Supreme Court’s Investigation Into Leak Included Interviews With Justices

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s internal investigation into who leaked a draft of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had established a constitutional right to abortion, included interviews with all nine justices, the marshal of the court said in a statement on Friday.

The clarification by the marshal, Gail A. Curley, who oversaw the inquiry, followed widespread speculation over its scope. In a 20-page report on Thursday, Ms. Curley disclosed that the investigation had not turned up the source of the leak while leaving ambiguous whether it had extended to grilling the justices themselves.

But in a statement on Friday, Ms. Curley said she had interviewed them.

“During the course of the investigation, I spoke with each of the justices, several on multiple occasions,” Ms. Curley said. “The justices actively cooperated in this iterative process, asking questions and answering mine.”

However, she said, she did not ask the justices to sign sworn statements attesting that they had not leaked the draft opinion or information about it after the interviews, unlike dozens of clerks and permanent employees of the court. She also did not say whether she had interviewed any of the justices’ spouses.

“I followed up on all credible leads, none of which implicated the justices or their spouses,” she said. “On this basis, I did not believe that it was necessary to ask the justices to sign sworn affidavits.”