FBI will reopen investigation into Dobbs leak

The FBI has announced that it is reopening an investigation into the 2022 leak of the draft decision in the Supreme Court ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In May 2022, Politico published the leaked draft decision of the Dobb’s case, indicating that the Supreme Court justices had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade – more than a month before the decision was officially announced.

• The “unprecedented” leak resulted in a wave of pro-abortion protests, threats, and acts of vandalism against Supreme Court justices and pro-life organizations.

• The FBI is reopening its investigation into the leak, after previous investigations yielded no results.

THE DETAILS:

On Monday, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on X that he and FBI Director Kash Patel would be reopening several cases that occurred under the Biden administration, including the leak of the Dobbs case.

“Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest,” Bongino wrote. “We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases. These cases are the DC pipe bombing investigation, the cocaine discovery at the prior administration’s White House, and the leak of the Supreme Court Dobbs case.”

THE BACK STORY:

In May 2022, Politico published the leaked draft decision of the Dobbs case, indicating that the Supreme Court justices had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade – more than a month before the decision was officially announced. This resulted in a wave of pro-abortion protests outside the homes of the SCOTUS justices, with pro-abortion terrorist groups even threatening the children of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Elsewhere, pro-life centers encountered threats, vandalism, and even firebombing as the nation awaited the final decision in Dobbs.

In October 2022, Justice Samuel Alito spoke of the seriousness of the unprecedented leak, explaining that it put the lives of the Supreme Court justices at risk.

“The leak… made those of us who were thought to be in the majority in support of overruling Roe and Casey targets for assassination, because it gave people a rational reason to think they could prevent that from happening by killing one of us,” he explained.

At the time, Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak a “singular and egregious breach of [] trust.” Although he ordered an investigation to determine who leaked the draft document to Politico, it yielded no results.

THE BOTTOM LINE: 

James A. Gagliano, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, explained to The Washington Post that it is vital for the FBI to get to the bottom of the Dobbs leak and that it is not unusual for law enforcement to review unresolved cases or reallocate resources.

“The FBI can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said. “Just because resources shift does not mean other threats will go unaddressed.”

He added, “If nobody is held to account for the Dobbs leak, it is going to happen again.”