Legal experts push startling new theory about Dobbs leak as Trump admin bares down

"Legal AF" podcasters Michael Popok and Lisa Graves speculated on Wednesday that the infamous Supreme Court Dobbs draft opinion leak came from Justice Samuel Alito’s side, not from Democrats or liberals.

The Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation into the leak, The New York Times reported last week, a topic Popok said he and Graves would take up next week on their podcast “Unprecedented.” He said the leak affected the Supreme Court’s internal deliberations and that the final opinion, issued in June 2022, was “pretty darn close” to the leaked draft.

Popok offered his own personal theory, without evidence, that someone on Alito’s side leaked it to lock in votes. He dismissed the idea that Democrats leaked it to stir up supporters.

The two speculated, without offering evidence, that the leaker could be Alito himself, Justice Clarence Thomas, or a spouse.

Graves added that the decision had, in her words, “in essence” already leaked to the Wall Street Journal editorial board, which she said ran an editorial against Chief Justice John Roberts before the draft became public. She asked listeners to imagine two unrelated leaks, by justices, their spouses or friends, that both helped Alito’s effort to secure votes from Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Alito faced pressure on the right to retire ahead of the midterms, which he declined to do. Democrats are poised to have either 55 or 56 seats in the Senate, giving them powerful control over Supreme Court vacancies should one become available.

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