Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to question personnel who worked at the Supreme Court during the unauthorized disclosure of the 2022 draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
The criminal inquiry is being directed by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia under Jeanine Pirro. Pirro assigned senior prosecutor Carlton Davis to run the team alongside career federal prosecutors. The Justice Department is investigating the breach of high court confidentiality.
Investigators have asked former and current court employees for records and testimony in recent weeks. The federal effort has reportedly been underway for at least twelve months, building on past efforts to identify the source of the leak.
President Donald Trump called for answers regarding the breach earlier this year. In July, President Trump stated that "That person should be found."
Internal Review and Investigative Authority
The grand jury proceedings follow the court's earlier internal inquiry. Following the publication of the draft in May 2022, Chief Justice John Roberts instructed Court Marshal Gail Curley to investigate the disclosure. That inquiry concluded in January 2023 without identifying who released the draft.
During an interview last month, Justice Samuel Alito reflected on the severity of the disclosure, calling it "a grave breach of the trust that everybody who worked in this building had before that point." Alito stated that he had formed an opinion on who disclosed the draft, but acknowledged the court lacked enough evidence to present a formal public finding.
Legal Scope and Deadlines
It remains unspecified which federal criminal laws prosecutors are applying to the unauthorized disclosure, and whether investigators have developed evidence implicating a specific individual. Several potential statutes that could apply reportedly carry five-year statutes of limitations scheduled to expire in spring 2027.
Spokespersons for the Justice Department, the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Supreme Court either declined to comment or did not answer inquiries about the grand jury proceedings.
