The Justice Department is stepping up its hunt for whoever leaked the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The leak rocked the nation’s highest court more than four years ago, and no one has been publicly identified.
The New York Times reported Thursday that federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas for testimony. They have also sought information from people who worked at the court when the draft in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was handed to Politico. The investigation has intensified in recent weeks.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro is overseeing the probe. Pirro is a Trump ally and former Fox News host, and she has assigned one of her top lieutenants to the case. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Politico published Justice Samuel Alito’s draft majority opinion on May 2, 2022. It revealed that the court was poised to end the constitutional right to abortion nearly two months before the ruling was formally released. The next day, the court confirmed the document was authentic but stressed it did not represent a final decision. Chief Justice John Roberts ordered the court’s marshal, Gail Curley, to find the source.
On June 24, 2022, the court overturned Roe by a 5-4 vote in an opinion that closely tracked the leaked draft.
The fallout was immediate. Protesters gathered outside the homes of conservative justices, and the justices received threats. In June 2022, an armed man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home and later charged with attempting to assassinate him.
Alito later said the leak “made us targets of assassination.” In 2023, he said he believed he had a good idea who was responsible but lacked the proof to name anyone.
The court’s internal investigation came up empty. In January 2023, after roughly eight months of work, the marshal’s office reported that it could not determine who leaked the draft. Investigators had interviewed 97 employees, who signed sworn statements denying involvement. They also brought in forensic experts to trace who had accessed, printed or emailed the document. Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff reviewed the effort and called it thorough.
The renewed federal probe raises legal questions. It remains unclear what criminal statute prosecutors believe was violated. Unauthorized disclosures of national security information can carry criminal penalties, but no federal law specifically protects the Supreme Court’s internal deliberations. Prosecutors could examine whether court employees made false statements during the original investigation.
The case could also raise separation-of-powers concerns if prosecutors seek access to confidential judicial deliberations. No charges have been announced.
For many conservatives, the leak remains one of the most serious breaches in the court’s history, and its source has gone unidentified for years. With subpoenas now going out, the Justice Department is renewing the effort to answer who was responsible.
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