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Donald Trump has called for the authors and publishers of the leaked Supreme Court draft of Roe v. Wade to be threatened with prison unless they reveal the source of their bombshell scoop.
Addressing a rally in Robstown, Texas, on Saturday night, the former president said that the person who provided the draft decision to Politico for their May 3 story should be rooted out.
He said the way to get the reporters, Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward, to reveal their sources – a fundamental violation of journalistic ethics – was to threaten them and the publishers of Politico with jail.
‘You know in this country they leak all over the place – even on the Supreme Court,’ he said.
‘By the way, you have to find the leaker.’
He then called for them to be imprisoned if they refused to say who handed them the draft document.
Donald Trump on Saturday night called for the journalists behind the May scoop about the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to be locked up
Trump supporters are pictured at the rally in Robstown, Texas, on Saturday
‘You know how you find the leaker?’ Trump continued.
‘They say you can’t find the leaker. He leaked all about Roe v. Wade.
‘This person leaked from the Supreme Court – never happened.
‘And they don’t want to mention this as they think it’s so terrible.
‘You take the writer – they say they’re never going to find it, they’re going through phone records, it’s been a long time – you take the writer and the publisher of the certain paper. And you say, who is the leaker?
‘National security. And they say we’re not going to tell you.
‘And you say, OK, you’re going to jail.
‘And when this person realizes they are going to be the bride of another prisoner very shortly, he will say: I’d very much like to tell you exactly who that leaker was. It was Bill Jones, I swear he’s the leaker!
‘They don’t want to do that. But that’s the only way.’
Demonstrators carry the lead banner of the Women’s March for reproductive rights in Washington DC on October 8
Women in Washington DC are seen demanding abortion rights on October 8
Activists in Washington DC demand access to abortion for all women in the U.S. on October 8
Locking up journalists for refusing to reveal their sources would put the United States in the same category of countries as China, Myanmar, Egypt and Belarus.
The Committee to Protect Journalist’s annual report found that, as of December 1 2021, 293 journalists were imprisoned in 37 different countries – up from 280 in 2020.
China was far and away the worst offender, holding 50 journalists prisoner.
There were no journalists in behind bars in the United States, Canada or Mexico.
Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, CPJ’s advocacy and communications director, told VOA there is a common theme across countries jailing journalists.
‘Authoritarian governments are portraying journalists as unfair liars and criminals,’ she said at the time.
‘That narrative serves political polarization plaguing the world and is also a critical component in erosion of trust in the free and independent media worldwide.’
Trump has previously called for the leaker to be found, but has not previously suggested they be imprisoned if they refuse to disclose their sources.
‘The U.S. Supreme Court MUST find, reveal, and punish the ‘Leaker.’,’ he wrote in June on his own social media network, Truth Social.
‘Very easy to do – Go to the reporter who received the leak.
‘This is a tremendously serious matter that has never happened, to anywhere near this extent, before,’ he added.
‘The Court will be compromised and demeaned until this very big problem is solved!’
Donald Trump demanded that the person who leaked a Supreme Court opinion showing the overturn of Roe v. Wade be found and punished
Gerstein and Ward’s story reverberated around the world and sparked immediate response – with both pro-life and pro-choice activists taking to the streets.
On June 24, their reporting was proved correct and the Supreme Court published its official decision overturning 60 years of federally-guaranteed access to abortion.
John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, condemned the leak of the draft decision and launched an investigation the day after the bombshell publication.
‘This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here,’ he said in a May 3 statement.
‘I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.
‘To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed.
‘The work of the Court will not be affected in any way. We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce – permanent employees and law clerks alike – intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law.
‘Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court.’
The marshal of the Supreme Court oversees about 260 employees, including the court’s police department, which has the power to arrest people on the grounds of the court.
People with access to a draft decision would be the nine justices and the people working in their chambers, including their clerks and staff – nearly 50 people in all.
So far Roberts is yet to announce that the source of the leak has been found.
Justice Elena Kagan called the leak ‘horrible’ and ‘terrible’ and an ‘obvious, blatant violation of the court’s rules.’
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