Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says he has a “pretty good idea” who leaked the draft of his ruling that overturned abortion rights.
“I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that’s different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody,” Alito said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Alito was referring to the leak of a draft of his opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last May.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito wrote for the majority, referring to the landmark Supreme Court cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely ― the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
In June, the Supreme Court officially struck down both rulings, bringing an end to the federal protection of abortion rights.
Following the leak, Chief Justice John Roberts directed the marshal of the Supreme Court to open an investigation, but the identity of the leaker was never confirmed.
Alito apparently has his suspicions, though, telling the Journal that the motive behind the leak was to “intimidate the court.”
“It was a part of an effort to prevent the Dobbs draft ... from becoming the decision of the court,” he said. “And that’s how it was used for those six weeks by people on the outside ― as part of the campaign to try to intimidate the court.”
Alito himself has been accused of leaking a draft ruling in 2014.
Alito also complained about the criticisms the Supreme Court has faced, including over recent reports that Justice Clarence Thomas has received lavish gifts for decades from his billionaire friend.
“We are being hammered daily, and I think quite unfairly in a lot of instances,” Alito said. “And nobody, practically nobody, is defending us. The idea has always been that judges are not supposed to respond to criticisms, but if the courts are being unfairly attacked, the organized bar will come to their defense.”
When asked specifically about Thomas’ free trips over the years, Alito said: “I’ll stay away from that.”