Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito took a luxury fishing trip to Alaska with billionaire Paul Singer, whose hedge fund then had repeated business before SCOTUS over the years that followed.
Alito never disclosed the trip or recused himself from Singer's cases. (THREAD)
Alito never disclosed the trip or recused himself from Singer's cases. (THREAD)
2/ Singer, a major GOP donor, wasn't just a fellow angler along for the trip with Alito. The investor flew the justice to Alaska in a private jet.
Had Alito chartered the plane himself, it could've cost him over $100K.
Had Alito chartered the plane himself, it could've cost him over $100K.
3/ Alito didn't report the trip on his annual financial disclosures.
By failing to disclose the private jet flight Singer provided, Alito appears to have violated a federal law requiring justices to disclose most gifts, according to ethics law experts.
propublica.org
By failing to disclose the private jet flight Singer provided, Alito appears to have violated a federal law requiring justices to disclose most gifts, according to ethics law experts.
propublica.org
4/ Additionally, Singer's companies came before the court at least 10 times in the years after the fishing trip. SCOTUS heard a case about the fund's long-running dispute with the government of Argentina in 2014 and ruled in Singer's favor.
Alito never recused himself.
Alito never recused himself.
5/ Experts said they could not identify an instance of a justice ruling on a case after receiving an expensive gift paid for by one of the parties.
6/ “If you were good friends, what were you doing ruling on his case?” said Charles Geyh, an Indiana University law professor and leading expert on recusals.
“And if you weren’t good friends, what were you doing accepting this?” referring to the flight on the private jet.
“And if you weren’t good friends, what were you doing accepting this?” referring to the flight on the private jet.
7/ ProPublica’s examination of Alito’s travel drew on trip planning emails, Alaska fishing licenses, and interviews with dozens of people including private jet pilots, fishing guides, former high-level employees of both Singer and the lodge owner, and other guests on the trips.
8/ ProPublica sent Alito a list of detailed questions last week. On Tuesday, a Supreme Court spokeswoman told us Alito wouldn’t be commenting.
9/ Hours later, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Alito responding to ProPublica’s questions about the trip.
10/ Alito said he wasn’t aware of the billionaire’s connection to the cases, and they never discussed Singer’s business or issues before the court.
11/ He also defended his failure to report the trip to the public, saying he understood the law didn’t require it and that not disclosing such gifts to be “standard practice” amongst the justices.
12/ Here is Singer’s response:
13/ Alito was accompanied on the trip by Leonard Leo (center in the pic below), the longtime Federalist Society leader who had recently played an important role in Alito’s confirmation to the court. Singer and the lodge owner were both major donors to Leo’s political groups.
14/ Leo’s the one who Leo invited Singer to join the vacation, according to a person familiar with the trip, and Leo asked Singer if he and Alito could fly on the billionaire’s jet.
15/ Leo, an architect of the Supreme Court's movement to the right, also popped up in our reporting of Clarence Thomas' undisclosed trips with billionaire Harlan Crow. Here's a painting of the 3 men that hangs at Crow's private resort:
16/ Leo didn't respond to questions about his organizing the trip but said:
18/ We're still reporting. Do you have any tips on the Supreme Court?
Justin Elliott can be reached by email: justin@propublica.org or by Signal/WhatsApp at 774-826-6240
Josh Kaplan can be reached by email: joshua.kaplan@propublica.org or by Signal/WhatsApp at 734-834-9383
Justin Elliott can be reached by email: justin@propublica.org or by Signal/WhatsApp at 774-826-6240
Josh Kaplan can be reached by email: joshua.kaplan@propublica.org or by Signal/WhatsApp at 734-834-9383
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