US Supreme Court justices interviewed as part of leak investigation

Months after an investigation was announced into who leaked the draft ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court, the high court’s justices were cleared of wrongdoing. The probe also found that there was no evidence to implicate that the spouses of the justices may have been involved in the leaking.

Friday last week, the Supreme Court’s Chief Security Officer Gail Curley issued a statement saying that the justices were questioned as part of the investigation. Curley said the evidence found no information that implicated the justices and their spouses.

Curley’s statement comes a day after the high court issued a 20-page report based on the eight-month probe on who leaked the draft ruling overturning Roe v. Wade to Politico.

The report said that the investigators spoke to 97 Supreme Court employees but made no mention of whether the justices at the time of the leak were interviewed, which led to calls for clarity on the investigation.

“During the course of the investigation, I spoke with each of the justices, several on multiple occasions,” said Curley. “The justices actively cooperated in this iterative process, asking questions, and answering mine.”

“I followed up on all credible leads, none of which implicated the justices or their spouses,” said Curley, adding that it was on this basis that the justices were not required to sign sworn affidavits confirming that they were not the ones who leaked the draft, which Supreme Court employees were required to do.

The statement by Curley was still met with skepticism. Executive director of the court-reform group Fix the Court, said the fact that the report left out the fact that the justices were interviewed “smells fishy” and that the justices were not required to sign the sworn affidavits were “fishier.”

The leaked draft that overturned decades of precedent that legalized abortion nationwide sparked public outrage from pro-choice lawmakers and groups, as well as protests.

With Sunday having marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Vice President Kamala Harris said abortion rights are being threatened in the country, as the right of every woman to make her own decisions on healthcare was at stake.