The Supreme Court conceded Thursday that its investigation into who leaked an unpublished draft of an opinion about federal abortion rights—which incited widespread protests a month before Roe v. Wade was officially overturned—has been a total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.
In a statement, the court said investigators followed all leads and conducted a forensic analysis 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.
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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.
“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.
Those interviewed were told they would be fired if they refused to answer or did not truthfully answer questions, the report said. 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 rocked by the leak of the opinion draft, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, in May. It forewarned that the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, would soon overturn Roe and set the nation back decades in regard to abortion rights.
It was the first leak of its kind to emerge from the Supreme Court, whose operations are typically shrouded in secrecy unlike Congress and the White House.
A day after the leak was exposed by Politico, Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed that the draft was genuine. In his statement, he announced a thorough investigation was being launched to find the source of the “egregious breach.”
The court made the contents of the draft official a month later, overturning 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.
