What is the status of the internal investigation into who leaked the draft opinion of the Dobbs case?
Chief Justice John Roberts opened an internal investigation into who leaked the opinion, calling it “appalling” and an attack on the integrity of the Court that would not succeed. “To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed,” the chief justice said in a rare public statement. “The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.”
Marshal Gail Curley, a former U.S. Army colonel with a long legal history in the military, is conducting the investigation.
But since then, we haven’t heard anything official, and it’s been almost three months. The Court was not commenting on the matter when asked by Fox News. They’re not even saying if any other law enforcement has been called in on the matter.
Now, Fox News has some more information about the matter. They have multiple sources saying that of the 70 people who were thought to have had access to the opinion, the investigation has now narrowed down the potential suspects.
Loads of credit due to our producer, Bill Mears, who never stops digging on what’s going on with the #SCOTUS leak investigation: pic.twitter.com/q0EZIN3V9K
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) July 30, 2022
About three dozen or so law clerks were asked to turn over their cellphones and sign affidavits, presumably saying they didn’t leak the opinion. It’s not clear if all the clerks complied. Since they generally only have a year term, most of those who would have been there during the leak may have moved on to other jobs so they can no longer have their job held over their heads to have them comply with the investigation. Getting anything from them in the future may be difficult with just an internal investigation, and it’s not clear if there is any other investigation going on apart from the internal investigation.
Curley has also asked permanent court staff to turn over their phones and electronic devices, as well. But there’s only so much that Curley can do if, she doesn’t have subpoena power or any real investigative force behind her actions.
Since the leak, the Supreme Court justices have faced protests at their homes and have been under constant threat, with a leftist action organization even offered bounties for tattling when someone spots justice, so the radicals can rush to wherever they are and harass them. Pro-life care centers have been also firebombed, and churches vandalized, by radicals.
The question of who it is and what “side” the person is on has been a question of great interest, with people on both sides of the aisle convinced that it’s the other side–although the conventional wisdom is that it’s a person on the left.
Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog also has offered a theory. Observing that the Politico story was written by Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, a legal-affairs reporter and national-security reporter, respectively, he speculates that the only logical reason for Ward to have a byline on the SCOTUS story is that the leaker went to him. Dan has pointed out that before working for Politico, Ward was a reporter at Vox, a far-left news outlet, perhaps more reason to be comfortable in the assumption that the leak indeed came from the left.
There still appear to be leaks on-going, as someone leaked to CNN (if one can believe CNN) about Chief Justice John Roberts supposedly wanting to convince people to save Roe.
So, they obviously need to figure out where the leaks are coming from, if they hope to preserve the integrity of the Court–or this may happen again.
100% buulshyt
Waterboard their a…s, for quick results.
This is bullshit! They knew w/i 72 hours who the culprit is. The reason we haven’t heard anything is because of the circumstances surrounding the leak. You’re not allowed to intimidate judges – period. It’s a crime. Actually, it’s a first-class felony:
18 U.S. Code 1507…”Whoever with the intent of interfering with, obstructing or impeding the administration of a justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building, housing a court of the United States or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent, uses any sound truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence shall be fined or imprisoned no more than 10 years”
Therefore, whomever is responsible needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Why the fullest extent? Because although clerks are supposed to remain non-partisan NO MATTER THE ISSUE, this particular person(s) and whomever did this became so enraged, they took it upon themselves to break the law…to violate the trust they owe to the Justice, to the court, and to the rule of law – damn the consequences.
Sidebar: Actually, w/ the current ILLEGITIMATE ‘Administration’ in office, which not only doesn’t recognize the Constitution, but also doesn’t recognize rule of law, they probably figured when it’s all said and done, (court appearances, hearings, continuances, and the appeals process), their chances of doing any real jail time, (if any at all), will be nill…and that doesn’t even include plea bargaining…(Unfortunately) – they’re probably correct.
But, the point I was making concerning the origin – is its fallout. It’s the first time anything like this has ever happened in U.S. history, and to the degree of just how destructive it is, is (almost) immeasurable. It’s a serious breach which diminishes the integrity of not only the Justices and the institution, but the Constitution itself. The Court depends on trust to be able to deliberate, decide, and deliver…and that’s why this partisan activist should be fired, disbarred, (from practicing law), and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
So, who could have done it? Here’s the layout:
There are 9 Supreme Court justices of which each has 4 clerks, (a total of 36 possibilities). Of the 9, (Roberts, Gorsich, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Alito, Thomas, Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayer), the last 3 are liberals. But one in particular is far-left, (especially on this subject) – Sotomayer. It is almost certain, one of these 36 law clerks, and it is almost certainly one of the 12 law clerks that are clerking for the 3 liberal justices, is the culprit.
Sidenote: My opinion: It’s one of the 4 working for Sotomayer. Worse yet, if it’s ever found/PROVEN it was done w/ her knowledge? OMG! Although that’s a stretch, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, just probability. Let’s hope and pray this is NOT the case, but this is my opinion as to why we haven’t heard anything yet. SOTOMAYER KNEW OF THE LEAK!
Second Sidenote: There could have been a secretary or clerical assistant involved, but realistically, it’s not someone like that because the leaker also knew confidential information about how the justices voted at Conference, and that is held in incredibly close hold w/i the SCOTUS.
Rules for the process(es) of an Opinion Draft: You DO NOT take an Opinion Draft out of the building. All the work is done inside the building. That means at midnight or 1AM, you sometimes have law clerks working at their desk. When a Draft is finished, there is a (brown and red) ‘burn bag’ underneath each clerks’ desk. The Draft is put in the ‘burn bag’ which is later sealed, and then shredded (x 2, once vertically, once horizontally), and then burned.
That’s the level of confidentiality clerks are taught to protect the decision-making of the court. The SCOTUS also has forensically designed security measures to ascertain where an Opinion was printed, (i.e. what printer it was printed on, etc.). In addition, this is the culmination of a multi-year campaign of Senate Democrats to politicize and destroy the courts, (along w/ ‘court-packing’).
Hmmmmmm? That was a while ago now? Who’s the patsy ?
Think of the most advantageous culprit the Democrat Secret Police can come up with to move THEIR narrative forward.