
<p>For more than 270 years the key element in the Supreme Court’s integrity has been the secrecy of the backroom deliberations. ; ; It gave the justices the ability to speak candidly – without concern that their internal discussions would be exposed to political spin. ;</p>



<p>Secrecy also prevented justices from being exposed to political pressure before a final decision was reached and announced. ; We saw what happened when an early draft of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked. ; The purpose of the leak was to undermine public confidence in the Court and to build public pressure on the justices to possibly reverse course.</p>



<p>That leak put the Court in the center of the political debate on abortion. It undermined the credibility and integrity of the Court – and its ability to operate apart from the political winds of the day.</p>



<p>Since virtually every deliberation in Washington is leaked – no matter how deeply it is cloaked in secrecy &#8212; the public may not appreciate that the high court had been an exception – and for good reasons. That is why the Dobbs leak involving the overturning of Roe v. Wade was so stunning – and so serious.</p>



<p>Following the Dobbs leak, the Court engaged in a major investigation in an effort to find who leaked it. No one was ever named, but Chief Justice John Roberts imposed additional security measures to prevent a reoccurrence.</p>



<p>They did not work.</p>



<p>The Court has again been subjected to serious leaks. ; The <em>News York Times</em> has reported that internal communications between the justices concerning three cases involving President Trump have been leaked.</p>



<p>In the case involving Trump’s immunity from prosecution for official acts as President, the leaks appear to be targeting Roberts’ efforts to seek a unanimous decision. ; ; The second case, <em>Fischer v. United States</em>, dealt with the ruling that the Department of Justice had overreached in its indictments of Capitol Hill rioters. ; And the third case, <em>Trump v. Anderson</em>, involved efforts to remove Trump from the Colorado ballot.</p>



<p>These leaks are far more serious than the Dobbs leak because they give more detail about the deliberations and Roberts’ strategy in guiding the cases to a decision. ; Professor Josh Blackman, adjunct scholar at the CATO Institute, said the latest leaks are “far worse than the Dobbs leak” because of the detail and the obvious high-level position of the leaker.</p>



<p>The latest leaks leave no doubt that they are coming from someone associated with the liberal minority members of the Court since they all target the conservative members – especially the Chief Justice. ; If not one of the justices, most certainly someone closely associated with a justice – someone privy to the most private communications.</p>



<p>It is no small irony that those on the left who complain that those on the right undermine the credibility of government institutions should be covertly damage the Supreme Court through covert sabotage. Those on the left seem to believe that the only legitimate government institutions are those controlled by the left and run according to the left-wing ideology – and they should be immune to criticism.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Look who is undermining SCOTUS with unprecedented leaks
