Supreme Court admits that its Dobbs Leak Investigation was a total dud
The Supreme Court Thursday’s agreement that the investigation into who leaked an unpublished draft of an opinion about federal abortion rights—which incited widespread protests a month before Roe v. Wade was officially overturned—has been a total failure.
The court stated that investigators had followed all leads and performed a forensic analysis, but to no avail. Each of the court’s 97 employees denied leaking the draft in repeated interviews.
“The team has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence,” the court’s statement said.
Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley, who led the dud investigation, suggested that one of the court’s employees was lying about their role in the leak since it’s unlikely the court’s information technology systems were compromised.
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“While investigators and the Court’s IT experts cannot absolutely rule out a hack, the evidence to date reveals no suggestion of improper outside access,” the report said.
The report stated that interviewees were threatened with firing if they didn’t answer questions or refused to give truthful answers. Each employee was forced to sign an affidavit “affirming that he or she did not disclose the Dobbs draft opinion to any person not employed by the Supreme Court” and to swear before a notary to the truth of the statement.
Curley called out whoever was responsible, saying they “brazenly violated a system that was built fundamentally on trust with limited safeguards.” Despite no new leads, she says the investigation will still remain in place.
“Investigators continue to review and process some electronic data that has been collected and a few other inquiries remain pending,” Curley wrote. “To the extent that additional investigation yields new evidence or leads, the investigators will pursue them.”
Washington and the nation were shaken by the May leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion draft. It was warned that the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, would soon turn it around Roe This has set the nation back for decades when it comes to abortion rights.
It was the first leak of this kind from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s operations are usually shrouded with secrecy, unlike Congress or the White House.
One day later, the leak was discovered by PoliticoChief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft. In his statement, he announced a thorough investigation was being launched to find the source of the “egregious breach.”
A month later, the court declared the contents of the draft to be official. Roe with a 5-4 vote that sent the nation into protest as some states—like Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas—have since banned abortion altogether.
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