Donald Trump Drops the Hammer, Wants Politico Reporters Jailed if they Refuse to Give up Dobbs Leaker

Former president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump dropped the hammer in a Truth Social post after it was reported that a Supreme Court investigation was unable to find who leaked the Dobbs decision.

In the post, Trump began, “The Supreme Court has just announced it is not able to find out, even with the help of our ‘crack’ FBI, who the leaker was on the R v Wade scandal.”

“They’ll never find out, & it’s important that they do. So, go to the reporter & ask him/her who it was,” Trump insisted.

Trump then suggested, “If not given the answer, put whoever in jail until the answer is given. You might add the publisher and editor to the list.”

“Stop playing games, this leaking cannot be allowed to happen. It won’t take long before the name of this slime is revealed!” Trump concluded.

The leak was first published by Politico, with Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward on the byline of the article.

SCOTUSblog pointed out in a tweet at the time, “Those interested in who leaked the draft should wonder why Alexander Ward — a national security reporter — shares the byline.”

“The leaker would insist that their identity be incredibly tightly held. Politico would not assign someone who didn’t have to be on the story,” SCOTUSblog explained.

(cont’d) 2. Those interested in who leaked the draft should wonder why Alexander Ward — a national security reporter — shares the byline. The leaker would insist that their identity be incredibly tightly held. Politico would not assign someone who didn’t have to be on the story.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) May 3, 2022

Gerstein reported on the statement made by the Supreme Court yesterday about being unable to determine the leaker, although without Ward on the byline this time.

The White House responded to Trump’s post in a predictable manner by “exclusively” sharing a statement of their own with Gerstein.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in the statement, “The freedom of the press is part of the bedrock of American democracy.”

“Calling for egregious abuses of power in order to suppress the Constitutional rights of reporters is an insult to the rule of law and undermines fundamental American values and traditions. Instead, it’s the responsibility of all leaders to protect First Amendment rights. These views are not who we are as a country, and they are what we stand against in the world,” Bates added.

As we previously reported, U.S. House Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced today that the Judiciary Committee intends to launch its own investigation into the leak.

Jim Jordan Makes Move, will Launch Probe into SCOTUS Leak After Failed Investigation