The reporter who broke the story about a majority draft opinion signaling that the Supreme Court is ready to overturn abortion rights enshrined in the Constitution since Roe v. Wade appeared within minutes on TV to discuss the monumental leak Monday night.
Josh Gerstein, a senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, said he is confident in his sourcing and the authenticity of the document for the report. He shares a byline with national security reporter Alexander Ward.
“We’re very confident in the authenticity of this draft majority opinion, both in the way that we obtained it and other information that we got that supports its authenticity and makes us believe it is genuine,” Gerstein told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “It is not a final opinion. It was a draft opinion circulated in the court as a first draft by Justice Alito.”
LEAKED DRAFT OPINION SIGNALS SUPREME COURT OVERTURNING ROE V. WADE
The draft opinion says it was circulated Feb. 10. The report noted that “it is possible there has been changes since then, but it is our best understanding of where the court stood at that time, which is about two and a half months after arguments in this pivotal Mississippi abortion case.”
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett all voted with Alito to overturn the ruling, the report said, citing someone who was familiar with the court’s deliberations. Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, all appointed during Democratic administrations, dissented. Chief Justice John Roberts has not yet voted. The votes remain the same, according to the source.
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Gerstein said he believes the source and who voted with Alito because he could hear the echoes of the other justices in the report.
The Monday night leak attracted immediate backlash from supporters of widespread access to abortion. A Washington Examiner reporter saw barricades that had been set up outside the Supreme Court on Monday evening ahead of demonstrations from both protesters and counterprotesters.
The court’s ruling will not become law until it is published, which will likely occur within the next two months.
