Alito rejects Democrats' demands to step aside from upcoming Supreme Court case

Washington — Justice Samuel Alito on Friday rejected demands from Senate Democrats that he step aside from an upcoming Supreme Court case because of his interactions with one of the lawyers involved, in a fresh demonstration of tensions over ethical issues.

Alito attached an unusual statement to an otherwise routine list of orders from the court. "There is no valid reason for my recusal in this case," Alito wrote in a four-page statement.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been highly critical of Alito and the rest of 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 an ethics code for the court on a party-line vote, though it is unlikely to become law.