McConnell slams Biden for playing into 'toxic spectacle' instead of backing the ...

Mitch McConnell tore into Democrats, including President Joe Biden, on Tuesday for playing into the 'toxic spectacle' and not condemning the person who leaked a draft opinion on the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade to the press before an official decision was issued.

'Last night's stunning breach was an attack on the independence of the Supreme Court,' McConnell said in a statement calling for the leaker to be brought to justice. 'By every indication, this was yet another escalation in the radical left's ongoing campaign to bully and intimidate federal judges and substitute mob rule for the rule of law.'

President Joe Biden questioned the validity of the draft opinion, but said decisive action must be taken to protect abortion rights if it's true the bench is on track to overturn the landmark law.

'We do not know whether this draft is genuine, or whether it reflects the final decision of the Court,' Biden said in a statement sent out by the White House Tuesday morning. He said if it was true, there would be a White House plan to protect abortion rights. 

Moderate Republican Senator Mitt Romney joined McConnell in calling for action against the leaker.

'The breach of the Court's deliberative process,' Romney wrote in a Tuesday statement, 'is an appalling affront against a critical institution and should be fully investigated and those responsible should be punished.'

Instead of condemning those who leaked the draft opinion that led to the chaos Monday evening into Tuesday morning, Democrats and liberals came out guns blazing against the potential end to constitutional protections for women's ability to terminate their pregnancy.

'The disgraceful statements by President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader Schumer refuse to defend judicial independence and the rule of law and instead play into this toxic spectacle,' McConnell accused in his Tuesday statement.

'Real leaders should defend the Court's independence unconditionally.'

Chief Justice John Roberts launched an investigation Tuesday into the leak to Politico – just moments after McConnell's statement demanded that action to 'pursue criminal charges if applicable.'

'All nine Justices should tune out the bad-faith noise and feel totally free to do their jobs, following the facts and the law where they lead,' the Kentucky Republican said.

Romney's statement Tuesday said that if the leak's contents are true, he supports the decision to overturn the landmark abortion case decision that spans back 50 years.

'If the leaked draft opinion reflects the final outcome, it is a decision I support,' the Utah GOP senator wrote. 'The sanctity of human life is a foundational American principle. Laws regarding abortion would now be returned to the people and their elected representatives.'

Conservatives throughout the country celebrated the news of a Supreme Court draft opinion that is set to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case - but have denounced the leak as an attempt to 'intimidate' the justices into changing their minds.

Meanwhile progressives led Democrats ' outrage over the stunning reversal of high court precedent, with some even renewing calls to end the Senate filibuster. And protesters immediately convened outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Monday evening after news broke of the leak.

Biden laid out a three point plan for if the decision is overturned.

'First, my administration argued strongly before the Court in defense of Roe v. Wade… I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.'

He said, secondly, that his administration's Gender Policy Council and White House Counsel's Office 'will be ready when any ruling is issued.'

'Third, if the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation's elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman's right to choose. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November,' he continued in a bid for Democrats in the 2022 midterms.

'At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.'

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is slated to speak at EMILY's List Gala on Tuesday evening, said that the draft decision is further proof that 'Republican legislators in states across the country are weaponizing the use of the law against women.'

'The rights of all Americans are at risk,' the VP added in a Tuesday statement. 'If the right to privacy is weakened, every person could face a future in which the government can potentially interfere in the personal decisions you make about your life.'

'This is the time to fight for women and for our country with everything we have.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont immediately called for Congress to safeguard Roe v. Wade with federal legislation.

'People elected Democrats precisely so we could lead in perilous moments like these- to codify Roe, hold corruption accountable, & have a President who uses his legal authority to break through Congressional gridlock on items from student debt to climate,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter late Monday night. 

She added: 'It's high time we do it.'

The firebrand Democrat posed a question to her colleagues asking them what message their outrage would be sending without action.

'It's time to be decisive, lead with confidence, fight for a prosperous future for all and protect the vulnerable,' she said.

