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Fox’s Stuart Varney Reveals Interesting Take on Supreme Court Leaker

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Fox News host Stuart Varney is questioning the integrity of the Supreme Court after an investigation into who might have leaked a draft opinion in the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson case last May did not reveal any possible names.

During a segment on “Varney & Co.,” he expressed frustration and disbelief at how the Supreme Court investigation into the leaker of the Roe v. Wade draft decision failed to identify a culprit after interviewing over 75 people in the months-long probe. In May 2022, Politico published a leaked draft opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which resulted in nationwide protests and threats of violence to conservative justices at their homes.

Varney also noted that the Supreme Court conducted interviews with nearly 100 employees, but reportedly did not speak with any justices themselves. He noted that it seemed odd that none of the justices appear to have been interviewed in an investigation of this magnitude.

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The Supreme Court released its report on Thursday into who might have leaked the draft opinion, which overturned the Court’s controversial precedent in Roe v. Wade on a “constitutional right” to abortion and returned the issue to the states.

The investigation concluded without identifying the source of the leak to Politico last year:

The investigation by the marshal of the Supreme Court included a forensic investigation of laptops and phones but found “no relevant information from these devices.” The marshal’s office determined that 82 employees had access to the opinion and interviewed 97 employees, all of whom denied leaking the opinion.

In addition, the marshal investigated connections between employees and contacts in the media, with a particular focus on Politico. They also followed up on social media claims of who might have leaked the decision, but “investigators found nothing to substantiate any of the social media allegations.”

“Some individuals admitted to investigators that they told their spouse or partner about the draft Dobbs opinion and the vote count, in violation of the Court’s confidentiality rules,” the investigation reads.

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The report states that the court conducted interviews with nearly 100 employees, but does not discuss any interviews of the justices themselves.

Several have pointed out that it seems odd that none of the justices appear to have been interviewed in the investigation:

It is no exaggeration to say that the integrity of judicial proceedings depends on the inviolability of internal deliberations.

For these reasons and others, the Court immediately and unanimously agreed that the extraordinary betrayal of trust that took place last May warranted a thorough investigation. The Chief Justice assigned the task to the Marshal of the Supreme Court and her staff. After months of diligent analysis of forensic evidence and interviews of almost 100 employees, the Marshal’s team determined that no further investigation was warranted with respect to many of the “82 employees [who] had access to electronic or hard copies of the draft opinion.” Marshal’s Report of Findings & Recommendations 11 (Jan. 19, 2023). In following up on all available leads, however, the Marshal’s team performed additional forensic analysis and conducted multiple follow-up interviews of certain employees. But the team has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence. Id., at 17. A public version of the Marshal’s report is attached.

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Recently, this Court consulted Michael Chertoff. Mr. Chertoff is a former Secretary of Homeland Security, Judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U. S. Department of Justice, and U. S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. We invited Mr. Chertoff to assess the Marshal’s investigation. He has advised that the Marshal “undertook a thorough investigation” and, “[a]t this time, I cannot identify any additional useful investigative measures” not already undertaken or underway. Statement from Michael Chertoff 1 (2023). A copy of Mr. Chertoff’s statement is attached.

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz recently offered his opinion of who he believes leaked the draft to Politico.

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