ProPublica Ignores Liberal Justices' Indiscretions

As Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito rejects ProPublica's latest conservative justice attack as "misleading," it's becoming increasing clear to many observers the attacks under the guise of "ethics concerns" are coordinated against the conservative majority, while ignoring the liberal minority.

ProPublica, focused on leftist priorities as reviewed by AllSides, does not treat Democrat-appointed Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, or Ketanji Brown Jackson with the same discerned scrutiny. The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and now-retired Democrat-appointed Justice Stephen Breyer were also handled most softly.

"ProPublica's stories alleging 'corruption' by Supreme Court justices have been the work of one-sided activists trying to make hay out of insignificant or irrelevant matters," RealClearInvestigation's Mark Hemmingway tweeted. "It's not respectable journalism."

The concerns of "ethics" should perhaps by hoisted on ProPublica, its big-dollar leftist donors, and the media fawning over its so-called journalistic excellence.

The Wall Street Journal, the same publication that published Alito's preemptive defense against the leftist ProPublica attack, has an editorial features editor James Taranto who called ProPublica's investigative efforts against conservatives "propaganda, not journalism."

"The objective isn't to further public understanding but, in Alinskyite fashion, to incite animus against a political target," the Journal's James Taranto wrote May 4, referencing leftist activist and author Saul Alinsky, who infamously wrote "Rules for Radicals."

"The clearest proof of this is the absence of investigations from ProPublica and other so-called mainstream news outlets into the 'ethics' of liberal justices," Taranto added.

ProPublica's digging into Alito and conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the most famously targeted justice by the left, seemed to be fine with, as Fox News, Fix the Court, and the New York Post reported:

Sotomayor failed to recuse herself from cases involving Penguin Random House, the book publisher that paid her more than $3 million since 2010. She reportedly received $1.2 million for her memoir "My Beloved," and later received $1.9 million for various children's books.
Sotomayor's reported failing to report reimbursements of lodging for her University of Rhode Island commencement speech and six visits to public universities in 2016.
Breyer (1994 to 2022) close ties to the wealthy Chicago-based Pritzker family, including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Kagan's refusal to recuse herself from Obamacare rulings, despite being a solicitor general where she gave legal advice.

Political independence on the Supreme Court has long been lost.

"Here's Justice Ginsburg accepting award in 2010 from the partisan Woman's National Democratic Club," Center for Renewing America fellow Mark Paoletta tweeted. "I am unaware of any reporting of this at time. Who was the emcee at this partisan event?? None other than @NPR @NinaTotenberg. Nothing to see here ..."

Paoletta has ties to the Thomas family and former Vice President Mike Pence, but his point should not be moot.

"Justice Alito demolishes a coming @propublica smear job with superb oped," Center for Renewing America fellow Mark Paoletta tweeted. "These baseless smears are meant to undermine Court because it is no longer doing Left's bidding. It won't work. @propublica gets funding from major Lefty donors & is a cog in leftwing smear machine."

Fix the Court, as the now conservative-leaning Supreme Court faces attacks for ethics reform, notes that all nine siting justice have ethics questions raised, but none rising to the level of impeachment.

Long before publishing Alito's defense, the Journal took note of the bias, having decried in April with its board's editorial: "The Smearing of Clarence Thomas: The left gins up another phony ethics assault to tarnish the Supreme Court."

"Can anyone imagine such a story ever being written about a liberal Justice on the Court?" the Journal wrote. "It's all ugly politics, but the left is furious it lost control of the court, and it wants it back by whatever means possible."

And you can follow the money, according to conservative mediaites. Alleged scammer Sam Bankman-Fried has been a big donor to ProPublica, which was founded by the late Herbert Sandler, a major donor to former President Bill Clinton.

The Daily Caller detailed all the big left dollars flowing into the ProPublica coffers to attack conservatives.

"ProPublica focuses mainly on issues of importance to the political left, such as abortion rights and taxing the rich, and sometimes frames conservative causes negatively," according to AllSides.