Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Saturday strenuously denied any involvement in leaking the outcome of a 2014 ruling in a lengthy statement issued in response to a New York Times report.
The Times story said that former anti-abortion campaigner Rev. Rob Schenck found out about the outcome of the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby ruling before the decision was issued in June 2014. The 5-4 ruling in a case closely watched by conservatives allowed privately-held companies to object on religious grounds to a provision of the Obamacare law that requires employers to provide health insurance that includes contraception coverage.
Schenck told the Times that he learned about the outcome soon after a couple he knew had dinner with Alito, who authored the Hobby Lobby ruling, and his wife, Martha-Ann.
The House voted Tuesday to end a nearly four-day partial government shutdown, approving spending through September...
