'Utterly ridiculous': Legal experts slam Supreme Court report on 'brazenly hackish' Dobbs leak investigation

Before the U.S. Supreme Court, on June 24, 2022, officially released its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Politico published a leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that outlined the High Court’s reasons for overturning Roe v. Wade. And many of them find it “ridiculous” that the U.S. Supreme Court — after months of complaining about how egregious the leak was — said it couldn’t determine where the leak came from. Whether the ‘employees’ who were subjected to the investigation includes the justices themselves remains unclear, and the speculation amongst legal industry commentators is that the nine were not included in the search for the leaker — and it certainly doesn’t include any of their spouses.” Legal expert Elie Mystal, a frequent guest on MSNBC and writer for The Nation, reacted to the High Court’s report in a scathing January 19 Twitter thread. Do the justices not count as ‘Court personnel’ or ‘permanent employees?’ Because it's utterly ridiculous to conduct an investigation that excludes nine prime suspects.” That same day on Twitter, attorney Max Kennerly posted, “The likelihood of the Dobbs leak coming from the Alito/Thomas camp just went from 95% to 99%.” Kennerly said of Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, “Both have a long history of ethical improprieties on the court, and they were the only ones with anything to gain from a leak, to lock in any wavering Justices who didn't want such an aggressive approach.