Key NPR reporter claims ‘leading theory’ on SCOTUS leak is conservative clerk

Amid an ongoing investigation into the leak of a Supreme Court opinion that could see the landmark Roe v. Wade overturned, speculation is rampant about who was behind the unprecedented breach of trust.

Theories have been offered by both experts and casual observers of the high court about who released the draft majority opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito, in a stunning breach of the Supreme Court’s tradition of secrecy, with many positing that a law clerk is the culprit.  And over at NPR, legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg claimed the “leading theory” is that it was a clerk for one of the conservative justices on the bench.

Totenberg spouted off about the topic on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, starting off by saying the leak has been like an “earthquake” in the high court.

“There has never been a leak like this,” she said. “That has never, ever occurred before.”

“That could only, in all likelihood, have come from a justice — that I think is less likely — or perhaps one of the clerks,” Totenberg said, adding “and the leading theory is a conservative clerk who was afraid that one of the conservatives might be persuaded by Chief Justice Roberts in to joining the much more moderate opinion.”

She dismissively noted that there is “another theory that it was an outraged liberal clerk.”

“But I think the only one that makes sense is that it came from somebody who was afraid that this majority might not hold,” she declared.

Totenberg also found it “very unlikely” that an investigation will ever reveal who leaked the opinion to Politico which set off a firestorm after it was published last week.

Meanwhile, conservatives have offered up a very different take with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz calling out the leaker as a “woke, little left-wing twit” and, on Sunday, speculated that it’s “almost certainly one of the 12 law clerks that are clerking for the three liberal justices”

“I’m confident we don’t have a master criminal working at the court. I think there are going to be electronic records,” the Texas Republican said on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Chief Justice John Roberts called for the court’s marshal last week to launch an investigation of the “egregious breach” of trust.

“Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court,” Roberts said in a statement. “This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.”

Meanwhile, Totenberg’s credibility was called out after sharing her “leading theory” on the SCOTUS leak.

Frieda Powers

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles