�������ýҕ�l

As the Supreme Court investigates the extraordinary leak this spring of a draft opinion of the decision overturning Roe v. Wade, a former anti-abortion leader has come forward claiming that another breach occurred in a 2014 landmark case involving contraception and religious rights. In a letter to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and in interviews with The New York Times, the Rev. Rob Schenck said he was told the outcome of the 2014 case weeks before it was announced. He used that information to prepare a public relations push, records show, and he said that at the last minute he tipped off the president of Hobby Lobby, the craft store chain owned by Christian evangelicals that was the winning party in the case. (Kantor and Becker, 11/19)

The Senate Judiciary Committee is reviewing the possible leak of a 2014 Supreme Court decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito after a New York Times article suggested the justice or his wife discussed the opinion on contraception and religious rights before it was released. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chairman of the committee, said in a statement Saturday night that the allegations were serious and “highlight once again the inexcusable ‘Supreme Court loophole’ in federal judicial ethics rules.” (Dress, 11/20)

Two fellow Democrats, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, who chair courts subcommittees, issued a statement calling the Times report “another black mark on the Supreme Court’s increasingly marred ethical record” and said they “intend to get to the bottom of these serious allegations.” They too urged passage of a code of ethics. (11/20)

Justice Samuel Alito denied allegations Saturday from a former anti-abortion activist that his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, played a role in revealing the outcome of a pending Supreme Court case in 2014. An Ohio woman friendly with the Alitos who was a donor to a Supreme Court-connected nonprofit group and allegedly served as a conduit for the sensitive information has also denied the claim. The allegation comes six months after a stunning breach of Supreme Court secrecy — POLITICO’s publication of the draft ruling authored by Alito that overturned the landmark, 49-year-old precedent guaranteeing a federal constitutional right to abortion. (Gerstein, 11/20)