{"id":1952907,"date":"2023-06-21T11:54:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T15:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/justice-alito-launches-preemptive-strike-on-leftist-hit-piece\/"},"modified":"2023-06-21T11:56:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T15:56:42","slug":"justice-alito-launches-preemptive-strike-on-leftist-hit-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/justice-alito-launches-preemptive-strike-on-leftist-hit-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"Alito counters leftist attack with preemptive strike."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjustice-alito-launches-preemptive-strike-on-leftist-hit-piece%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1952907&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Justice Samuel Alito penned a <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/uujeU#selection-333.0-333.268\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">preemptive strike<\/a> on Tuesday night against ProPublica, a media outlet bankrolled by a pro-court-packing group, which planned to release a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hit piece<\/a> painting the Supreme Court member as unethically rubbing elbows with power. <\/p>\n<p>ProPublica\u2019s chief complaint is that Alito went on a \u201cluxury fishing vacation with GOP billionaire\u201d Paul Singer in 2008 and then proceeded to preside over cases the hedge fund manager was involved in. One such case between Singer\u2019s hedge fund and Argentina, ProPublica emphasized, resulted in a $2.4 billion win for the company. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2024982576\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-86e1eb3e17c00225432362960f7ae220 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-86e1eb3e17c00225432362960f7ae220\"><\/div>\n<p>The media outlet claimed \u201cethics law experts\u201d believe Alito \u201cappears to have violated a federal law that\u00a0requires\u00a0justices\u00a0to disclose most gifts\u201d and should have removed himself from hearing cases related to Singer\u2019s financial interests. In reality, Alito\u2019s absence would not have affected the outcome of that case, which even ProPublica acknowledges was decided 7 to 1 in favor of Singer\u2019s hedge fund. <\/p>\n<p>Alito, who noted he has \u201cvoted on approximately 100,000 certiorari petitions\u201d since joining the bench,\u00a0stated he was unaware of Singer\u2019s involvement in the cases listed by ProPublica. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Singer was not listed as a party in any of the cases listed by ProPublica. Nor did his name appear in any of the corporate disclosure statements or the certiorari petitions or briefs in opposition to certiorari,\u201d Alito noted.<\/p>\n<p>Even if he did know about Singer\u2019s connection to them, Alito wrote that \u201crecusal would not have been required or appropriate.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-23af65e7db680f4e3a346adef7117418 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-23af65e7db680f4e3a346adef7117418\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cProPublica suggests that my failure to recuse in these cases created an appearance of impropriety, but that is incorrect,\u201d Alito continued, before quoting from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/documents\/70adb490-28c6-4065-b929-6e2e9ab5b9a8.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">court\u2019s Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices.<\/a> \u201c\u2018There is an appearance of impropriety when an unbiased and reasonable person who is aware of all relevant facts would doubt that the Justice could fairly discharge his or her duties.\u2019 \u2026 No such person would think that my relationship with Mr. Singer meets that standard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Alito points out, \u201cuntil a few months ago, the instructions for completing a Financial Disclosure Report told judges that \u2018[p]ersonal hospitality need not be reported.\u2019\u201d Those reporting guidelines included the kind of \u201chospitality\u201d Singer offered Alito on the fishing trip. <\/p>\n<p>Alito\u2019s explanation undermines the true point of the smear, which ProPublica disclosed seven paragraphs into its article. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cJustices are almost entirely left to police themselves on ethical issues, with few restrictions on what gifts they can accept,\u201d ProPublica protested. \u201cWhen a potential conflict arises, the sole arbiter of whether a justice should step away from a case is the justice him or herself.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7806d1efa8e960ca5081c79f03d4a360 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7806d1efa8e960ca5081c79f03d4a360\"><\/div>\n<p>ProPublica feigned shock on Wednesday that Alito chose not to answer their questions \u2014 \u201cwe do serious, fair, accurate reporting in the public interest and have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/22\/for-five-straight-years-the-pulitzer-prizes-have-rewarded-misinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">won six Pulitzer Prizes<\/a>,\u201d the outlet insisted in its comment request \u2014 and instead wrote his own defense. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cJustice Alito didn\u2019t answer our questions. Instead, he wrote an opinion piece attacking as unfair a story he hadn\u2019t read,\u201d the publication\u2019s Twitter page <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/propublica\/status\/1671365797061558273\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complained<\/a>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p>Alito was right not to participate. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Double Standards<\/h2>\n<p>For decades, Democrats and their allies in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-ted-cruz-plans-resolution-to-support-arms-sales-to-israel\/\" title=\"Sen. Ted Cruz Plans Resolution to Support Arms Sales to Israel\">corrupt corporate media<\/a> have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-investigation-origins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked hand in hand<\/a> to delegitimize and destroy the court, which currently has a majority of Republican-appointed justices, with one hit piece at a time. This mud-slinging campaign intensified in recent months as Senate Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/05\/02\/democrats-latest-sham-hearing-isnt-about-ethics-its-about-destroying-their-political-enemies-on-the-supreme-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ramped up<\/a> pressure to amend the Supreme Court\u2019s ethics rules by calling witnesses whose legal group\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/campaignlegal.