Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is proposing legislation that would impose a $10,000 fine and 10-year prison term on anyone convicted of leaking information about pending Supreme Court decisions, the Washington Examiner is reporting.
The bill's penalties would not be able to be applied to anyone found responsible for the recent leak of the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, but instead would apply to future leakers. However, Cassidy told the news outlet it could be used to confiscate any profits from anyone who leaked the court's draft opinion on abortions.
"There is a portion in there which seizes profit stemming from the crime," Cassidy said. "So the person who wants to do a book deal where they're going to profit from what they've done, that would be affected."
He added: "Whoever leaked this draft opinion and any future leakers must face the consequences of the damage they cause."
Also sparking Cassidy's bill is the case of a California man who told police he was upset about mass shootings and the looming Supreme Court rulings on abortion and gun rights. The man, Nicholas Roske, has been indicted on charges of attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
"The attempted assassination of a sitting United States Supreme Court justice was a direct result of the dangerous and unprecedented leak," Cassidy said. "While the mainstream media may ignore this horrific story targeting a conservative justice, the American people want the leaker to be held accountable."
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump said the Supreme Court must "find, reveal, and punish" the person who leaked the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
"Very easy to do — Go to the reporter who received the leak," Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social Wednesday morning.
Supreme Court officials have been searching for the source of the leak since Politico published the draft opinion in May.
Cassidy told the Examiner: "I think the radical left base has intimidated people from doing that which is right regarding addressing this leak. It's easy to imagine a decision under a different court that would have been leaked, triggering a backlash from the Right. Well, the Left would have been, 'Oh my gosh, we got to prevent it.'"
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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