The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the 2022 leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, years after the court’s own inquiry failed to identify who was responsible.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s Washington, D.C., office is leading the probe, multiple sources briefed on the matter told Fox News. The New York Times first reported the investigation.
According to Fox’s sources, the inquiry has been underway for at least a year, and grand jury subpoenas have been issued, though it is unclear who received them.
No arrests or charges have been reported, and no suspect has been publicly named. Fox did not report which criminal statute prosecutors are examining. Pirro’s office has not publicly announced the probe: the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office both declined to comment.
Politico published the draft on May 2, 2022. It showed at least five conservative justices were prepared to overturn Roe. The final ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization came on June 24, 2022.
Chief Justice John Roberts ordered an internal investigation led by Court Marshal Gail Curley, who interviewed nearly 100 employees.
In January 2023, the court said investigators could not identify the person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence. No one confessed. The marshal’s report found no forensic or other evidence pointing to a source and judged it unlikely that an outsider had improperly accessed court computer systems. Some employees admitted telling a spouse or partner about the draft, a breach of court confidentiality rules.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, brought in by Roberts to review the work, concluded the inquiry was thorough. “At this time, I cannot identify any additional useful investigative measures,” he said.
Fox has reported that investigators narrowed their focus to about 70 people who may have had access to the draft. Law clerks serve one-year terms, so the clerks working at the court when the draft leaked have since finished their clerkships.
Justice Samuel Alito has said he has an opinion about who was responsible but that “the evidence available at this time is not strong enough” to name that person. Alito has said the leak made the five justices in the majority targets for assassination. A California man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home in 2022 and charged with attempting to assassinate him.
Fox News asked the Supreme Court whether it has worked with outside investigators, including the Justice Department. The outlet did not report a response.
