WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling for a criminal investigation of the leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft memo signaling the end of the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision.
“This lawless action should be investigated and punished as fully as possible. The chief justice must get to the bottom of it and the Department of Justice must pursue criminal charges if applicable,” McConnell said Tuesday.
The draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, was published by multiple news organizations Monday evening, setting off a political and legal firestorm that has engulfed Washington. While the draft is not a final ruling, the text indicates that the nation’s highest court is poised to “return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives” in individual states.
