#Alito was captured on tape at a June 3 event hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society. The recording was…by #LaurenWindsor, the liberal documentary maker…. Windsor’s colleague, Ally Sammarco, attended as well, & spoke w/Alito….

The questioner approached Alito w/flattery, calling him an “American hero,” & engaged the justice in a discussion of #media scrutiny of #SCOTUS: “Why do you think the Supreme Court is being so attacked & being so targeted by the media these days?”

#law #ethics

#Alito answered: “They don’t like our decisions, & they don’t like how they anticipate we may decide some cases that are coming up. That’s the beginning of the end of it.” But Alito didn’t stop there. He volunteered: “There are groups that are very well-funded by ideological groups that have spearheaded these attacks. That’s what it is.”

Asked to elaborate, Alito got specific. “#ProPublica,” he said. “ProPublica gets a lot of money, & they have spent a fortune investigating #ClarenceThomas….

“You know, everything he’s ever done in his entire life.” #Alito then pulled his own experience into the conversation. “And they’ve done some of that to me, too,” he said. “They look for any little thing they can find, & they try to make something out of it.”

#law #ethics #SCOTUS

The #SupremeCourt’s 9 unelected jurists are entrusted w/ vast powers to shape individual & collective rights in America. In 2024, #ProPublica won a #Pulitzer Prize for its
“groundbreaking & ambitious reporting” on the high court & “how a small group of politically influential #billionaires wooed justices w/lavish gifts & travel.”

#law #ethics #SCOTUS #Alito #media #journalism #power #independence

In essence, #Alito is now accusing #ProPublica of being unduly influenced by the #media org’s own financial patrons. A spox for ProPublica defended its investigative #journalism to RollingStone. “ProPublica exposes abuses of #power no matter which party is in charge ‘ our newsroom operates w/fierce #independence … No donors are made aware of stories before they are published, nor do they have a say as to which stories reporters pursue.”

#law #SCOTUS

#Propublica claims >55k donors of “every stripe” & also posts a list of its “larger donors,” which includes many mainstream foundations.

…Though #Alito dismissed the outlet’s reporting as focused on “little” things, ProPublica’s stories prompted the court to issue a new code of conduct, signed by all 9 justices, in Nov 2023. A statement by the court said the document “largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”

#law #SCOTUS #ethics