How NPR published a Supreme Court retirement that never happened

Nina Totenberg misheard a Supreme Court announcement, leading NPR to mistakenly report that Justice Samuel Alito was retiring

NPR broke a huge story Tuesday morning.

Or so we thought.

NPR’s veteran Supreme Court reporter, Nina Totenberg, who has been covering the high court since 1969, reported that conservative Justice Samuel Alito had announced his retirement. A story was posted on NPR’s website.

But Alito had made no such announcement. Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe told reporters, “NPR’s story on Justice Alito is inaccurate and any report they had a court statement was inaccurate.”