In 2008, Alito took a luxury fishing trip to Alaska with hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer. He arrived via a private jet, a journey estimated to cost $100,000 each way, and stayed at a luxury fishing lodge that charges $1,000 per day. Alito failed to report these gifts in his annual disclosures in apparent violation of federal law. In 2009, Paul Singer introduced Alito as the speaker at a Federalist Society annual dinner, and as a keynote speaker at a Manhattan Institute donor dinner in 2010. Singer’s hedge fund has had business before the Supreme Court at least 10 times since 2008 and Alito has never recused himself from these matters.
Leo has “dined and traveled with Alito, displaying in his office a framed photo of himself, Alito and Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann, standing outside the Palace of Versailles … [Leo] helped organize a weekend of salmon fishing in Alaska that included Alito and Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire and Leo donor. Leo invited Singer on the trip, according to ProPublica’s reporting, and Leo also asked Singer if he and Alito could fly on Singer’s plane. The Alaskan fishing lodge where the three men stayed was owned by Robin Arkley II, a California businessman and also a Leo donor.”
Leo played an instrumental role getting Alito on to the Supreme Court by tanking Bush’s initial nominee and backing Alito for the vacancy caused by Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement, through the power of groups he was quarterbacking to capture the Court. Leo has also shuttled money to numerous groups submitting amicus briefs to the court over the past nearly two decades, a role that has increased dramatically since Barre Seid gave him control of a $1.6 billion trust fund. Leo is now spending more than $100 million a year to help change the law in line with his agenda, including by funding numerous groups submitting amicus briefs aligned with his agenda to reverse key legal precedents of the past century.
