Josh Gerstein, Alex Ward, and Kyle Cheney of Politico are in the unusual position of reporting on a whodunit investigation where they know who the culprit is, and the investigators don’t. They still managed to produce a nearly 1,200-word report that says remarkably little:
The Supreme Court marshal’s probe into the disclosure of a draft opinion on Roe v. Wade is fully in progress, multiple people familiar with the proceedings told POLITICO, carrying out Chief Justice John Roberts’ order to investigate the leak. But questions about the investigation’s scope and process — some emanating from inside the court, these people said — reveal internal frustrations that in recent days have burst out into the open. Roberts ordered the internal investigation three weeks ago. . . . It’s unclear if justices will allow their staff to be questioned by the team assembled by Marshal Gail Curley, or even be questioned themselves. Furthermore, the exact process or deadline for a completed review is still unknown.
What exactly is the news here? We know when Roberts ordered the investigation and that it is headed by the marshal, because he said so in a public statement. It is not surprising that, three weeks later, the investigation has started. Everything else here is speculation. (You can read my own rundowns here, here, and here.) The Associated Press has just slightly more success adding to the biographical picture of the marshal, Colonel Gail Curley:
Overseeing an investigation isn’t new to Curley. In her military career she routinely oversaw a dozen or more criminal and administrative investigations and supervised large numbers of attorneys and paralegals. . . . The investigations she oversaw throughout her career could range broadly, from criminal matters involving service members to contract issues.
It is, however, good news that the investigation is not itself leaking. What remains to be seen is whether the Court is willing and able to not just identify but publicly expose the culprit.