2026年4月22日 美国东部时间下午6:00 / 福克斯新闻
专家表示，这份十年前的备忘录被泄露是为了打击首席大法官罗伯茨与最高法院的公信力
作者：阿什利·奥利弗 福克斯新闻
受审查的自由派法律助理涉最高法院泄密案
参议员特德·克鲁兹：这是参议院民主党多年来为破坏最高法院合法性、将其政治化的运动的高潮。
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一份最高法院泄密文件为自由派长期以来对紧急案卷的批评提供了新的弹药。近日公开的内部备忘录显示，最高法院如何快速推进重大案件，批评人士称这一程序有助于推进唐纳德·特朗普总统第二任期内的关键议程。
“自由派正为此垂涎三尺。他们非常开心，因为这印证了他们的叙事，”南德克萨斯法学院教授乔希·布莱克曼在接受福克斯新闻数字频道采访时表示。
这些于周六由《纽约时报》发布的备忘录罕见地披露了2016年首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨如何推动法院迅速阻止巴拉克·奥巴马总统的《清洁电力计划》。
【捆绑文章】在最高法院削弱自由派权力之前，曾有5个自由派法庭束缚特朗普手脚
但专家表示，当前最紧迫的担忧并非文件揭示了最高法院紧急案卷的运作方式，而是泄密事件本身。他们表示，这是一次蓄意破坏最高法院公信力的尝试。
“更大的问题在于，有人为了打击最高法院而泄密，”布莱克曼说，“这才是更重大的新闻。这么做就是为了让最高法院看起来很糟糕。我认为罗伯茨在这起事件中形象受损……我认为这一行动的特定目标就是打击这位首席大法官。”
2025年3月4日，唐纳德·特朗普总统在华盛顿特区国会山发表国会联席会议演讲时，与约翰·G·罗伯茨 Jr. 首席大法官打招呼。（温·麦克纳米/盖蒂图片社）
这份泄露的内部备忘录围绕2016年2月一项5比4的意识形态分歧裁决展开，该裁决阻止了奥巴马标志性的能源计划。这些由大法官们撰写并传阅的备忘录显示，罗伯茨敦促同事们迅速介入并叫停该计划，这一披露加剧了左翼对所谓“影子案卷”的抨击。
“新的报道凸显了这项仓促发布的暂缓令的作用，它开启了最高法院使用未解释且仓促发布的‘影子案卷’程序来改变重大国家政策的先例，”环境保护基金总法律顾问维基·帕顿周一在一份声明中表示。
这起泄密事件在法律界引发了多种猜测，可能是某位自由派大法官、退休自由派大法官或他们前助理将这16页备忘录交给了《纽约时报》，以削弱人们对备受关注的紧急案卷裁决的信心。自特朗普就职以来，这些裁决往往对特朗普有利。2024年也曾有过类似的小规模泄密事件，涉及同样的《纽约时报》记者。
【专题】“法院内部日益恶化的文化”
布莱克曼指出，将这份十年前的备忘录交给《纽约时报》的人可能还持有更多材料。
“这个人可能保留了很多东西，这次选择泄露一部分，未来可能还会有更多爆料，”布莱克曼说，“我认为这完全是党派行为，其目的是伤害、重创最高法院，强化‘影子案卷是邪恶、恶毒制度’的观念。”
【捆绑文章】最高法院2026年裁决或将定义美国未来数十年
2024年11月1日，前总统巴拉克·奥巴马在新泽西州纽瓦克埃塞克斯县学院体育馆举行的拉票集会上向支持者发表讲话。（凯尔·马扎/安纳多卢通讯社）
乔治华盛顿大学法学教授乔纳森·特利在一篇专栏文章中呼应了布莱克曼的观点，称“围绕影子案卷使用的争议与这起事件无关”。
特利提到了2022年向《政客》泄露多布斯案意见书的事件，当时这是对最高法院保密制度的严重违反。特利指出，那次泄密显然是“为了影响最终裁决”，而此次最新泄密涉及的是一起旧案，因此“纯粹是出于恶意，目的是让法院难堪或打乱其运作”。
“这些泄密事件反映出法院内部文化正在恶化，”特利补充道。
最高法院新闻办公室未回应福克斯新闻数字频道就此次泄密事件提出的置评请求。
【捆绑文章】格雷格·贾雷特：特朗普的驱逐胜诉是对诡计多端的律师和激进法官的驳斥
密苏里州共和党参议员乔希·霍利周一对福克斯新闻表示，这些备忘录“百分之百”是为了诋毁最高法院。霍利和他的妻子艾琳——保守派联盟保卫自由组织的律师——都曾担任罗伯茨的法律助理。
“从这篇新闻报道中你可以看出，他们就是这么构思的，”霍利说，“他们批评法院管理案卷的方式，称这是一场大阴谋。唯一的阴谋就是某人资助的多年努力，从内部和外部破坏最高法院这一机构。……我们需要查明是谁在这么做。”
影子案卷批评
紧急案卷允许诉讼当事人绕过冗长的法庭程序，在下级法院通过禁制令或初步禁令阻止他们时，直接向最高法院寻求即时救济。
民主党人批评最高法院频繁作出紧急裁决，这些裁决往往缺乏解释，但法律专家表示，由于行政行动增多、国会未能通过立法，这类裁决有所增加。
在特朗普的第二任期内，最高法院在多数紧急裁决中都支持特朗普，为特朗普解雇大量联邦雇员、取消数亿美元联邦合同、推进激进移民政策等铺平了道路。
【捆绑文章】《晨辉》：如果你关心宪法，不妨读一读莎拉·伊斯古尔的新书
上周，拜登任命的大法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊在耶鲁法学院的一次演讲中猛烈抨击最高法院多数派，称其发布的所谓仓促的“随手涂鸦式思考”裁决推进了“有害”政策。
2026年1月29日，凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊在洛杉矶参加由黑人音乐集体主办的第68届格莱美奖2026年录音学院荣誉奖活动。（艾玛·麦金太尔/盖蒂图片社为录音学院拍摄）
众议院司法委员会资深民主党议员杰米·拉斯金去年12月提出一项“提高紧急案卷透明度”的法案，他当时表示，最高法院不让案件先在下级法院审理，正在丧失公信力。
