NPR Retracts Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Retirement Report

NPR may have jumped the gun on one of the biggest political scoops of the year ... reporting that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is retiring, only to quickly reverse course and retract their story.

The Alito retirement story, written by prominent SCOTUS reporter Nina Totenberg, was published Tuesday morning before quickly disappearing from NPR's website. In its place now sits a brief editor's note that reads, "This story has been taken down. It was published in error."

The report spread quickly because the stakes couldn't be much higher. If Alito steps down, President Trump would get the chance to nominate a fourth Supreme Court justice -- further cementing his influence over the nation's highest court for years to come.

The twist here is who's behind the scoop ... Totenberg has spent decades covering the Supreme Court and is widely regarded as one of the best-sourced reporters on the beat -- having broken countless major stories involving the justices. That's already fueled speculation the underlying reporting may be sound and the story simply went live before NPR intended.

For now, NPR isn't offering any explanation beyond its terse retraction notice -- and neither Alito nor the Supreme Court has announced any retirement plans.