WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday that he has a “pretty good idea” who was responsible for the stunning leak last year of a draft opinion in the high court’s blockbuster abortion case.
“I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that’s different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody,” Alito said in the interview with the Journal’s opinion section. Alito asserted that the leak was “part of an effort to prevent the Dobbs draft…from becoming the decision of the court.”
The claim, made without evidence, once again thrusts the second-most senior associate justice into a frenzy of speculation that has swirled around the court since the leak of the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Conservatives outside the court have for months suggested that the leak was an effort to pressure the justices to reach a different conclusion. Liberals have speculated it was an effort to shore up wavering support for the draft.
Alito waved off that theory.
“That’s infuriating to me,” he said. “Look, this made us targets of assassination. Would I do that to myself? Would the five of us have done that to ourselves?”
A Supreme Court investigation did not identify the leaker
Alito, who wrote the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has personally been the subject of speculation after a former anti-abortion advocate claimed he had knowledge of the outcome of another opinion, this one in 2014, after an associate dined with Alito and his wife.
Alito vigorously denied disclosing the outcome of the case.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito, author of the Supreme Court’s landmark opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, waved away criticism of the ruling from foreign leaders in remarks in July 2022 at a religious summit in Rome.
The Supreme Court said in January that an investigation into the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion to Politico in May failed to identify who was responsible. The Supreme Court marshal, who led the investigation, reviewed forensic evidence and interviewed nearly 100 court employees. Investigators recommended fewer employees be permitted access to documents and that the court update its security policies.
But the results only prompted more questions about how closely investigators looked into the justices themselves.
‘Nobody is defending us’
Alito’s interview landed as the Supreme Court is reeling from a series of ethics scandals, most notably lavish trips and private jet travel given to Justice Clarence Thomas. Chief Justice John Roberts has resisted calls from Congress – mostly Senate Democrats – to stiffen rules at the court, possibly with a code of conduct.
