Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has provided a public accounting of his firm’s work at the Supreme Court that began five years ago with security at justices’ homes, for their travels and in courtroom operations, confirming CNN’s exclusive reporting related to Chertoff’s endorsement of the court’s investigation of a leaked abortion decision.
In a new letter to congressional Democrats, he also provides some details and the timing of Chief Justice John Roberts’ request to The Chertoff Group for its review of the court’s inquiry into the source of the unprecedented leak of the Dobbs decision reversing nearly a half century of abortion rights.
Chertoff was first contacted by Chief Justice John Roberts in November 2022 and received investigative files and interview transcripts, he said in a March 15 letter provided to CNN by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who chairs a subcommittee overseeing the judiciary. Chertoff said his firm conducted no additional investigation or interviews.
“Some of the investigative files included transcripts or summaries of phone conversations that were provided to investigators, but our primary focus was on a review of documentary evidence,” Chertoff wrote.
Chertoff did not provide details about those summaries or any information about the money his firm was paid for work on its review or its prior services. CNN earlier had reported that the firm’s contracts with the Supreme Court exceeded $1 million.
The Chertoff Group earlier referred questions about its business with the court to court officials. The court had no immediate response to questions about Chertoff’s work. Neither has been accused of wrongdoing.
The high court enlisted Chertoff to publicly vouch in January for the court’s inconclusive report on the premature disclosure of the decision in Dobbs v….
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