MSNBC segment points the finger at one conservative justice for leaking the Dobbs decision

MSNBC "The ReidOut" host Joy Reid and The Nation correspondent Elie Mystal put out the theory that Justice Samuel Alito leaked the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade back in May.

Reid reported on an accusation that Alito leaked the 2014 Supreme Court decision regarding Hobby Lobby to right-wing activists. Alito and the woman he was alleged to have told have both denied the allegations, though Democratic congressmen have proposed opening an investigation against the justice in response.

While the report was not verified, Reid and Mystal implied that this more than confirmed that Alito was behind the infamous Dobbs leak.

"On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being, ‘nah, he didn’t do it,’ and 10 being ‘oh, yeah, he did it,’ how likely is it that Alito was the one who leaked the Dobbs decision?" Reid asked.

DEMOCRATS PRESS SUPREME COURT TO ANSWER ALLEGATIONS ALITO LEAKED HOBBY LOBBY RULING 

"Does this microphone go all the way up to 11, Joy?" Mystal joked.

He added, "The Supreme Court has been an ethical disaster ever since John Roberts took over in 2005. The Supreme Court is the only court in the land that operates without ethics rules. And these Supreme Court justices have been wilding out ever since Roberts took over, the conservative side, because if you are part of the Federalist Society industrial complex, it is very easy to get access to these judges."

Reid further claimed that the leak was made primarily as a way to prepare the "right-wing infrastructure" for the aftermath.

"You could add one more thing, because they also lie. First of all, the other piece of it is that it’s clear that the leaks are designed to allow the right-wing infrastructure to do the PR in advance of them ripping away these rights and sending us back to the 19th century. They want to give them a PR opportunity to get ahead of it so they can do their messaging. It seems to me they did the same thing when they were being confirmed," Reid said.

MSNBC HOST BLAMES GERRYMANDERING FOR DESANTIS WIN: ‘NO WAY HE COULD GERRYMANDER HIMSELF ACROSS 50 STATES’ 

Earlier in the segment, Reid also mocked Alito’s statement denying the allegations.

"It’s unknown whether he issued the statement while twirling a sinister mustache, but we do know that being the hand that extinguished Roe v. Wade has emboldened Alito who, as he was gleefully and condescendingly writing his Dobbs decision that overturned half a century of precedent, called Roe egregiously wrong and a weak argument," Reid said.

Her comments echoed her suggestion back in August that Alito declared "the state" owns women’s bodies based on his decision.

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"And what Alito said is, your state owns your body. The minute you become pregnant your state owns your body and your state can tell you what to do with it. Sorry, no luck. You don’t own yourself," Reid said.

Why Trump is again dominating the coverage, skewering pundits and prosecutors

In the space of five days, Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Merrick Garland blew up the political landscape.

It’s like the mega-blizzard that dumped 80 inches of snow on Buffalo – no one has ever seen anything like it.

The media have been consumed by each explosion, breathlessly putting their spin on the resulting rubble, excited by the surge in clicks and ratings.

Remember, it was only a week ago that Trump did what some of his advisers had urged him not to do, launching a third campaign shortly after the disappointing midterm outcome that many in his party blamed on him.

MEDIA SAVAGE TRUMP SPEECH, CAST HIM AS DANGEROUS, INCLUDING ON THE RIGHT

Trump’s stunningly early declaration drew denunciations from the mainstream press, which attacked him personally for having the temerity to run again. The journalistic assault went beyond his lackluster speech, which was barely quoted in major newspapers and not carried by MSNBC. 

Instead, the stories basically said "Donald Trump, who masterminded an insurrection, twice battled impeachment, is a danger to democracy and a really bad guy to boot, declared his candidacy…"

And some in the conservative media, led by National Review, have called Trump unfit for office and a man who will lead the party to losses as he did in 2018, 2020 and 2022. When the former president hit back wishing for the magazine’s demise, it produced a fundraising appeal on its home page: "Donald Trump Wants National Review to Die."

