"Please provide a list of any instance during your tenure on the Third Circuit that there has been a request for you to recuse yourself from a case, motion, or matter, or when you have otherwise considered recusing yourself from a case, motion, or matter. "

Question 23 is then broken down into outline form with 4 explanatory sub-paragraphs, leaving no doubt that any request for recusal whether “real, apparent or asserted” is to be disclosed. Not only is any request for recusal to be disclosed, but also a detailed explanation must be given as to the procedure followed in the final determination. 

The fact that Alito omitted the required data is not in dispute by anyone, including Alito himself. The following is taken from a Washington Post article on the subject: 

"After news of the complaint became public yesterday, Judge Alito wrote to Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, and advised him of the case. Also, a clerk on the 3rd Circuit wrote to say he had mistakenly overlooked the case because of a 'clerical error'."

The claim that the omission was a “clerical error” appears highly unlikely, if not impossible. Alito’s most recent vote on the case was cast less than three weeks before President Bush had nominated him to the Supreme Court. Not only had Alito’s involvement in “555” been very recent, it had been very protracted. In the time leading up to and directly prior to his nomination, he had voted on it at least 4 times and offered written opinions on the case. Further, in answering question 23 Alito and his staff compiled a list of 23 recusal cases dating as far back as 15 years, while his last dealing with 555 was only 20 days before his nomination. Why would Judge Alito or his staff not have picked up on omission of the freshest case through a quick proof-reading of the response to question 23? 

Even if omission of the case could somehow be blamed on a faux pas or gross incompetence, Mr. Heimbecker contacted Alito and staff on December 13, 2005, pointing out that he had failed to note 555 in answering question 23. Only when this story become public knowledge 5 weeks later was there any attempt to from Alito et al to be forthcoming. 

Since this story broke via the AP and Drudge, there has been a concerted campaign of detraction, even slander perpetrated against Mr. Heimbecker. He’s been cast as a “serial litigant” by unnamed "republican staffers" in the Drudge article and unnamed Republicans (referred to as “they”) in a Washington Times story. It would be interesting to know where “they” got their information from, because at the time this sentence is being written, a Google search of “H. Gerard Heimbecker” turns up 336 pages, all of them dealing directly or indirectly with Heimbecker v 555. Perhaps "they" can provide other instances of of Mr. Heimbecker acting as a serial litigant if they're going to accuse him of such?

A spokesman for Judiciary Committee member Sen. John Cornyn implied that this issue is “orchestrated by the hard left in a desperate attempt to derail this nomination”. White House spokesman Stephen Schmidt stated that he wasn’t certain if Alito was compelled to disclose the case when answering question number 23. His exact quote according to the AP was that it was "more than frivolous, it's complete and total nonsense." Anyone who reads question 23 with any comprehension, can only come to the undeniable conclusion that that Alito was absolutely compelled to disclose the case, and that candidness by a potential Supreme Court nominee is by no means a "frivolous" matter, it's absolutely vital.

In his article, Matt Drudge claims that Ted Kennedy and his staff are behind the efforts to “push this latest attack.” Posters haunting various blogs and internet forums have called Mr. Heimbecker a “kook”, a “leftist agent”, a “nut” and other slanderous names not fit to print in an article intended for eyes of the decent. The truth is that Mr. Heimbecker is a conservative traditional Catholic, a lifelong Republican and a good American who has been seeking legal justice in this one particular case for over 10 years - long before any of us ever heard the name “Samuel Alito”. He doesn’t know and has never met Ted Kennedy or any of his staff members. 

Mr. Heimbecker sent a letter regarding “555” to each and every Senate Judiciary Committee member, the President of the United States, Matt Drudge, Arlen Specter, the FBI and many of the now scribbling journalists and other VIPs weeks prior to the story breaking on January 20th.  Arlen Specter himself has been intimately  involved with “555” long before Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement was announced.

None of the above mentioned parties has a single reason to be surprised that this story has now surfaced or any valid reason to drag Mr. Heimbecker in their political sty, unless they are purposefully dishonest or professionally incompetent. They’ve all been fully informed in earnest and apparently have done enough homework in order to have the canned spin ready when asked about the matter.

Exactly what could Judge Alito be hiding regarding Heimbecker v 555 Associates? If anyone is interested in asking Mr. Heimbecker, he has some very interesting answers. It begins with a high rise fire in which several firefighters died many years ago, then works its way through dirty Pennsylvania politics and ends up at the highest levels of government. Ask Mr. Heimbecker, he'll tell you all about it.