Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting demands from Senate Democrats that he step aside from an upcoming Supreme Court case because of his interactions with one of the lawyers, in a fresh demonstration of tensions over ethical issues. Alito attached an unusual statement to an otherwise routine list of orders from the court Friday, writing that “there is no valid reason for my recusal in this case.” Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have criticized the court for failing to adopt an ethics code, following reports of undisclosed paid trips taken by Justice Clarence Thomas and, on one occasion, by Alito. The committee approved a court ethics code on a party-line vote, though it is unlikely to become law.