“罗伯茨法院依赖影子案卷快速作出针对重大案件的一段式裁决，这极大加剧了公众对大法官们的不信任，目前公众对大法官的信任度已创历史新低，”拉斯金当时说道。
被称为“推土机”的罗伯茨
《清洁电力计划》本将要求奥巴马政府环境保护局根据《清洁空气法案》对燃煤电厂实施监管，2016年，红州和行业团体恳求最高法院迅速叫停这一举措。
根据备忘录内容，曾由前总统乔治·W·布什任命的罗伯茨写道，如果最高法院不介入，“各州和私营企业都将因这项规则遭受不可挽回的损害——在我看来，这项规则几乎不可能存续下去”。
《纽约时报》将罗伯茨描述为行事像“推土机”。布莱克曼表示，“非常明显”，罗伯茨介入是为了阻止美国环保局局长在奥巴马执政的最后一年强行推进一项可能重塑能源行业的计划，当时只有“极度自由派”的哥伦比亚特区上诉法院参与了审议。
在另一份备忘录中，奥巴马任命的大法官埃琳娜·卡根不同意罗伯茨的观点，称“这些申请中寻求的救济具有独特性质，让我深感犹豫”。
短短几天内，最高法院就作出了简短、未加解释的意识形态分歧裁决，暂时叫停了奥巴马的计划。这一举措最终成为奥巴马政策的致命一击，因为民主党在当年晚些时候输掉了白宫选举。
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布莱克曼指出，追究泄露这份将罗伯茨描绘成鲁莽决策主导者的私人备忘录的责任将十分困难。他表示，任何可能的犯罪都已过了诉讼时效，除了可能以违反职业道德为由取消泄密者的律师资格外，没有真正的补救措施，尤其是对于试图惩罚可能的左翼泄密者的保守派而言。
“如果是自由派泄密，他们会获得奖章，”布莱克曼说，“他们会成为英雄，不会付出任何职业代价。事实上，他们的处境可能会更好。”
阿什利·奥利弗是福克斯新闻数字频道和福克斯商业频道的记者，负责报道司法部和法律事务。可通过邮箱ashley.oliver@fox.com发送新闻线索。
Latest SCOTUS leak a gift to liberals ‘salivating’ over control of high court narrative: experts
April 22, 2026 6:00pm EDT / Fox News
Experts say the decade-old memos were leaked to damage Chief Justice Roberts and the court’s credibility
By Ashley Oliver Fox News
Leftist law clerks under scrutiny for SCOTUS leak
Sen. Ted Cruz: It is the culmination of a multiyear campaign by Senate Democrats to de-legitimize and politicize the court.
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A Supreme Court leak is giving liberals new ammunition in their long-running criticism of the emergency docket after recently published internal memos showed how the high court fast-tracks major cases, a process that critics say has served to advance key parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda in his second term.
“The liberals are salivating over this. They’re very happy because it reinforces their narrative,” South Texas College of Law professor Josh Blackman told Fox News Digital.
The memos, published Saturday by The New York Times, offered a rare look at how Chief Justice John Roberts pressed the court in 2016 to quickly block President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan.
THE FIVE LIBERAL COURTS THAT TIED TRUMP’S HANDS BEFORE SCOTUS CLIPPED THEIR POWER
But the immediate concern now is not about what the documents revealed about the Supreme Court’s emergency docket but rather the leak itself, according to experts, who said it was a deliberate attempt to damage the court’s credibility.
