Chief Justice John Roberts told judges gathered for the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference meeting in Atlanta, Georgia that there was no way the recent leak of a draft decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade would change the Court’s plans.
Roberts appeared to question how the information got out, potentially suggesting it may have been stolen and not leaked, and characterized it as “absolutely appalling.”
Still, Roberts said it would be “foolish” to think such a leak would prevent the Supreme Court from doing its job.
“A leak of this sort — let’s assume that’s what it is — is absolutely appalling,” said Roberts, according to the Washington Post.
“If the people behind it, or person behind it, thinks that it’s going to have an effect on our decision process, that’s absolutely foolish,” he added.
Roberts said the court “will go about doing our work as we would in any event,” adding, “regardless of the leak.”
The Washington Post claims that Roberts did not seem to believe there had been a leak at times.
A draft opinion that would see the controversial 1973 abortion case Roe v Wade overturned, written by Justice Samuel Alito was published by Politico on Monday.
The leak immediately led pundits on both sides of the aisle to note the unprecedented nature of such a leak, and has led to intense speculation about who may be responsible.
Conservatives assume the leak will help Democrats, as the embattled left wing party now has a campaign issue that’s unrelated to the economy or war in Ukraine as the calendar moves closer to the November midterm elections.
Democrats, meanwhile, have spread baseless conspiracy theories suggesting the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas was involved, or have suggested that a conservative Justice is using the leak to place public pressure on a colleague.
Others, with little evidence, have suggested the intelligence community may have been involved. One of the two Politico reporters given a byline on the story is Alexander Ward, who covers national security.
On Tuesday, Roberts ordered an investigation into how the information was released to Politico, describing it as a “betrayal of the confidences of the Court,” and a“singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.”
