NPR's Retracted Story About Alito Retiring Sparks Speculation It Might Soon Prove True: 'Sure Wonder If That Was Embargo [View all]

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Source: MEDIAite

Jun 30th, 2026, 3:36 pm


NPR and its longtime legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg had to make an embarrassing retraction Tuesday after reporting that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring — but certain aspects of the kerfuffle had commentators abuzz that the story may soon prove true after all. Totenberg’s article initially reported that Alito was retiring as the nation’s highest court wrapped the release of several major opinions, including striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to end birthright citizenship.

Shortly after the article was published, a moderator in the live chat at SCOTUSblog that had been discussing the morning’s opinions noted that the court’s public information officer “just emphasized that the court has not made any announcement to that effect.”

NPR retracted the article and replaced it with an author’s note saying that it was “erroneously published,” and the nonprofit media organization’s editor in chief Tommy Evans issued a statement:

Due to a misunderstanding, NPR’s Supreme Court and Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg incorrectly reported that Justice Samuel Alito had retired,” said Evans in the statement. “Neither Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court Public Information Office has announced his retirement.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/nprs-retracted-story-about-alito-retiring-sparks-speculation-it-might-soon-prove-true-sure-wonder-if-that-was-embargoed/

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Peter Hamby
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if there was an Alito retirement pre-write from Nina Totenberg in the cooker, we should probably expect Alito to announce his retirement at some point soon
1:03 PM · Jun 30, 2026