The responses to the leaked release of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) draft opinion regarding Roe v. Wade have been intriguing. First, the Democrats appear to be claiming that the draft is an official decision from the Court and are going all-in to bring out the Left’s anger ahead of the midterm elections. Then Democrats are attacking the Court and violating the norm that you shouldn't criticize or attempt to influence the outcome of a case in progress in any way, forgetting that it is not a good idea to intimidate or threaten the SCOTUS justices. However, some of them, such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), are doing just that.
They are also not criticizing the leak. Neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris has expressed condemnation of this leak in their statements, and Biden was unable to comment when confronted directly. Then White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the leak during her briefing. A reporter asked if the White House had a reaction to it, or did it consider it “welcome?” Psaki did not say much about it, for the White House’s sake, claiming that she was not sure its members were of a “particular view.”
Then Fox's Peter Doocy asked if Joe Biden believed that leakers ought to be punished. In the end, Psaki put off the question by saying that Biden's “focus was on not getting distracted” from the thing they believed was the most important part: an action denying abortion “rights” by the Supreme Court that they want to exploit to boost the Left's anger and increase the Democrats’ chances of winning the midterm elections. There's nothing else “good” for them to concentrate on. However, there is an unprecedented attack against the Court in an attempt to discredit and intimidate it. But Joe Biden couldn't give anything. In addition, Biden and the Democrats are using it to undermine the Court further.
Doocy also observed how this White House response differed from their prior position–that they would not comment on “leaked” material. But here they were expressing their opinions on this leak because they believed it was in line with their political goals.
It was a question that Psaki was not expecting, and she was unable to provide a response, other than to say that they had said it was a draft. It's still a leak and isn't an official decision. Therefore, the answer is clear: They're hypocrites.
Then, why do they rely on leaked information that's not even a decision at all? Why aren't they opposing this leak? Because it serves their interests. They don't have a problem with blowing up norms. In fact, they're all in favor of destroying norms when it benefits them–from spoiling elections to saturating the Court. They don't even worry about whether this leak will hurt the Court.
Fox's Bret Baier mentioned an article claiming that the White House knew about the leaked opinion beforehand. If this is true, it could provide the reason for why the White House wouldn't condemn the leak and raises many questions that are similar to the ones Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) was asking earlier in the day: What did they know, and when did they learn it?
