{"id":2700292,"date":"2026-11-06T12:18:01","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigndoj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T12:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:22:23","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigndoj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigndoj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Initiates Criminal Probe Into Supreme Court Dobbs Leak"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigndoj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2700292&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Department of Justice has launched a criminal inquiry into who leaked the draft majority opinion in the Supreme Court\u2019s Dobbs case, sources told the New York Times. The D.C. U.S. Attorney\u2019s office has intensified the probe, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawyer-claims-ken-paxton-hired-him-to-go-after-political-enemies-then-left-him-out-to-dry\/\" title=\"Lawyer alleges Paxton hired him to target foes, then abandoned him.\">issuing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-prosecutor-probing-attempts-to-influence-2020-election\/\" title=\"Georgia Prosecutor Probing ...s to Influence 2020 Election\">grand jury subpoenas<\/a><\/a> and seeking details from court staff. A 2023 internal Supreme Court inquiry failed to identify the leaker. The 2022 Politico leak sparked protests, threats against conservative justices, security relocations, and an assassination attempt, and subsequent reporting indicates additional internal disclosures at the Court have occurred.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:United_States_Supreme_Court_Building4.jpg\">\t\tdconvertini\/Wikimedia Commons\/<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\">CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/doj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=DOJ Initiates Criminal Probe Into Supreme Court Dobbs Leak: Report&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/doj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=DOJ Initiates Criminal Probe Into Supreme Court Dobbs Leak: Report&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/doj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/doj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=DOJ Initiates Criminal Probe Into Supreme Court Dobbs Leak: Report&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/11\/06\/doj-initiates-criminal-probe-into-supreme-court-dobbs-leak-report\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                                          <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); pfTrackEvent(&#039;DOJ Initiates Criminal Probe Into Supreme Court <i>Dobbs<\/i> Leak: Report&#039;); return false;&#8221; title=&#8221;Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email&#8221;>                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation into the individual(s) responsible for leaking the Supreme Court\u2019s <em>Dobbs<\/em> decision, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/11\/05\/us\/politics\/supreme-court-trump-abortion-leak-dobbs.html?campaign_id=60&#038;emc=edit_na_20261105&#038;instance_id=184726&#038;nl=breaking-news&#038;regi_id=41776995&#038;segment_id=229281&#038;user_id=fdd9488c7657bf391bdf276b5c392eb9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new report<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The New York Times first reported on the probe\u2019s existence on Thursday, with Fox News later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/doj-launches-criminal-probe-supreme-court-leak-exposed-ruling-overturning-roe-v-wade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporting<\/a> similar findings. Unnamed sources told the Times that the inquiry is being spearheaded by U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro\u2019s office and \u201chas ramped up in recent weeks as prosecutors have sent grand jury subpoenas for testimony and sought information from people who worked at the court at the time of the leaks.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3503859228\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The infamous leak became known in early May 2022 after left-wing Politico published a draft of the <em>Dobbs<\/em> majority opinion. That draft, which was very similar to the court\u2019s final opinion, overturned <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> (1973), which held that the Constitution guaranteed a made-up \u201cright\u201d to abortion. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chief Justice John Roberts subsequently ordered Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley to conduct an internal investigation into the leak. That inquiry proved unsuccessful in identifying the individual(s) responsible, with the final 2023 report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/01\/19\/1150051376\/supreme-court-dobbs-leak-marshal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concluding<\/a>, \u201cAt this time, by a preponderance of the evidence standard, it is not possible to determine the identity of any individual who may have disclosed the document or how the draft opinion ended up with <em>Politico<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The leak ultimately produced damaging consequences for the high court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway reported in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/alito-mollie-hemingway\/1147952913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alito<\/a><\/em>  how it \u201cdestroyed the intimacy and trust that enable the Court to operate effectively.\u201d More to the point, it also endangered the lives of the conservative justices in the <em>Dobbs<\/em> majority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Left-wing anarchists descended on the conservative justices\u2019 private homes in an attempt to intimidate them into changing their votes in the case. Despite the apparent violation of federal law, the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/16\/john-roberts-failure-to-bring-dobbs-leaker-to-justice-sets-a-dangerous-precedent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined<\/a> to prosecute the alleged lawbreakers and encouraged them to continue their demonstrations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hemingway also reported on how justices endured a wave of threats against their lives following the leak. While Justice Samuel Alito and his family \u201cwere moved to a secure location,\u201d Justice Amy Coney Barrett \u201chad to put on a bulletproof vest in front of her children, most of whom still lived at home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fallout from the leak culminated in a man attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home, where he lived with his family. The would-be killer has since <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/04\/biden-judge-gives-would-be-kavanaugh-assassin-light-sentence-as-left-wing-violence-skyrockets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">received<\/a> a light sentence from a Biden-appointed federal judge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite these threats against the conservative justices\u2019 lives, Hemingway revealed in <em>Alito<\/em> how the liberal justices rejected requests from their colleagues to quickly finish their <em>Dobbs<\/em> dissent so that the decision could be released and the threats would subside. In fact, the court\u2019s Democrat appointees did the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/23\/how-liberal-justices-used-a-footnote-to-drag-out-dobbs-release-amid-assassination-threats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opposite<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/18\/explosive-report-as-dobbs-majority-faced-death-threats-liberal-justices-slow-walked-release\/\">slow-w<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/18\/explosive-report-as-dobbs-majority-faced-death-threats-liberal-justices-slow-walked-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alking<\/a> their dissent while their colleagues\u2019 lives were under siege.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leftist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/10\/warnocks-violence-smears-against-scotus-invite-more-leftist-attacks-on-its-justices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threats<\/a> against the high court\u2019s conservative justices have only continued in the years since the leak. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Supreme Court\u2019s inability to identify the individual(s) responsible for slipping the <em>Dobbs<\/em> opinion to Politico has seemingly prompted additional leaks at the high court. The New York Times obtained and published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/04\/18\/us\/politics\/supreme-court-shadow-docket-papers.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">series of internal 2016 memos<\/a> from the justices earlier this year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thursday\u2019s report comes a month after Alito <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/6129224-samuel-alito-supreme-court-dobbs-v-jackson-draft-leak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Fox News\u2019 Shannon Bream that he has \u201can opinion\u201d on who leaked the <em>Dobbs<\/em> draft, but that \u201cthe evidence available at this time is not strong enough for the court or for me to say this is the person who was responsible.\u201d The justice issued similar remarks during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/us-news\/justice-samuel-alito-this-made-us-targets-of-assassination-dobbs-leak-abortion-court-74624ef9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2023 interview<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags no-print bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/criminal-investigation\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Criminal Investigation<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Department of Justice<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/dobbs-leak\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Dobbs leak<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization-2\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Dobbs v. Jackson Women&#039;s Health Organization<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/scotus\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">SCOTUS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Trump Administration<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOJ probes Dobbs leak; investigation targets leaker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2700293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/SCOTUS-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[5553,7076,3654,70735],"class_list":["post-2700292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-dobbs","tag-doj","tag-leak","tag-supreme-court-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/SCOTUS-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2700292"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2700296,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700292\/revisions\/2700296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2700293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2700292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2700292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2700292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}