Report: Donors funded Alito trip
Justice defends not reporting gift
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a 2008 trip to a luxury fishing lodge in Alaska from two wealthy Republican donors, one of whom repeatedly had interests before the court, and he did not disclose the trips on his financial disclosure for that year, ProPublica reports.
A story published Wednesday by the investigative journalism organization states that in July 2008, Alito flew to a remote corner of Alaska aboard the private plane of businessman and Republican donor Paul Singer. A hedge fund founded by the billionaire has brought roughly a dozen cases before the court since then, ProPublica reported. Alito did not recuse himself from participating in any of those cases.
Alito’s three-day stay at the King Salmon Lodge was paid for by another wealthy donor, Robin Arkley II. Leonard Leo, then a leader of conservative legal group The Federalist Society, helped make arrangements for the trip, including securing a spot for Alito aboard Singer’s jet, which would have cost Alito at least $100,000 if he chartered the jet himself, ProPublica reported.
Supreme Court justices, like other federal judges, are required to file annual financial disclosure reports, which ask them to list gifts they have received. However, the high court is not subject to a binding code of conduct that applies to lower court judges, giving individual justices latitude to write and enforce their own rules.
Alito vigorously disputed the findings in a Wall Street Journal opinion article released before ProPublica published its story, stating he faced no obligation to disclose the details of the trip or recuse himself from cases involving Singer’s hedge fund.
“I have spoken to Mr. Singer on no more than a handful of occasions, all of which (with the exception of small talk during a fishing trip 15 years ago) consisted of brief and casual comments at events attended by large groups,” Alito wrote. “We have never talked about any case or issue before the Court.”
“As for the flight, Mr. Singer and others had already made arrangements to fly to Alaska when I was invited shortly before the event, and I was asked whether I would like to fly there in a seat that, as far as I am aware, would have otherwise been vacant,” Alito wrote.
The revelation comes as the court is facing heightened scrutiny over issues of ethics, including the justices’ obligation to disclose the details of expense-paid travels. That’s led Democrats in Congress to call for legislation that would impose binding ethics rules on the court.
ProPublica previously reported that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted decades of undisclosed trips from a longtime friend, Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, that included stays at Crow’s private resort, flights aboard his jet, and a vacation aboard his yacht in Indonesia.
Since the passage of a Watergate-era law, the justices are supposed to report gifts they receive. But both Thomas and Alito have argued that a “personal hospitality” provision in the law exempts them.