DOJ Opens Criminal Investigation Into 2022 Supreme Court Roe Leak

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the 2022 leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, with the probe now being run out of the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C.^[1] The move marks the first known federal criminal inquiry into the unprecedented disclosure that shook the court and ignited a nationwide political firestorm.^[1]

The investigation is being led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whose office will examine how the draft majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization made its way to the press before the ruling was formally announced.^[1] The Justice Department has declined to comment publicly on the probe or its scope, including what potential crimes are under review or whether any specific court employees or outside intermediaries have been identified as targets.^[1]

In May 2022, Politico published a leaked draft majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, showing that a five-justice majority had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and end nearly 50 years of nationwide constitutional protection for abortion. The scoop, which landed almost two months before the court officially released the Dobbs decision, was the first time in modern history that a full draft opinion in a pending Supreme Court case had become public while deliberations were still underway. The disclosure prompted Chief Justice John Roberts to order an unprecedented internal investigation by the court's marshal, which concluded in early 2023 that investigators could not determine who was responsible for the leak. The court said at the time that it had interviewed employees, reviewed electronic records, and asked staff to sign sworn affidavits, but still found no "sufficient" evidence to identify a leaker.

The Dobbs ruling, issued in late June 2022, ultimately tracked closely with the leaked draft and formally overturned Roe, returning abortion policy to the states and triggering a wave of bans and restrictions across much of the South and Midwest. The leak itself became a political flashpoint apart from the ruling: conservatives portrayed it as an attack on the court aimed at pressuring justices to change their votes, while many liberals focused less on the breach of secrecy and more on the substance of the coming decision. Lawmakers in both parties demanded answers, and some Republicans urged the Justice Department to open a criminal case, but until now the only publicly known inquiry was the Supreme Court's own internal probe.

By shifting the matter into a federal criminal investigation, the Biden administration's Justice Department is signaling that it is prepared to use grand jury powers and federal law-enforcement tools that were not available to the court's marshal. That could include subpoenaing phone and email records, taking sworn testimony from court employees and outside contacts, and exploring whether the leak involved unauthorized disclosure of confidential government information, obstruction, or other potential offenses. At the same time, the department's refusal to discuss the case underscores the sensitivity of investigating the Supreme Court, an independent branch of government whose internal deliberations are traditionally treated as sacrosanct.

1. Fox News