Key takeaways:
- Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito published a commentary in The Wall Street Journal defending himself from questions about his ethical conduct raised by ProPublica.
- Alito wrote that he had recused himself from cases involving Singer’s entities, and that he had reported the gifts in question on his financial disclosure forms.
- The publication of Alito’s rebuttal in The Wall Street Journal has raised questions about the timing of the op-ed and the accuracy of the claims made in it.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has published a commentary in The Wall Street Journal defending himself from questions about his ethical conduct raised in a yet-to-be published article by news outlet ProPublica. The Journal published the op-ed under the headline “ProPublica Misleads its Readers,” which accuses the outlet of leveling false charges against the justice.
The commentary addressed what Alito referred to as “charges” by journalists from ProPublica that he had failed to recuse from cases in which an entity connected to hedge fund founder Paul Singer was a party and to report certain gifts on mandatory annual financial disclosure forms, such as a private flight to Alaska for a fishing trip.
Alito wrote that he had recused himself from cases involving Singer’s entities, and that he had reported the gifts in question on his financial disclosure forms. He also noted that the trip to Alaska had been arranged by Leonard Leo, a prominent conservative figure who was then head of the Federalist Society.
A spokesperson for ProPublica said: “We don’t comment on unpublished stories.” The outlet is expected to publish its investigation into Alito’s ethical conduct later today.
The publication of Alito’s rebuttal in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday has raised questions about the timing of the op-ed and the accuracy of the claims made in it. It remains to be seen whether ProPublica’s investigation will corroborate or refute Alito’s claims.
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