Supreme Court judge accepted a lavish trip from a Republican donor

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WASHINGTON. US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a trip to a luxurious Alaskan fishing lodge in 2008 from two wealthy Republican donors, one of whom had repeated interests before the court, and did not mention the trips in his financial statement for that year, reported the nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica.

A dispatch released Tuesday night by ProPublica notes that in July 2008, Alito flew to a remote corner of Alaska aboard the private jet of Republican businessman and donor Paul Singer. An investment fund founded by the billionaire has brought about 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, the owner of a California-based mortgage company at the time. Leonard Leo, then head of the conservative legal group The Federalist Society, helped arrange the trip, including reserving a seat for Alito on Singer’s plane, which would have cost Alito at least $100,000 if he had chartered the plane himself. reported ProPublica.

Supreme Court justices, like other federal judges, are required to file annual financial disclosure reports, in which they are asked to list the gifts they have received. However, the highest court is not bound by a binding code of conduct that applies to lower court judges, giving each judge the freedom to write and apply their own rules.

Alito strongly refuted the findings in a Wall Street Journal op-ed before ProPublica published his story, saying he was not required to divulge details of the trip or recuse himself from cases involving Singer’s investment fund.

“What I remember is speaking to Mr. Singer on no more than a handful of occasions, all of which (with the exception of a small talk during a fishing trip 15 years ago) consisted of brief, casual remarks at events at those attended by large groups,” Alito wrote. “On no occasion have we discussed his business activities, and we have never discussed any case or matter 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 if I would like to fly there in a seat that, to my knowledge, would have been vacant. It was my understanding that this would incur no additional cost to Mr. Singer,” Alito wrote.