Were any laws broken by releasing the SC decision early?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. What we know about the investigation into the Supreme Court leak-What Crime is at play

There is no crime at play here

Link to tweet

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/03/politics/supreme-court-leak-investigation/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_source=twCNNp&utm_content=2022-05-03T23%3A43%3A04&utm_medium=social

's unclear what crime could be investigated and whether the FBI and the Justice Department have the authority to look into a leak that doesn't have to do with classified or sensitive information.

Moreover, after leading politically sensitive investigations of presidential candidates and a sitting president in recent years, Justice Department and FBI officials are loath to get the bureau involved in what may end up being a political effort to try to affect the outcome of the court's final opinion in the case.

"Leaks of government information, by themselves, are not crimes," said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst who's a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "Usually, leakers are prosecuted for leaking classified information, which this isn't, or for offenses related to how they obtained the information they leaked."

"But without one of those hooks, or some kind of financial harm to the government arising from the leak, there's no federal criminal statute that makes leaking of simply confidential governmental information unlawful," Vladeck added.