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asserts on its front page<\/a>\u00a0that the Supreme Court is \u201ca threat to our democracy\u201d in congressional hearings. <\/p>\n<p>ProPublica did most of the legwork by publishing smears in April and May whining about Justice Clarence Thomas\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/04\/06\/propublica-exposes-clarence-thomas-he-has-a-rich-friend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rich friend<\/a>, the annual vacations they take together, and how the longtime acquaintance <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/05\/04\/the-real-story-of-the-clarence-thomas-non-scandal-is-pro-lifers-care-about-life-outside-the-womb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paid<\/a> for the Thomases\u2019 grandnephew Mark Martin\u2019s tuition. Despite the fact that none of these actions are illegal according to the court\u2019s standards, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/04\/25\/politicos-hit-on-neil-gorsuch-is-another-transparent-attempt-to-delegitimize-scotus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/01\/the-campaign-to-destroy-scotus-is-getting-increasingly-stupid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Slate<\/a>, and others quickly joined in attacking Thomas as well as Justice Neil Gorsuch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey did not\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-truth-about-clarence-thomas-disclosures-propublica-georgia-harlan-crow-ethics-court-91cd21df\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">uncover<\/a>\u00a0any\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/justice-thomas-and-the-plague-of-bad-reporting-propublica-washington-post-disclosure-court-safety-def0a6a7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conflict of interest<\/a>\u00a0nor corruption,\u201d my colleague David Harsanyi <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/05\/02\/rather-than-smearing-justices-democrats-should-be-asking-them-for-ethics-lessons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Yet, media minions from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kaitlancollins\/status\/1671484881476493318?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNN<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kylegriffin1\/status\/1671465483302739968?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MSNBC<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoyceWhiteVance\/status\/1671483379785650178?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NBC News<\/a> proudly shared the shame stories on their Twitter pages. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenWhitehouse\/status\/1671517032171425792?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrats<\/a> also happily amplified articles targeting their conservative foes on the bench. <\/p>\n<p>From the beginning, these twisted tales and the jaded jihad against <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/10\/17\/politico-launches-baseless-attack-on-scotus-justices-working-spouses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">justices\u2019 wives<\/a> including <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/12\/30\/ginni-thomas-transcript-from-j6-panel-reveals-witch-hunt-operation-without-a-witch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ginni Thomas<\/a> were designed to undermine the Republican-nominated justices who pose a threat to the left\u2019s unconstitutional agenda. <\/p>\n<p>ProPublica admitted in its Alito article that \u201cexperts said they could not identify an instance of a justice ruling on a case after receiving an expensive gift paid for by one of the parties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrat-nominated justices, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/05\/12\/democrats-hold-glaring-double-standards-when-it-comes-to-supreme-court-justice-financial-disclosures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have plenty of ethical shortcomings<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/05\/12\/democrats-hold-glaring-double-standards-when-it-comes-to-supreme-court-justice-financial-disclosures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">go unscrutinized<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/news\/2019\/06\/scotus-justices-rack-up-trips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">including secret travel arrangements<\/a>. Similarly, ProPublica, which masquerades as \u201can independent, nonprofit newsroom that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/propublica-finds-an-awkward-partner-for-billionaire-playbook-on-taxing-the-rich\/\" title=\"ProPublica Finds an Awkward Partner for \u2018Billionaire Playbook\u2019 on Taxing the Rich\">produces investigative journalism<\/a> with moral force,\u201d was <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2023\/06\/20\/propublica-donors-clarence-thomas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">founded and is bankrolled<\/a> by the same organization that sends millions of dollars each year to dark money funds and progressive activist groups that lobby for Democrats to pack the court. <\/p>\n<p>Americans may have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/394103\/confidence-supreme-court-sinks-historic-low.aspx#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20D.C.%20%2D%2D%20With%20the,Gallup's%20nearly%2050%2Dyear%20trend.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">historically low<\/a>\u00a0trust in the head of the judicial branch of the U.S. government but their trust in media is <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2023\/02\/15\/trust-in-media-low-misinform-mislead-biased-republicans-democrats-poll-gallup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">far lower<\/a>. That trust will only continue to drop as Americans see the clearly coordinated campaign between Democrats, court-packing activists, and corporate media outlets to disempower the judicial branch. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-10d093c9d297086642efd7623d2f8dbe fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-10d093c9d297086642efd7623d2f8dbe\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Justice Samuel Alito preemptively countered ProPublica, a media outlet funded by a pro-court-packing group, aiming to release a hit piece accusing him of unethical associations with power. ProPublica&#8217;s main grievance is Alito&#8217;s &#8220;luxury fishing trip with GOP billionaire&#8221; Paul Singer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":1952908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4430,4002,6189,4717,7439,4522],"class_list":["post-1952907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alito","tag-attack","tag-counters","tag-leftist","tag-preemptive","tag-strike"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1952907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1952908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1952907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1952907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1952907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}