(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito declined to comment when asked if he would be willing to dine with his fellow justices following the unprecedented leak of his opinion potentially overturning Roe v. Wade, the Washington Post reported.
With only a limited number of possible leakers, speculation has centered largely on a clerk in the office of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, considered to be the most radical and least intelligent justice on the current bench, from which Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of the summer.
Among the many alarming implications of the leak, the potential to further politicize the court and fracture its storied ability to transcend petty politics with jurisprudential dignity may be one of the most devastating.
Alito, who was forced into hiding recently due to threats and violent abortion riots at his private residence, appeared via remote broadcast on Thursday for a talk at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, Townhall reported.
An audience member asked whether or not trust had been broken among the justices, especially considering that Alito wrote the leaked opinion.
“I think it would just be really helpful for all of us to hear, personally, are you all doing OK in these very challenging times?” the questioner asked.
Alito responded by noting that he did not plan to respond to such questions.
“This is a subject I told myself I wasn’t going to talk about today regarding, you know—given all the circumstances,” Alito replied.
“So that’s where we are,” he concluded.
Nevertheless, he responded to the question, suggesting that the high court can continue to work together formally, even if trust has been severed.
“The court right now, we had our conference this morning, we’re doing our work,” he said. “We’re taking new cases, we’re headed toward the end of the term, which is always a frenetic time as we get our opinions out.”
Of course, the leftists have been encouraged by Democrats on numerous occasions.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted earlier this week that she would “certainly continue to encourage that outside of judges’ homes.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, has also stoked the fires of protest in recent days.
During the meeting referenced by Alito, Chief Justice John Roberts allegedly opened an investigation into the leak.
However, notorious activist–reporter Michael Isikoff, who published unverified leaks of his own during the Trump–Russia collusion hoax, claimed in a column for Yahoo News that Roberts could face roadblocks if the justice whose office was behind the leak refused to cooperate.
It is unclear due to the court’s secretive nature what leverage Roberts might have to compel the associate justices.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
