Seven-plus months have elapsed since word first leaked of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito crafting an initial majority draft opinion for possibly overturning Roe v. Wade.
Within this stretch, though, there hasn’t been any substantive reporting on who might have leaked the document to Politico.
That could all change when the Republican-controlled Congress convenes on Jan. 3.
According to the Washington Times, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio — the soon-to-be chairman of the House Judiciary Committee — fully intends to investigate the origins of the Supreme Court leak from last spring.
“Dozens and dozens of churches were attacked, dozens and dozens of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers were attacked, protests occurred at Supreme Court justices’ homes, and there was an assassination attempt on Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh,” said Jordan, according to the Times.
“But to date, in this Congress, not one hearing in the House Judiciary Committee about that leak. Not one hearing,” added Jordan.
Shortly after the leak, Chief Justice John Roberts vowed to root out the truth in an internal probe. But since then, there have been no public comments about the matter from Roberts, or the Justice Department (DOJ).
Back in September, the Times also reported of Justice Elena Kagan teasing an imminent update on the investigation. But just like Roberts or the DOJ, there hasn’t been any public word since then.
In May, Newsmax contributor and former New Jersey Superior Court judge Andrew Napolitano cautioned that, even if the leaker was publicly identified, there would be no guarantees of that party being arrested on criminal charges.
“If the leaker is an outside person who hacked into the [Supreme Court’s] computer system, well, that’s a federal crime. That’s a felony,” Napolitano told Newsmax in the spring, while estimating that each document hack attempt could result in a five-year prison sentence.
But “if the leaker worked for the [Supreme] Court, and had lawful possession of [Alito’s majority draft opinion] and who violated their agreement of confidentiality, that is not a crime. However, it is a serious ethics breach. It’s a fireable offense. And if that person is a lawyer,” they run the risk of being barred from practicing law in the future, said Napolitano.
Either way, Napolitano acknowledged the apparent leak has eroded some trust in the judicial process.
“This [leak] is not unprecedented, but it is extremely, extremely rare,” said Napolitano, who hosts the “Judging Freedom” podcast.
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