DOJ pursuing criminal investigation into Supreme Court abortion decision leak

The U.S. Department of Justice is overseeing a criminal investigation to identify who leaked a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in May 2022.

The leak to Politico occured over a month before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned the 1973 decision that had established abortion as a constitutional right.

The leak sparked a wave of violence against churches and pro-life groups, and presented security threats for the justices on the case's majority. 

Although the Supreme Court investigated the leak, it said in 2023 that it could not identify the person responsible. Federal prosecutors are now pursuing a criminal investigation, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, is leading the investigation, the newspaper reported. Carlton Davis, a prosecutor and Pirro's top lieutenant, is working on the case.

The investigation may require authorities to closely examine the justices' personal internal records on the Dobbs case, raising concerns about separation of powers.

In May 2, 2022, Politico published the leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito showing that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe and the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

The leak generated outrage among pro-choice groups and activists, which included demonstrations outside the homes of Supreme Court justices. A security fence was also built around the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

In June 2022, shortly before the final Dobbs opinion was issued, a man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home and charged with attempting to murder him.

The man was later identified as Nicholas Roske of California. He pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate a U.S. justice and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The violence against pro-life nonprofits and churches continued across the country after the official release of the Dobbs decision. Many of the pro-choice vandals remain at large.

In January 2023, the Supreme Court released a statement saying its investigation “has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence.” 

The court's investigation report warned about "inadequate security with respect to the movement of
hard copy documents from the Court to home, the absence of mechanisms to
track print jobs on Court printers and copiers, and other gaps in security or policies."

"Too many personnel have access to certain Court-sensitive documents," the report stated. "The current distribution mechanisms result in too many people having access to highly sensitive information and the inability to actively track who is handling and accessing these documents."

Last year, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on his official X account that authorities would add more resources to investigate the leak.