Republicans jumped to the conclusion that the draft Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade leaked was the work of a liberal clerk who wanted to put the opinion out in hopes that it would pressure the conservative-leaning Supreme Court to change its mind. According to a new report, the opposite actually happened. The leaking of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision made Chief Justice John Roberts end his pursuit of persuading Brett Kavanaugh to act as Roe’s saving vote.

Leading up to the leaks, John Roberts had been trying to persuade Brett Kavanaugh despite the private pressures from those on the court.

“Roberts’ overtures this spring, particularly to Kavanaugh, raised fears among conservatives and hope among liberals that the chief could change the outcome in the most closely watched case in decades.”

The report reads.

John Roberts nearly had success with his persuading of Kavanaugh. He has done so previously when he lobbied for Kavanaugh to keep the Affordable Care Act. However, Brett Kavanaugh had previously stated his opinion of overturning Roe v. Wade, and the idea that a liberal clerk released the opinion draft to push public pressure is seemingly wrong.

As investigations were had to dig into the source of the leak, tensions rose among the Supreme Court and its staff. It even killed the chance of swinging votes for fear that a justice who changed their vote from that in the draft would have been known for falling for the public pressure — not for what they genuinely believed…