According to recent reports, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito claims to have a strong suspicion regarding the identity of the individual who leaked a draft of the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to Politico last year. The leaked draft was an initial majority opinion that Justice Alito himself had written in favor of overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The opinion, as reported, was stated as a “full-throated, unflinching repudiation” of Roe v. Wade.

The leak sparked controversy by revealing that most of the Supreme Court Justices had favored overturning Roe v. Wade. Justice Alito’s opinion stated that Roe v. Wade was “egregiously wrong from the start” and that it was time to return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.

The Wall Street Journal reported,

Justice Alito says the marshal “did a good job with the resources that were available to her” and agrees that the evidence was insufficient for a public accusation. “I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that’s different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody,” he says. He’s certain about the motive: “It was a part of an effort to prevent the Dobbs draft . . . from becoming the decision of the court. And that’s how it was used for those six weeks by people on the outside—as part of the campaign to try to intimidate the court.”

That campaign included unlawful assemblies outside justices’ homes, and that wasn’t the worst of it. “Those of us who were thought to be in the majority, thought to have approved my draft opinion, were really targets of assassination,” Justice Alito says. “It was rational for people to believe that they might be able to stop the decision in Dobbs by killing one of us.” On June 8, an armed man was arrested outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh; the suspect was later charged with attempted assassination and has pleaded not guilty.

In addition to the controversy surrounding the leaked draft, Justice Alito has also expressed concern for his own safety and that of his fellow Justices. He claims that leaking the draft made them “targets of assassination,” highlighting the serious nature of the leak and its potential implications.

Despite a thorough investigation by the Supreme Court, the leaker of the Dobbs draft has yet to be identified. The investigative report found that 97 Supreme Court staffers were interviewed and signed sworn affidavits under penalty of perjury denying that they were the leaker. New protocols have since been put in place to prevent similar leaks from happening in the future.