Justice Samuel Alito (left) and Elliott Management founder, president and co-CEO Paul Singer (right)
Reuters (left) | CNBC Money (R)
Senate Democrats slammed Wednesday Supreme Court Judge Samuel Alito failed to disclose that he traveled with Singer on a luxury fishing trip in a private jet owned by hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer as a gift.
Six years after that trip in 2008, Alito ruled with a majority in favor of an arm of Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Management, in a major case seeking to repay billions of dollars in debt from the Argentine state. No public reported Tuesday night.
Alito and the Supreme Court’s press office declined to comment to ProPublica for his article, in wall street journal Hours before the release of the ProPublica report, he was “under no obligation” to recuse himself from weighing in on any case Singer’s company brought to the Supreme Court.
The conservative judge said he was unaware of Singer’s ties to the companies trying the case at the Supreme Court, and even if he had, there would have been no misconduct in his case.
“He put me in an otherwise empty seat on a private flight to Alaska,” Alito wrote. “It was and is my judgment, facts that would not cause a rational and impartial person to doubt my impartiality. the ability to accurately determine relevant issues.”
The justice also argued that it wasn’t until a few months ago that the justices’ directions for completing financial disclosure reports said “there is no need to report personal entertainment.”
But ProPublica said Alito appeared to be in violation of financial disclosure laws that require disclosure of gifts for private jet flights.
“Experts say they have been unable to identify instances where cases have been brought to justice after receiving costly gifts paid by one of the parties,” ProPublica reported.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters that the news about Alito “sucks.”
“I’ll tell you, Justice Alito’s defense was laughable, ridiculous,” Durbin said of Alito’s op-ed, according to NBC News.
“Give me a break,” Durbin said.
Durbin called on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue an ethics code for the high court, which currently does not have one.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called Alito’s actions “appalling.”
“My view is that he broke the law. He should be held accountable,” Blumenthal said.
“Judge Alito’s failure to report that the trip violated the simple letter and the spirit of the law, and his denial of any possible wrongdoing now shows that the Supreme Court and Justice Alito believe they are not accountable to anyone, they are responsible to everyone. No.”
“This is intolerable in a democracy,” Blumenthal added.
Durbin and Durbin Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, chair of the federal courts subcommittee, later issued a statement saying the Judiciary Committee would begin drafting legislation for the Supreme Court’s ethics code.
“The Supreme Court is in a self-inflicted moral crisis by accepting lavish gifts from parties with business on the court, which has not been disclosed by several justices,” the senators said in a joint statement. “The Court’s Reputation And credibility is at stake. Chief Justice Roberts could have addressed this issue today, but he did not act.”
ProPublica reported in April that Alito’s conservative colleague on the Supreme Court, Judge Clarence Thomas, had for decades accepted luxury travel paid for by billionaire Republican donor and Texas real estate mogul Harlan Crowe . Thomas similarly claimed he did nothing wrong by accepting the generosity without disclosing it in his annual financial disclosure.
Crowe also purchased Georgia properties owned by the Thomas family, including one where the judge’s mother still lives rent-free. Crowe also paid for private school tuition for Thomas’ grandnephew.
CNBC has asked the Supreme Court for comment on ProPublica’s report on Alito.