Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch said Thursday that the findings of the Supreme Court probe into who leaked the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft opinion will hopefully be coming “soon.”
“The chief justice appointed an internal committee to oversee the investigation,” Gorsuch said Thursday at the tenth Circuit Bench and Bar Conference in Colorado, the Wall Street Journal reported. “That committee has been busy and we’re looking forward to their report, I hope soon.” He did not reveal if the findings will be public.
The leaked draft opinion indicating the majority of justices were set to vote to overturn Roe v. Wade was first reported by Politico in May. Chief Justice John Roberts launched an investigation into who leaked the opinion in May, but there have been few updates on who compromised the confidentiality of the Court.
The justices later published the final opinion in June, showing that the leaked draft opinion was very similar to their final majority opinion.
Conservative justices on the court condemned the leak, with Justice Clarence Thomas saying the justices had believed their conversations to be confidential, but “now that trust or that belief is gone forever.”
Gorsuch said the leak was meant to influence the outcome of the decision and is a threat to the judicial process, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“I very much hope we get to the bottom of this sooner or later,” he added.
Conservative justices were also threatened and harassed at their houses by protesters, and an armed man was arrested outside of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house for threatening to break into his house and kill him.
Gorsuch expressed some optimism on Thursday, however, saying, “there’s so much more that unites us than divides us,” citing his close relationship with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who voted against Dobbs.