(USNewsMag.com) – The U.S. Supreme Court launched an investigation but could not pin down the person responsible for leaking a draft court opinion that foreshadowed the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 decision that legalized abortion on a federal level.
A draft of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the significant abortion case that would ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade, was published by Politico on May 2, 2022. Protests that lasted for months occurred at the justices’ residences and nationwide due to the unprecedented leak.
John Roberts, the Chief Justice, described the disclosure as “an appalling breach of trust.” The following day, Roberts requested the Marshal of the Court look into the issue and track down the source who gave the material to Politico.
Investigators questioned more than 120 employees, all of whom denied sharing the opinion, according to the court.
Over the summer, sources told Fox News that the initial focus was on about three dozen law clerks who work closely with the justices. These employees were requested to hand over their phones.
The investigating team has “failed to identify a person accountable by a preponderance of the evidence,” the Marshal’s report states.
According to the assessment, it is improbable that someone outside of the Court would have entered the Court’s information technology (IT) systems inappropriately. After looking through the Court’s computers, networks, printers, and call and text logs, investigators have not discovered any forensic proof of who disclosed the draft opinion.
Because of the coronavirus outbreak, more people were working from home, which made the Court’s internal IT system more exposed, according to the report.
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