'Had Alito made these types of arguments while I was preparing him for his confirmation,' writes RWPUSA, 'I would have told him in no uncertain terms that he was wrong.'
, Singer flew Alito to Alaska for a fishing trip, where they were housed at the expense of another conservative donor. In the years since, Singer’s hedge fund had cases before the court at least 10 times, and Alito never recused himself.In the Journal, Alito argues that he did not need to recuse himself because he didn't have a close relationship with Singer and that he had no reason to be aware of Singer’s connection to any case.
Had Alito made these types of arguments while I was preparing him for his confirmation, I would have told him in no uncertain terms that he was wrong. In my ethics meetings with senior White House staff, I emphasized repeatedly that free travel on a private plane is almost always an impermissible gift for a government official. Even in the rare instance that it is permissible because the host is a close friend, it must be disclosed.
And in any event, the free travel to Alaska had to be disclosed. Alito invokes the “empty seat theory” to say he hitched a ride on Singer’s plane that was headed to Alaska anyway, that it didn’t cost Singer anything additional, and thus was not a gift that needed to be disclosed. This is utter nonsense, of course. In ethics meetings my staff and I also discussed and poked fun of the empty seat theory.
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