Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said charges that he failed to take proper steps regarding cases connected to a billionaire's hedge fund, and failure to list certain items on his financial disclosure were not "valid."
Alito used an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal to respond to ProPublica, which lodged the allegations against the justice.
ProPublica claimed that Alito should have recused himself in matters that involved entities connected to Paul Singer's hedge fund because the judge flew on the billionaire's private jet to Alaska where they stayed at a luxury fishing lodge.
"I had no obligation to recuse in any of the cases that ProPublica cites," Alito wrote in his opinion column Tuesday. "First, even if I had been aware of Mr. Singer's connection to the entities involved in those cases, recusal would not have been required or appropriate.
"ProPublica suggests that my failure to recuse in these cases created an appearance of impropriety, but that is incorrect."
Alito explained that he could fairly discharge his duties despite knowing Singer.
"My recollection is that I have spoken to Mr. Singer on no more than a handful of occasions, all of which (with the exception of small talk during a fishing trip 15 years ago) consisted of brief and casual comments at events attended by large groups," Alito wrote.
"On no occasion have we discussed the activities of his businesses, and we have never talked about any case or issue before the Court."
The judge also said that when he reviewed the cases in question to determine whether he were required to recuse, "I was not aware and had no good reason to be aware that Mr. Singer had an interest in any party."
"Mr. Singer was not listed as a party in any of the cases listed by ProPublica," Alito wrote. "Nor did his name appear in any of the corporate disclosure statements or the certiorari petitions or briefs in opposition to certiorari."
The judge said his failure to report the seat on the flight to Alaska, or the accommodations provided by the owner of the fishing lodge was in line with the financial disclosure rules at the time.
"When I joined the Court and until the recent amendment of the filing instructions, justices commonly interpreted this discussion of 'hospitality' to mean that accommodations and transportation for social events were not reportable gifts," Alito wrote.
"The flight to Alaska was the only occasion when I have accepted transportation for a purely social event, and in doing so I followed what I understood to be standard practice."
Alito added that "since my visit 15 years ago, the lodge has been sold and, I believe, renovated, but an examination of the photos and information on the lodge's website shows that ProPublica's portrayal is misleading."
He also added that, as far as he knew, his seat on the flight to Alaska "would have otherwise been vacant" and did not impose any extra cost on Singer.
"Had I taken commercial flights, that would have imposed a substantial cost and inconvenience on the deputy U.S. Marshals who would have been required for security reasons to assist me," Alito wrote.
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