NPR’s Nina Totenberg: The Only Theory ‘That Makes Sense’ is the Supreme Court Leaker is a ‘Conservative Clerk’

NPR’s Nina Totenberg, thought by many to be America’s premier reporter covering the Supreme Court, believes that a conservative law clerk is the likeliest suspect for the bombshell leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Appearing on ABC’s This Week Sunday, Totenberg posited that a conservative clerk’s likely motive was to prevent one of the conservative justices from being persuaded by Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a more narrow ruling in the case.

“The leading theory is a conservative clerk, who was afraid that one of the conservatives might be persuaded by Chief Justice Roberts to join a much more moderate opinion,” Totenberg said.

The NPR reporter acknowledged the possibility of a liberal clerk being responsible, but dismissed that theory as implausible.

“There’s another theory that it was an outraged liberal clerk,” Totenberg said. “But I think the only one that makes sense is that it came from somebody who was afraid that this majority might not hold. That Chief Justice Roberts might persuade one of the conservatives come over to him in a much more moderate opinion.

She added that it’s “very unlikely” the identity of the leaker will ever be discovered.

Totenberg has reported on the Supreme Court for decades and is widely considered to have unrivaled sources among those who cover the nation’s high court. However, earlier this year, her reporting got strong pushback from the Justices themselves. In January, Totenberg wrote that Justice Neil Gorsuch refused a request from Chief Justice Roberts to wear a mask on the bench in order to protect his immunocompromised colleague Justice Sonia Sotomayor. But all three Justices completely denied the story.

Watch above, via ABC.