Justice Samuel Alito faces scrutiny over trips with GOP donor, pens defensive op-ed

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is facing new scrutiny following a ProPublica report published late Tuesday that reveals an expensive and previously undisclosed luxury fishing trip that the justice took with a prominent conservative donor over a decade ago. Alito wrote a defensive op-ed preemptively denying wrongdoing in The Wall Street Journal earlier Tuesday.

According to ProPublica's investigation, Alito in 2008 flew on billionaire Paul Singer’s private jet on a trip that included room and board at Alaska’s pricey King Salmon Lodge. That was paid for by then-owner Robin Arkley II, who is a prolific donor to conservative legal causes, like Singer, according to the report. Singer had connections with corporate entities who later made cases in front of the Supreme Court and won with Alito’s support.

The report comes amid ongoing discussions centering on the Supreme Court’s policy for gift disclosures and calls from lawmakers for ethics reform on the nation’s highest court — spurred by ProPublica's investigations into Justice Clarence Thomas earlier this year, which found that he traveled on lavish vacations bankrolled by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, who also paid for private school for the justice’s nephew. Separately, a POLITICO investigation found that a law firm that presented nearly two dozen cases before the Court had bought a property co-owned by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Alito declined to comment for the ProPublica story, instead bashing the outlet’s reporting ahead of its publication in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “ProPublica Misleads its Readers” Tuesday night.

The justice offered up a vigorous denial of wrongdoing: “ProPublica has leveled two charges against me: first, that I should have recused in matters in which an entity connected with Paul Singer was a party and, second, that I was obligated to list certain items as gifts on my 2008 Financial Disclose Report. Neither charge is valid.” Alito also denies knowing of the billionaire’s connections, adding that the plane ride wasn’t a significant matter because he “allowed me to occupy what would have otherwise been an unoccupied seat.”

Republicans have rallied behind the justice, accusing ProPublica of targeting the justice for political reasons. “Good for Justice Alito to push back against the leftwing hacks trying to intimidate the Supreme Court,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeted Tuesday night.

News outlets rarely respond publicly when the subject of an article criticizes a story. However, hours after the justice’s article was published, ProPublica tweeted that Alito “didn't answer our questions. Instead, he wrote an opinion piece attacking as unfair a story he hadn't read.”

Democrats on Capitol Hill wasted no time in offering their rebukes of the conservative justice’s behavior.

“Americans used to respect the Supreme Court. Now with the flagrant violations of ethical rules and possibly laws by Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas (and potentially other Justices), Americans can rightfully ask: has the Supreme Court turned into a cesspool of corruption?” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted Wednesday.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who has championed legislation to increase ethics regulations for Supreme Court justices, said the op-ed only increased his concerns ahead of the ProPublica report.

“This just keeps getting worse,” Whitehouse tweeted Tuesday evening.