“The bigger issue is people are leaking stuff to try to hurt the court,” Blackman said. “That’s the bigger story. This was done to try to make the court look bad. Roberts, I think, doesn’t come out looking very good in this one. … I think it’s designed to hurt the chief in particular.”
President Donald Trump greets Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. as he arrives to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2025.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The leaked internal memos appeared centered on the 5-4 decision along ideological lines in February 2016 to block Obama’s signature energy plan. The memos, written by and circulated among the justices, showed Roberts urging his colleagues to quickly intervene and halt the plan, a revelation that fueled attacks from the left on the so-called shadow docket.
“The new reporting highlights the role of this rashly issued stay in inaugurating the Supreme Court’s use of unexplained and hastily issued ‘shadow docket’ proceedings to alter major national policies,” Environmental Defense Fund general counsel Vickie Patton said in a statement Monday.
The leak has generated several theories in legal circles that a liberal justice or retired liberal justice or one of their former clerks passed the 16 pages of memos off to The New York Times to weaken confidence in high-profile emergency docket decisions, which have often favored Trump since he took office. A similar, smaller-scale leak to the same New York Times reporters occurred in 2024.
A ‘deteriorating culture at the court’
Blackman noted the person who gave the decade-old memos to The New York Times could share even more.
“This person probably kept a lot of things and decided to leak this, and there might be even more coming,” Blackman said. “I think this is absolutely partisan, and it’s done in a way to hurt and wound the court and to reaffirm this notion that the shadow docket is an evil, nefarious regime.”
SUPREME COURT’S 2026 RULINGS COULD DEFINE AMERICA FOR DECADES TO COME
Former President Barack Obama speaks to supporters during a get-out-the-vote rally at Essex County College gymnasium in Newark, N.J., on Nov. 1.(Kyle Mazza/Anadolu)
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley echoed Blackman’s sentiments in an op-ed, saying “the controversy over the use of the shadow docket is immaterial to this story.”
