Justice Department Pursuing Criminal Investigation into Dobbs Decision Leak

The Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation into the unauthorized release of the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a source familiar with the matter confirmed.

A draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was leaked to Politico and published two months before the Court issued its official ruling, setting off significant protests and heightening security threats for conservative justices.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and other career prosecutors are heading up the investigation into who leaked the draft opinion, the source said. National Review reached out to Pirro’s office, which declined to comment.

The investigation has recently gained momentum with prosecutors issuing grand jury subpoenas, according to the New York Times, which first revealed the existence of an investigation. Prosecutors have also been interviewing individuals who worked for the Court at the time of the leak.

“As a matter of general policy, the Department does not confirm or deny the existence of ongoing investigations,” a DOJ spokesperson told NR.

The Court conducted its own inquiry following the incident but failed to determine who gave Politico the draft decision. In a report issued in January 2023, the Court’s top security official said she had not cleared the preponderance of evidence standard required to name a suspect. The report also criticized the Court’s outdated technology and lax security arrangements.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told the Wall Street Journal in 2023 he had “a pretty good idea who is responsible,” but there was not enough evidence to name the suspect.

In July, while testifying in front of Congress, Justice Elena Kagan said, “We will pursue it [finding the culprit] till the end.”

While pro-lifers across the U.S. celebrated Dobbs, the leak placed many of the justices under security threat given the highly controversial nature of the decision. There were massive protests outside both the Court and conservative justices’ homes. Justice Amy Coney Barrett testified before Congress that she was forced to take on round-the-clock security to protect both herself and her children.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the target of an attempted assassination at his home. Nicholas Roske, a 26-year-old from California, traveled to Kavanaugh’s home with a gun and other supplies, because he was upset with the leaked decision.

Roske eventually pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate a Supreme Court justice and is serving a sentence of eight years in federal prison.

While it is currently unclear what charges the DOJ hopes to bring against the leaker, some legal experts have suggested prosecutors could pursue charges under federal statutes that prohibit theft of government property. Similarly, there are statutes prohibiting the unauthorized disclosure of confidential government information.

Prosecutors might also seek charges against Court employees who made false statements during the Court’s initial investigation.