Leftist Dark Money Group Praises SCOTUS Leaker As ‘Last Ditch Hail Mary’
Related: ‘Those Motherf*****s Really Did It’: Celebrities React To Roe v. Wade Possibly Being Overturned
