In a Tuesday interview on Megyn Kelly's podcast, twice-former United States Attorney General Bill Barr responded to the unprecedented leak of a Supreme Court decision draft authored by Justice Samuel Alito that would appeal Roe v. Wade if the draft represents the Court's final decision.
Kelly asked Barr for his thoughts on Chief Justice John Roberts' decision to direct the Marshal of the Court to investigate the leak, and Barr suggested the Marshal's investigation may not be the only avenue that will be used to track down the party or parties responsible for breaching the integrity of the Supreme Court.
"The Chief would’ve had the option, perhaps he still will, to appoint a counsel," Barr noted. "A special counsel — not in the classical criminal sense — but the Court can appoint a counsel and bring in a former U.S. attorney or someone with a law background," he added before lending credence to other rumblings about a federal investigation saying he's "sure" Roberts would "get the support he needed from the FBI or any other law enforcement agency."
Kelly asked whether Barr thought an investigation would be able to identify and confirm the leaker, to which Barr suggested "they may need a grand jury to do that, which would mean a criminal case...to compel the truth." The need to compel truthfulness, as Barr explained, is because "perhaps" individuals being questioned would lie to the Marshal, but not to a prosecutor.
The crime then at issue, Barr suggested, "could be obstructing the administration of justice...the due process of justice," he explained. "Obstruction means you’re attempting to influence through some kind of wrongdoing — I don’t think it’s a stretch," Barr said of the obstruction charge sticking.
In general, Barr said the leak from the Supreme Court left him "flabbergasted." Continuing, Barr lamented the fact that "our institutions have become increasingly politicized" but said he "never imagined this could happen to the Supreme Court, which has always protected its confidentiality. For someone to let this out in order to influence the final decision is really beyond the pale," Barr added.
You can listen to the full episode of the Megyn Kelly Show discussing the SCOTUS leak below:
Bombshell Leak Signals Roe Will Be Overturned, with former AG Bill Barr, @conservmillen and @AlanDersh
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) May 3, 2022
On what will happen to abortion in America, the ethics of leaking the decision, the long road for pro-life advocates, and more. Download NOW:https://t.co/Ug9rU1yVsK