The Wall Street Journal editorial board defended Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito against ProPublica and denounced the outlet’s reporting as an “attempt at Court-thinning.”
“The attack on the Supreme Court Justice on ethics and recusal is an attempt at Court-thinning,” the editors wrote. “As usual, this is a non-scandal built on partisan spin intended to harm the Justice and the current Court majority.”
Alito preempted ProPublica’s story in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday and wrote that the report was “misleading.”
ProPublica reported that the Supreme Court Justice went on a fishing trip in 2008 with billionaire Paul Singer and didn’t disclose it.
“ProPublica’s focus on recusal is the latest angle in the progressive campaign to cripple the Court’s new majority. By imposing even tenuous associations as grounds for recusal, litigants can exclude certain Justices from hearing a case. With a Court of only nine Justices, this could determine the outcome. Call it Court-thinning rather than Court-packing, but the effect would be similar,” they continued.
Alito argued in his WSJ op-ed that recusal “would not have been required or appropriate.”
The Supreme Court is seen Wednesday, June 29, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
LEFT-WING NONPROFIT LEADS CHARGE AGAINST JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: ‘POLITICAL DRIVE-BY SHOOTING’
“That’s the larger story to keep in mind as the campaign against the Court accelerates. This isn’t about ethics. This is about the left’s fury at having lost control of the Court, which they had counted on for decades as a second legislature to impose their priorities when they couldn’t persuade Congress. They can’t accept that loss, and they will destroy the Court if they must to get that control back,” the editors continued.
Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was previously accused of conflicts of interest by ProPublica. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
ProPublica previously accused Justice Clarence Thomas of having similar conflicts of interest.
ProPublica reported Thomas’ close friendship with real estate developer Harlan Crow allowed him to accompany the Texas billionaire on luxury vacations on his private jet and yacht, as well as free stays on Crow’s vast vacation property.
