Grand Jury Subpoenas Land as DOJ Reopens Hunt for Supreme Court Leaker

The Justice Department is turning up the heat. Prosecutors in Washington, D.C., have begun issuing grand jury subpoenas as they try to figure out who leaked a draft Supreme Court opinion to Politico in 2022, according to a Thursday report from The New York Times. The investigation has picked up speed in recent weeks, with prosecutors hunting for testimony from people who worked at the court when the draft surfaced.

The document in question was the draft majority opinion that would eventually strike down Roe v. Wade. Politico published it in May 2022, nearly two months before the court formally handed down its ruling, giving the country an early look at the end of a constitutional right to abortion. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is overseeing the renewed effort.

This isn't the first attempt to crack the case. Chief Justice John Roberts ordered an internal investigation right after the leak landed. Court investigators sat down with 97 staff members and clerks, and consulted the justices without formally interviewing them, per the Times. That effort wrapped in January 2023 having named no suspect, and it exposed holes in the court's security setup.

President Donald Trump has kept the pressure on, publicly demanding in July that whoever leaked the draft be found. He's joined a chorus of conservatives pushing for a criminal probe. Prosecutors haven't said whether they've turned up fresh evidence, or what restarted the push.

The legal path here is far from simple. Unauthorized leaks of national security material can trigger criminal charges, but there's no matching federal statute that specifically shields the Supreme Court's private deliberations. Prosecutors could instead look at whether court employees made false statements during the original investigation. No charges have been filed.

The Justice Department isn't saying much. Asked about the probe, a DOJ spokesperson told TheWrap on Thursday: “The Department does not comment on the existence of ongoing investigations or lack thereof.”