US Justice Department probes leak of 2022 abortion ruling draft
Prosecutors in Washington are leading the inquiry, years after an internal court investigation failed to identify who leaked the document.
The US Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into who leaked a draft of the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended nationwide abortion rights, Fox News reported on Thursday.
People briefed on the matter told the network that the investigation is being led by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office in Washington.
The draft, which would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v.
Wade decision, was published by Politico in May 2022, weeks before the court issued its final ruling the following month.
The disclosure of the confidential document drew national attention at the time, as internal court papers are rarely made public before a decision.
Chief Justice John Roberts ordered an internal inquiry after the leak, but that review ended without identifying the person responsible.
The new investigation, opened years after the leak, means the Justice Department now treats the matter as a possible crime.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation.
The Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v.
Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022 ended the federal constitutional right to abortion and returned regulation of the procedure to individual states.
The abortion ruling has remained one of the most divisive cases in recent US legal history, which is why the leak of its draft continues to draw scrutiny.
