The Supreme Court announced Thursday that it could not identify the person drafting a draft by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the opinion expressed by Roe v. Wade picked up, leaked.
The Supreme Court released a 23-page report on its investigation into the leak that shook the political world when Politico published the draft opinion in May. The court has attempted to identify the person behind it and is continuing its investigation into the matter.
However, investigators also found fault with the court itself, saying its security policies are outdated and much of the system is built on trust, making it “too easy to remove sensitive information from the building” — a clue to the person’s secret can never be found be resolved.
It also does not rule out that a printed report is simply left lying around.
“It is not possible to determine the identity of any person who may have disclosed the document, or how the draft opinion reached Politico,” the report said. “No one has admitted to publicly disclosing the document, and none of the available forensic or other evidence provided any basis for identifying an individual as the source of the document.”
Donald Trump called for the arrest of the Politico team behind the story. “Arrest the reporter, the publisher, the editor – you’ll get your answer quickly. Stop playing games and wasting time!” he wrote on his platform Truth Social.
The Supreme Court announced that it had dismissed the person drafting a Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization leaked
The leak of the draft report triggered outrage and protests
Timeline on the leak as published in the Supreme Court report
February 10: The draft Dobbs report was emailed to a mailing list of 70 people, made up of paralegals and permanent court staff who work on reports.
March 22: Eight other permanent employees received the draft opinion via email. Investigators later discovered that two other permanent employees had separately accessed the draft report electronically.
May 22: Politico publishes draft statement
May 23: Chief Justice Roberts confirms its authenticity when he orders an investigation into the leak
A breach of cyber security was also ruled out.
“While the court’s investigators and IT experts cannot absolutely rule out a hacker attack, the evidence to date does not indicate any form of improper access from outside.” said the report.
“After examining the court’s computer equipment, networks, printers and available call and text logs, investigators found no forensic evidence to indicate who disclosed the draft opinion,” the report said.
Even accidental injury could not be ruled out – for example, if a copy of the draft was simply left lying around.
“Investigators also cannot rule out the possibility that the draft report was accidentally or negligently disclosed — for example, by being left in a public place inside or outside the building,” the report said.
Politico’s release of Samuel Alito’s draft opinion eight months ago marked the first time an opinion had been released before the court was ready to announce it.
Chief Justice John Roberts the next day ordered an investigation into what he called an “egregious breach of trust.”
“To the extent that this betrayal of the court’s confidential information was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed,” he said at the time. “The work of the court will not be affected in any way.”
The investigations were carried out by the bailiff. It turned out that 80 people had access to the draft opinion. And 34 people said they printed it out — sometimes more than once.
As part of its investigation, the court’s team conducted 126 formal interviews with 97 staff members, “all of whom declined to disclose opinion,” the report said. Investigators also searched laptops and cell phones, including call and text logs.
Several court officials admitted telling their spouses or partners about the draft report, in violation of the court’s confidentiality rules.
It was not determined that any of these discussions resulted in a copy of the draft Opinion being published.
Investigators are still conducting their search.
They “continue to review and process some electronic data that has been collected and some other investigations are pending,” the report said.
“As far as additional investigations result in new evidence or clues, the investigators will investigate them.”
Investigators have branded the treat as someone who “brazenly violated a system fundamentally built on trust.”
But they also acknowledged that there are “limited safeguards to regulate and restrict access to very sensitive information.”
They blamed the COVID pandemic — and its demands for remote work — as well as “gaps in the court’s security policies” for creating “an environment where it was too easy to extract sensitive information from the court’s building and IT networks.” Court to remove the risk of both intentional and inadvertent disclosure of sensitive information of the court.’
The Justices of the US Supreme Court: Seated (LR): Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Elena Kagan. Standing (L-R): Judges Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson
Donald Trump suggested arresting the Politico team behind the story
Trump blasted the Supreme Court in a lengthy post on Truth Social after the report was released.
“The Supreme Court just announced that even with the help of our ‘crack’ FBI, it can’t figure out who the tidbit in the Rv Wade scandal was. They’ll never find out, and it’s important that they do. So go to the reporter and ask him/her who it was. If the answer is not given, put everyone in jail until the answer is given. You can add the publisher and publisher to the list. Stop playing games, this leak must not happen. It won’t be long before this slime’s name is revealed!” he wrote.
The final opinion released in the Dobbs case was strikingly similar to the draft opinion published by Politico. The release sparked anger from Democrats about the expected backlash on abortion rights and Republicans’ suspicion that the leak was made to ensure the draft opinion stood.
The court’s five conservative justices overturned Roe – the landmark case that legalized abortion – with the ruling penned by Justice Samuel Alito.
Roberts sided with the three liberals on the court in this matter.
But the leak shook the court to its core. The mysterious body prided itself on its lack of leaks. And it has frayed relations between judges.
Alito called the leak a “serious breach of trust by someone and it came as a shock” leading to a “changed” atmosphere at the court. Judge Clarence Thomas likened it to infidelity.
The decision also prompted protests outside the court and threats against several judges. Alito and Judge Brett Kavanaugh had protesters outside the DC area homes.