SCOTUS Clerks Have Everything to Lose as Leak Probe Launches

One group is at the center of speculation about who’s behind the leak of an explosive draft Supreme Court opinion: the high court’s clerks.

The draft, published by Politico Monday evening, would overturn abortion rights, bulldozing decades of precedent under the court’s Roe v. Wade decision, and mark a sharp conservative turn for the bench. The leak, which has been called unprecedented in modern history, has already sparked an investigation and calls for criminal prosecution.

Although it is not known who leaked the document, the court’s clerks are likely to be considered suspects because they’re among the few people with ...