Conservative activist dismisses Democrats' request for information on Alito fishing trip

Conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo is dismissing Democratic lawmakers' request for information on a fishing trip he took with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in 2008 that was paid for by a billionaire hedge fund owner.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-R.I.), Leo's attorney, David B. Rivkin, Jr. argued the lawmakers' request for information "exceeds the limits placed by the Constitution on the Committee's investigative authority."

Rivkin claimed the investigation into his client violates Leo's Bill of Rights, accusing it of "selectively targeting," him on "a politically charged basis." The attorney also argued the probe violates the First Amendment and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

"It seems clear that this targeted inquiry is motivated primarily, if not entirely, by a dislike for Mr. Leo's expressive activities," Rivkin wrote, pointing to allegations of Democrat-appointed Justices accepting paid trips and awards.

"None of these incidents has resulted in inquiries from the Committee. Yet, Committee Democrats have not meaningfully distinguished these examples from the supposed ethics lapses committed by Republican-appointed Justices that are the focus of the Committee's investigation," he added.

The letter is a response to Whitehouse and Durbin's request to Leo on July 11 for information on the trip.

The trip was brought to light last month following a ProPublica report that detailed an undisclosed fishing trip to Alaska in 2008 that Alito took with Paul Singer, a billionaire hedge fund owner who later had cases before the court.

According to the report, Leo — who helped Alito in his court confirmation and led efforts to push the court to the right — helped organize and later attended the trip. Leo, who also serves as co-chairman of The Federalist Society, reportedly invited Singer on the trip and asked if he and Alito could travel on the billionaire's jet.

Alito pushed back on ProPublica's report in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, arguing the claims were misleading.

The justice confirmed he was invited on the trip and said his seat would have been vacant if he did not attend. Alito did not report the trip on his annual financial disclosures, according to ProPublica.

"ProPublica has leveled two charges against me: first, that I should have recused in matters in which an entity connected with Paul Singer was a party and, second, that I was obligated to list certain items as gifts on my 2008 Financial Disclose Report. Neither charge is valid," Alito wrote in the piece.

In a joint statement shared with The Hill on Wednesday, Durbin and Whitehouse wrote in part, “Mr. Leo turns up over and over again across a spectrum of questionable behavior: he developed the infamous Federalist Society list of Trump nominees; he was impresario of the Judicial Crisis Network’s anonymously funded ads; he’s in Harlan Crow’s painting of Justice Thomas’s holiday; he accompanied Justice Alito on his billionaire-funded Alaskan fishing adventure; he directed payments to Justice Thomas’ wife, and more."

Durbin and Whitehouse, who chairs the judiciary subcommittee on courts, have spearheaded efforts into ethics reform in the wake of a series of alleged ethical controversies by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and other justices.

Thomas faced harsh criticism from Democrats after a ProPublica report in April said the justice took luxury trips for more than two decades that were paid for by a Republican mega-donor and did not disclose them.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines last week to advance a Supreme Court Ethics reform bill, which would require justices to adopt a code of conduct and establish a transparent process for the public to submit ethics complaints against members of the court.

"The American people are only seeing the tip of a very big iceberg, and the Judiciary Committee has the responsibility to look into it," the pair of senators said.