August M
A coalition of watchdog and environmental organizations is urging the US Senate judiciary committee to investigate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito over alleged conflicts of interest tied to oil industry investments.
The groups argue that Alito’s participation in climate-related cases involving major fossil fuel companies could violate judicial ethics standards, reports The Guardian.
Calls for investigation
According to a letter sent Thursday and reported by The Guardian, Alito is currently the only Supreme Court justice with direct holdings in energy companies.
The coalition said his decisions on recusal in oil and gas cases are “undermining public confidence in the impartiality of the Court.”
Groups backing the request include the League of Conservation Voters, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Revolving Door Project and True North Research.
Climate lawsuits
The dispute centers partly on a case involving Exxon and Suncor Energy that the Supreme Court agreed to hear earlier this year.
According to The Guardian, the companies want the court to determine whether federal law blocks state and local governments from suing oil firms over climate-related damage.
Alito did not step aside from the case, despite previously recusing himself in a related petition involving the same companies in 2023.
“No judge on any court, including the high court, should be allowed to hear cases where he or she have a financial stake in those cases,” said Lisa Graves, executive director of True North Research.
Financial concerns
Financial disclosures filed last year showed Alito held between $60,007 and $245,000 in several oil and energy companies, including ConocoPhillips and Phillips66.
The watchdog groups also pointed to investments linked to Exxon through a Vanguard fund, according to the letter cited by The Guardian.
“These holdings alone should compel Justice Alito to recuse himself from the Boulder case and the parallel state climate deception cases,” the organizations wrote.
Ethics questions
The groups additionally highlighted Alito’s relationship with billionaire Republican donor Paul Singer, whose hedge fund reportedly owns a major stake in Suncor Energy.
ProPublica previously reported that Alito accepted a private jet trip from Singer in 2008 without disclosing it at the time.
Alito later defended the trip in The Wall Street Journal, writing: “ProPublica suggests that my failure to recuse in these cases created an appearance of impropriety, but that is incorrect.”
The Supreme Court introduced its first formal ethics code in 2023, though critics say it lacks meaningful enforcement mechanisms.
Sources: The Guardian, ProPublica, The Wall Street Journal