On the other side of the aisle, Republicans are demanding investigations into who leaked a Supreme Court draft opinion for the first time in history.

GOP Senator Mike Lee of Utah said whoever leaked the explosive memo 'needs to be brought to justice' in an interview on Fox News soon after the report.

'This entire kerfuffle has been brought about as a result of an unscrupulous person trying to subvert 235 years of tradition, trying to subvert the way the Supreme Court operates,' Lee said.

He also released a statement on Monday night calling the decision 'well-reasoned' but further panned the leak as 'dangerous, despicable, and damaging.' 

The Utah conservative is on a Senate subcommittee that will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on Monday about 'transparency and accountability for 21st century courts.'

'I have questions about whether that person should ever be allowed to practice law. That something that will be worked out in due time. These are small circles. As a former Supreme Court clerk I can tell you there are very few people in the entire building who had access to the opinion,' he said on Fox.

'I am virtually certain there are number people inside the court, probably figured out who it is. That person needs to be brought to justice and held to account to what they did. This is the first and what I predict will be a series of other attempts to delegitimize the supreme court of the United States in the coming months.'

Tennessee's Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn tweeted: 'I have no doubt that the Chief Justice will work to root out the radical activist that betrayed the sacred tradition of the court. The leaker must be immediately removed from their position and exiled from the legal community.'

Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Texas said: 'It is unfortunate that the news of the greatest victory for the Pro Life movement comes on the heels of one of the most profound breaches of trust the Court has ever seen.'

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas called on President Joe Biden's Justice Department to 'get to the bottom' of the matter and, like his colleagues, shared praise for the high court's reported decision.

'The Supreme Court & the DOJ must get to the bottom of this leak immediately using every investigative tool necessary. In the meantime, Roe was egregiously wrong from the beginning & I pray the Court follows the Constitution & allows the states to once again protect unborn life,' Cotton said on Monday night. 

Following suit, moderate Republican Senator Mitt Romney on Tuesday morning called for both an investigation and consequences.

The Utah lawmaker began his statement by lauding the reported high court decision and said: 'Laws regarding abortion would now be returned to the people and their elected representatives.'

'The breach of the Court's deliberative process, however, is an appalling affront against a critical institution and should be fully investigated and those responsible should be punished.' 

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said the leaker should be disbarred if they are a law clerk. 

Sanders led the left wing in demanding his colleagues scuttle the filibuster to pass pro-choice legislation with a simple majority. 

'Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW. And if there aren't 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes,' the Independent senator said. 

Democrats previously tried to scuttle the filibuster to pass federal voting rights legislation with only their 50 seats in the chamber plus Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote, but the effort failed in the face of moderate opposition within their own party. 

Sanders' former adviser and current Ohio House candidate Nina Turner echoed her ex-boss' calls.

'Protecting abortion rights is not a midterm pitch—Democrats have the power now. We have the majority in Congress and we have the White House. Instead of drafting fundraising emails tonight, our elected leaders should be in DC voting to codify Roe & getting rid of the filibuster,' Turner said on Twitter. 

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York called for top-down reforms on all levels of government, 'even if it means eliminating the filibuster.'

'With far-right justices poised to overturn Roe, the lives of millions of Americans depend on us. We must codify the right to an abortion into federal law—even if it means eliminating the filibuster. We must flip state legislatures. And states like NY must open our doors,' Gillibrand wrote on Twitter. 

On the House side, Ocasio-Cortez's fellow 'Squad' member Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri said the Supreme Court's reported decision is a national 'emergency.'

'Abolish the filibuster. Codify Roe. Expand the Supreme Court. Protect abortion rights by any means necessary. We need all of the above. This is an emergency,' Bush said on Tuesday morning.

Brian Fallon, Hillary Clinton's former 2016 press secretary who is co-founder and executive director of Demand Justice, publicly pondered if the leaker was a 'brave clerk' hoping public outrage would reverse the monumental decision.

