News
Samuel Alito Says His Trip With Billionaire Saved U.S. Money
Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito said that a controversial fishing trip he took in 2008 with billionaire Paul Singer didn’t need to be disclosed, and in fact, saved the United States money.
Alito wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in response to a ProPublica report that slammed the justice for not recusing himself from cases involving Singer following a fishing trip to Alaska with the billionaire. He was also accused of not disclosing the trip as a gift. Justices are required to report gifts costing more than $415, however there are exceptions for “personal hospitality.”
ProPublica alleged that Alito was flown to Alaska on Singer’s private jet, which the outlet says would have cost over $100,000 if Alito had charted the plane himself.
The justice says this is a misrepresentation of the situation. Alito says that he was asked to join the trip as there was an open seat on the plane, and so Singer’s cost would have been the same whether or not Alito was there.
“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.
When a Supreme Court Justice takes a domestic trip, the United States Marshal Service provides security, but only if they’re asked, according to USMS policy via advocacy group Fix the Court. The costs for USMS security is generally reimbursed t0 the agency by the judiciary.
Alito argued there was no need to disclose the gift since his presence on the trip didn’t cost Singer any additional funds, and that the food and accomodations at the King Salmon Lodge, provided by the owner of the venue, did not reach disclosure levels.
“I stayed for three nights in a modest one-room unit at the King Salmon Lodge, which was a comfortable but rustic facility. As I recall, the meals were homestyle fare. I cannot recall whether the group at the lodge, about 20 people, was served wine, but if there was wine it was certainly not wine that costs $1,000,” Alito wrote.
Alito also addressed the argument that he should have recused himself on cases involving Singer. He said that prior to the trip, his staff checked through the pending cases, and Singer’s name did not come up. In one case, Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd., though Singer was the founder and CEO of NML Capital, Alito says his name didn’t appear in any of the filed documents, and thus, Alito didn’t know.
Alito also argued that despite the trip, he was not close with Singer at all.
“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. On no occasion have we discussed the activities of his businesses, and we have never talked about any case or issue before the Court,” Alito wrote.
In a timeline from ProPublica, NML Capital first asked the Supreme Court to become involved in the case in May 2007, which the court declined; the fishing trip was a little over a year later. In the following two years, Singer introduced Alito at two events.
Meanwhile, in December 2009, seven of eight additional requests for the Supreme Court to step in to the case were turned down, and in 2014, the remaining appeal was ruled on. The Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd. case was decided in favor of NML Capital in a 7-1 decision, led by Justice Antonin Scalia; Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the only dissent.
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If Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November, multiple investigations into senior Trump administration officials would begin, a Democratic lawmaker said.
“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” said U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), responding to video of his remarks earlier Thursday.
Congressman Ryan had been speaking with Pablo Manríquez, the editor of Migrant Insider on Substack, who said to the New York Democrat that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “seems to be operating sort of as a shadow president at this point.”
“Can you think of any legal liability he could face on the back end of this presidency?” Manríquez asked.
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“Well,” Ryan responded, “there’s gonna be legal, and I think criminal liability for multiple members of this administration, certainly including Stephen Miller.”
“They continue to just violate the law, violate the Constitution, violate our moral standing and values as Americans,” he alleged.
Ryan said that Democrats across multiple House committees “are already readying investigations … to be ready on day one, when we retake the majority, when the voice of the people are brought back here to the House.”
Democrats currently appear likely to get that chance.
According to Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report on Thursday, “House ratings show Dems as modest favorites for control, as Republicans would need to win two thirds of Toss Ups (67%) to keep the majority.”
Wasserman also noted that eighteen House races had moved in the Democrats’ direction.
.@PabloReports: Stephen Miller seems to be operating sort of as a shadow president at this point. Is there any legal liability he could face at the end of this presidency?
Ryan: There’s going to be legal—and I think criminal—liability for multiple members of this administration,… pic.twitter.com/5yKthdegNt
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 15, 2026
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In an interview with Reuters, President Trump “expressed frustration” that Republicans may lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate in the November midterm elections.
Calling it “some deep psychological thing,” Trump told Reuters that “when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms.”
He then “boasted” of his accomplishments, telling the reporter, “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
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Trump, Reuters reported, “repeatedly dismissed concerns by the public, business leaders and even his fellow Republicans on issues ranging from the future of Greenland and the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, to the state of the economy.”
He deemed “fake” a Reuters/Ipsos poll that found little support — just 17 percent — for him seizing control of Greenland.
He repeatedly declared, “I don’t care” when confronted with news that some Senate Republicans oppose the Department of Justice’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and “when reminded of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s concerns that White House interference in the Fed could harm the economy.”
Trump also dismissed the concerns of the American people over high prices they are facing, instead incorrectly declaring the economy the strongest “in history.” He told Reuters that he simply needed to do a better job promoting his achievements.
He appeared to suggest that “he follows his own compass” rather than put much stock in public opinion.
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After a federal agent shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis on Wednesday night — intensifying already high tensions in the Gopher State — Trump sent a warning to Minnesota elected officials.
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Just one week earlier, he had told The New York Times that he had not yet invoked the Insurrection Act because, “I haven’t really felt the need to do it.”
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But there appears to be at least some anecdotal support for him doing so among the far-right reaches of his party. Minutes after Trump issued his threat, Congressman Chip Roy’s office reposted video of the Texas Republican from earlier this week telling Fox News, “Of course, the president should use the Insurrection Act from 1807 to say, you know what, we can go out and stop this so we can enforce the law to protect the people of the United States under the Constitution.”
Wednesday night, in response to news of the shooting, journalist Wajahat Ali wrote, “This is the chaos and crisis that Stephen Miller and Trump want so they can invoke the Insurrection Act.”
CNN’s Aaron Blake summed up recent events, noting that “All at once, Trump is” threatening to take over Greenland, possibly by military force, threatening to strike Iran after having already conducted a military excursion in Venezuela, and now, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Journalist Michael A. Cohen remarked, “Send thousands of lawless ICE agents to Minnesota … create chaos and disorder by terrorizing immigrant communities … then invoke the Insurrection Act because of the chaos the federal government has created. It’s like the poor man’s version of the Reichstag fire.”
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