Justice Alito Reveals Trip With Billionaire Paul Singer In Op-Ed—And Defends Himself

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito published an op-ed Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal defending his relationship with billionaire Paul Singer, and revealing a 2008 private plane trip with the hedge fund titan—an unusual reaction to an inquiry from ProPublica, as multiple Supreme Court justices face ethics questions.

Alito’s op-ed—a rarity for a high court justice—was in response to a "series of questions" sent by ProPublica reporters last week that Alito was asked to respond to by noon Tuesday, according to an editor's note at the top of the Journal piece (Alito described the questions from ProPublica, which hasn’t published anything yet, as “charges”).

The justice said Singer offered him a seat on a private flight to Alaska for a 2008 fishing trip, a previously unknown arrangement that Alito says ProPublica’s reporters cast as a gift that should’ve been disclosed—though Alito argued he didn’t need to include the trip on his 2008 disclosure form since it fell under an exception for “personal hospitality.”

Alito argued the private plane seat “would have otherwise been vacant,” so it “would not impose any extra cost on Mr. Singer.”