'Is a brave clerk taking this unpredecented(sp) step of leaking a draft opinion to warn the country what's coming in a last-ditch Hail Mary attempt to see if the public response might cause the Court to reconsider?' Fallon questioned.

Politico reported Monday night that Justice Samuel Alito, one of six justices appointed by Republican presidents on the nine-member court, wrote a majority draft opinion in February repudiating both Roe and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey decision.

'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,' Alito writes in the opinion, which was reportedly circulated among the court members. 'We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,' he continues in the document, titled 'Opinion of the Court.'

'It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.'

Alito's draft does not necessarily represent the sentiments of other justices who did not pen the opinion, but it's been suggested that the court's 5-3 conservative supermajority will likely deliver on the historic reversal.

Republicans celebrated the decision, calling it a victory for the social conservatives and Christians who have worked for decades in lockstep to reach this moment.

Pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List hailed the report as a victory for their movement.

 'If the draft opinion made public tonight is the final opinion of the court, we wholeheartedly applaud the decision. The American people have the right to act through their elected officials to debate and enact laws that protect unborn children and honor women,' SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said. 'If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature.'

The draft document is not final until the court formally announces its decision in a case, meaning the ruling could technically still be changed. The court is expected to issue its final ruling before its term is up in late June or early July.

That led to speculation from some on the right, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, that the Alito draft was leaked in the hopes public outrage could temper the court's decision.

Indeed, following its release, several notable Democrats have already slammed the decision, saying they will not abide by it. 

One Democratic Representative compared the decision to a dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed the state would 'fight like Hell' to oppose the ruling.

'Our daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers will not be silenced,' Newsom tweeted Monday night. 'The world is about to hear their fury.'

Reaction to the news of Alito's draft opinion was swift Monday night, with conservative lawmakers celebrating the news after decades of fighting for an end to abortion rights - though they raised doubts about why the decision was leaked in the first place.

Mike Gibbons, who is currently facing Trump-endorsed candidate JD Vance in the Republican primary for an Ohio Senate seat, wrote that the decision marked a 'huge pro-life victory,' noting it's 'great to see the Court recognize all life is protected under the Constitution.

'We still have to make sure we elect candidates that will continue to defend the unborn, which is exactly what I'll do in the U.S. Senate.

Others, though, raised doubts about why the opinion was leaked to POLITICO, with Marco Rubio writing: 'The next time you hear the far left preaching about how they are fighting to preserve our Republic's institutions and norms remember how they leaked a Supreme Court opinion in an attempt to intimidate the justices on abortion.'

Republican Josh Hawley, of Missouri, also tweeted that the leak is 'an unprecedented breach of confidentiality, clearly meant to intimidate.'

'The Justices mustn't give in to this attempt to corrupt the process,' Hawley wrote. 'Stay strong.'

Embattled Congressmember Madison Cawthorn also tweeted that the story 'was meant to intimidate the Supreme Court into backing down.'

'Pray for the end of Roe v. Wade. Pray the Court will defend innocent life. Pray the Court will stand strong,' he urged his followers, noting:  'Evil MUST not triumph. Science, common sense, and LIFE will win.'

And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, said in a statement she is 'overwhelmed with emotion because this is the best news of our lifetime.

'This is a great victory for God and the unborn who have been innocently slain for years, my entire lifetime,' she said.

'I want to urge everyone to continue to pray, people all over our country, people all over our world, have been praying to end abortion.

'I want you to understand that there is going to be a major pushback in our country because there's going to be people that are going to fight to keep it and they're going to fight keep murdering the innocent unborn. 

'I want you to dig in in prayer and faith and continue to pray that this actually comes true when they do release their opinion that Roe v Wade will be overturned and abortion will end and this will return the rights back to the states. 

'I urge every single strong pro-life state to end it,' she wrote.

On the left, Democrats and abortion rights activists slammed the decision - saying it is a 'nightmare scenario' as they vowed to fight the ruling.

In a statement following the news, Planned Parenthood CEO Jodi Hicks said: 'This is the nightmare scenario we in the reproductive health, rights, and justice space

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