One direct result of Trump’s announcement was Garland’s decision to name a special counsel to run the Justice Department’s investigations of Trump. The attorney general also cited Joe Biden’s intention to run for re-election as a reason for putting a neutral prosecutor in charge. Garland would still have the final say on any indictment, but it would be hard for him to go up against his appointee’s finding that there is either a strong case or no case against Trump.

It’s striking that in picking Jack Smith, someone no one outside of certain legal circles had ever heard of, Garland triggered a debate among all those becoming instant experts on his career. 

Among left-leaning outlets, the reaction was divided between those who say this shows Garland definitely thinks there’s strong evidence and those who call it a terrible idea that creates an unneeded bureaucratic layer and slows down the probe.

Among conservative commentators, who have given it far less attention, the argument is why Garland waited so long if he himself has a conflict, and challenging Smith’s fairness. The truth is Garland would have gotten slammed either way.

Trump is now calling Smith a "Radical Left Prosecutor" who is "totally controlled by President Obama and his former A.G., Eric Holder, and ripping the probe by the "weaponized" Justice Department "just another Witch Hunt."

The basis for the "radical" accusation is that Smith served at DOJ during the Clinton and Obama administrations. But that doesn’t change the fact that he was a career prosecutor. In fact, he once headed the public integrity unit, the most sensitive post in the department, prosecuting current and former officeholders and generally headed by people of unimpeachable character. His current position was adjudicating Kosovo war crimes at the Hague. 

That doesn’t mean Smith’s record can’t be criticized – his conviction of ex-Virginia GOP governor Bob McDonnell was overturned by the Supreme Court – but he’s as close to an unbiased prosecutor as one could find. 

That story was still erupting when Musk stepped in. In a move shrewdly designed to lead the Sunday talk shows, he reinstated Trump’s Twitter account.

This fueled both media outrage and praise. Some liberals announced they would leave the app in protest rather than share a platform with Trump (weren’t they already sharing it with all kinds of sleazeballs?). Others said of course a presidential candidate should be allowed on Twitter, nearly two years after Jan. 6.

No one could be shocked by the move, which Musk had practically made a campaign pledge. But the way he did it underscored his erratic management style.

After taking over the site, Musk said no one would be reinstated until he could form a content moderation council to review such actions. This was part of an effort to persuade advertisers he wasn’t abandoning the existing rules against offensive content.

But Musk abruptly scrapped that idea, reinstated a few people and posted a Twitter poll on whether Trump should be allowed back on. When the idea was backed by a narrow 52-48 percent margin, Musk declared that the people had spoken.

As a traffic generator, it was brilliant: about 15 million people voted. As a matter of policy, it was incoherent.

TRUMP DENOUNCES BIDEN, AIRBRUSHES HIS TENURE, VOWS TO TAKE BACK THE COUNTRY

Trump, who encouraged people to vote for him, said he sees no reason to return to Twitter and is sticking with Truth Social. But I’ve said for a long time that if he has the chance to start reaching the 88 million followers he had when he was banned, he will. A compromise will be worked out and the tweetstorms will be back.

People ask whether all the Trump coverage reflects a media obsession. Perhaps, but he’s been at the center of three huge political stories in just a few days.

Footnote: Another of my predictions was that the scripted and restrained tone that Trump struck in his announcement speech wouldn’t last.

Within days, he was back talking about the rigged election and skewering critics.

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Take Maureen Dowd, who did savage him in her New York Times column as a traitor: "The arsonist seeking a job as a firefighter. He is the liar and con man who undermined confidence in our elections."

Trump struck back on Truth Social, calling her "the super whacko who constantly writes so nastily about me."

Then there was a riff I couldn’t follow: "Why doesn’t she write of her Trump escapes, where she bombed sooo badly–over and over again."

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And finally: "She’s a sick & angry person, perhaps mentally disturbed. Give it up, Maureen!"

Now imagine if that had reached 88 million followers.