Turley pointed to the Dobbs opinion leak to Politico from 2022, which was, at the time, a stunning violation of the high court’s confidentiality. Turley noted while that breach was an apparent “effort to influence the final opinion,” this latest one is about an old case and therefore “had a purely malicious purpose to embarrass or disrupt the court.”
“The leaks appear to reflect a deteriorating culture at the court,” Turley added.
The Supreme Court’s press office did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital about the leaks.
GREGG JARRETT:TRUMP’S DEPORTATION WINS ARE A REBUKE TO SCHEMING LAWYERS AND ACTIVIST JUDGES
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News on Monday the memos were “100%” intended to discredit the court. Hawley and his wife, Erin, a lawyer at the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, both previously worked as law clerks for Roberts.
“You can tell from the news article that it builds that way,” Hawley said. “They criticize the court for how they’re managing their docket. They say this is some big conspiracy. The only conspiracy is the multi-year effort funded by somebody to undermine the institution of the court from within, from without. … We need to find out who’s doing this.”
Shadow docket criticism
The emergency docket allows litigants to bypass lengthy court proceedings and seek immediate relief from the Supreme Court if lower courts block them through restraining orders or preliminary injunctions.
Democrats have criticized the Supreme Court for the higher frequency of emergency decisions, which often contain little explanation but have increased because of what legal experts say is a rise in executive actions in lieu of Congress passing laws.
In Trump’s second term, the justices have ruled in favor of Trump on emergency decisions most of the time, clearing the way for Trump to fire masses of federal employees, cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts, move forward with aggressive immigration policies and more.
MORNING GLORY: IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION, READ SARAH ISGUR’S NEW BOOK
Last week, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden appointee, tore into the high court’s majority during a Yale Law School speech for issuing what she said were rushed, “scratch-paper musings” that advance “harmful” policies.
Ketanji Brown Jackson attends the 2026 Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective during the 68th Grammy Awards Jan. 29, 2026, in Los Angeles.(Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Upon introducing a bill to “increase transparency” of the emergency docket in December, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the leading Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said the Supreme Court was losing credibility by not allowing cases to first play out in the lower courts.
“The Roberts Court’s reliance on the Shadow Docket to covertly fast-track one-paragraph decisions on major cases drives tremendous mistrust toward Justices already facing record-low levels of public confidence,” Raskin said at the time.
Roberts the ‘bulldozer’
The Clean Power Plan would have involved the Obama Environmental Protection Agency imposing regulations on coal-powered plants under the Clean Air Act, a move that red states and industry groups implored the Supreme Court to quickly stop in 2016.
According to the memos, Roberts, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, wrote that without the high court stepping in, “both the states and private industry will suffer irreparable harm from a rule that is — in my view — highly unlikely to survive.”
The New York Times described Roberts as acting like a “bulldozer.” Blackman said “it’s very clear” that Roberts stepped in to stop the EPA administrator from ramming through a plan in Obama’s last year in office that could reshape the energy sector with only the “very liberal” D.C. appellate court weighing in.
In another memo, Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, disagreed with Roberts, saying “the unique nature of the relief sought in these applications gives me real pause.”
In a matter of days, the high court issued its brief, unexplained decision along ideological lines to temporarily block Obama’s plan. The move would become a death blow to Obama’s efforts because Democrats would lose the White House later that year.
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Blackman noted that accountability for leaking the private memos, which framed Roberts as spearheading a reckless decision, would be difficult, saying any possible crime would fall outside of statutes of limitations and that, outside of the possibility of attempting to disbar the culprit for an ethics violation, there was no real recourse, especially for conservatives seeking to punish a possible left-leaning leaker.
“If a liberal leaks, they’ll get a medal,” Blackman said. “They’ll become a hero. They’ll suffer zero professional consequences. In fact, they’ll probably be better off.”
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
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