Republican officials are blasting the “colossal failure” of a Supreme Court investigation that failed to determine the identity of the individual who leaked the Court’s draft opinion of its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in May, calling it both “dangerous” and “inexcusable,” while warning it “will jeopardize the future operations of our nation’s highest court.”
On Thursday, following over six months of investigation and interviews with more than a hundred employees, Supreme Court investigators announced they were “unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence.”
In response, former President Donald Trump called on law enforcement to “[s]top playing games and wasting time” and, instead, arrest the “slime” reporter who received the opinion in order to “get your answer fast.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called the failure to identify the Dobbs leaker “deeply troubling,” noting that the Supreme Court “depends on trust to deliberate and this leak is incredibly damaging to the Court’s ability to function normally,” calling for the leaker to be “brought to justice!”
Cruz had previously attributed the leak to a “multi-year effort by Senate Democrats to politicize and undermine the courts.”
While calling for someone to “resign” over the matter, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) deemed it “inexcusable.”
“And it means brazen attempts like this one to change the Court’s decisions – from within – will become more common,” he wrote.
“The person who did this, whoever it was, put at risk the lives of hundreds of pregnancy care center volunteers, whose centers were attacked and fire bombed, to say nothing of the justices themselves,” he added.
“How haven’t we been able to identify the Dobbs Leaker?” asked Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ).
“This is either pure incompetence or willful conduct to hide the Leaker,” he added. “Either way, a colossal failure.”
“This breaking news is a dangerous & inexcusable development that will jeopardize the future operations of our nation’s highest court,” wrote Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA).
“Justice has clearly not been served here & the guilty party remains at large,” he added.
He also announced he would be reintroducing the Leaker Accountability Act — a bill that would “expressly prohibit Supreme Court leaks moving forward, and hold accountable anyone who aims to harm the institution of the Court for political gain.”
“SCOTUS has concluded its investigation. Now it’s time for Congress to act,” he added.
With “so few possible leakers,” former Nevada Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt called the investigation results “impossible to accept.”
“The American people deserve to know who did this,” he wrote. “They deserve to know if the leaker had any connections to a political party or entity.”
“After 8 months of investigating one of the biggest leaks in American history, the conclusion of the SCOTUS is: they don’t know? The American people deserve answers,” wrote Georgia GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk.
“The Supreme Court’s failure to identify who leaked the Dobbs decision is unacceptable,” wrote Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX).
“Americans deserve truth and transparency, and the Court must not stop searching until the individual who leaked the document is held responsible,” he added.
“The investigation on who leaked the Dobbs decision has nearly concluded and the leaker wasn’t identified. This is totally unacceptable and a serious threat to one of our three branches of government,” wrote Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
“Very disappointing,” she added.
“The Supreme Court leak is not case closed. Congress must investigate in an appropriate and comprehensive way,” wrote Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA).
“The Supreme Court says it is ‘unable to identify’ the individual responsible for leaking the Dobbs decision. Unable…or unwilling?” asked Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA).
The unprecedented leak, described by Justice Clarence Thomas as “tremendously bad,” was the first of its kind in modern history.
It also spurred targeted attacks on pro-life institutions nationwide by a network of far-left militant groups, resulting in over a hundred attacks on churches, pro-life groups, and pregnancy resource centers, The Family Research Council (FRC) reported.
According to a Fox News report, following the investigation’s failure to identify a culprit, the House Judiciary Committee is now expected to investigate the leak.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.