McConnell: Supreme Court leak should be investigated, punished 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that the leak of a Supreme Court draft ruling should be investigated.

“This lawless action should be investigated and punished to the fullest extent possible, the fullest extent possible,” McConnell said during a floor speech

“I’m certain the chief justice will seek to get to the bottom of this. If a crime was commuted, the Department of Justice must pursue it completely,” McConnell added. 

Shortly after McConnell spoke, Chief Justice John Roberts said that he would open an investigation into the leak. He also verified the legitimacy of the draft, but said that it did not represent the final decisions of the justices.

It’s not immediately clear what, if any, laws were broken, since the draft decision isn’t classified information. When asked what laws were broken, a spokesman for McConnell pointed back to his statement.

McConnell, during his speech, didn’t address the details of the draft ruling. 

The draft ruling, penned by Justice Samuel Alito, concludes by declaring that Roe v. Wade and the court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey have no grounding in the Constitution. The court is expected to issue an actual ruling in the case in the next two months.

Politico, citing a source, said that fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, as well as former President Trump’s three nominees — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — had voted with Alito in conference. 

McConnell urged the justices to tune out the fierce political backlash sparked by the draft ruling. 

“As I’ve warned in the past, courts bowing to activist pressure would never enhance judicial legitimacy. It could only erode it. And the hostage takers would never settle for half a loaf,” he said.