“During the course of the investigation, I spoke to each of the judges, several on multiple occasions. The judges actively cooperated in this iterative process, asking questions and answering mine,” Curley said.
Curley suggested that there was no “credible” information pointing to any of the justices or their spouses as sources for the POLITICO story last May, which unsealed the draft opinion and reported that the court was about to strike down federal constitutional law. to abortion recognized in Roe vs. Wade almost 50 years ago.
“I followed all the credible leads, none of which implicated the judges or their spouses. On this basis, I did not believe it was necessary to ask judges to sign affidavits,” Curley said.
While Curley’s investigation failed to identify anyone who could be held by a preponderance of the evidence to be responsible for the disclosure, several paralegals indicated they had discussed the draft opinion and vote count in the pending case with their spouses. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court formalized Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in almost identical form some seven weeks after POLITICO’s report, with five justices voting to strike out. Roe and four dissenters from that position.