'Incriminating': Senate Judiciary chair slams Alito’s 'preposterous' defense of relationship with billionaire

In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito vigorously defended his relationship with GOP billionaire Paul Singer. ProPublica, on June 20, reported that Singer brought Alito with him on his private jet for a fishing trip in Alaska.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) has been calling for the High Court to adopt an ethics code — a proposal that Chief Justice John Roberts has so far resisted. And Sheldon is arguing that ProPublica's Alito/Singer report, like its reporting on Justice Clarence Thomas' relationship with billionaire GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, shows why such a code is badly needed.

During an appearance on MSNBC, Whitehouse told Jonathan Capehart, "It's a real mess, and the excuses, I think, made it worse…. The excuses that Alito made are so preposterous that they're almost incriminating themselves. This business ― 'an airplane is a facility' ― I mean, Jonathan, how many times have we traveled on planes, and has anybody ever called it a facility?"

READ MORE: Justice Samuel Alito took luxury fishing vacation with GOP billionaire who later had cases before the Court

Alito used the "personal hospitality" rule to defend the trip with Singer, but Whitehouse believes that the justice's arguments fall painfully flat.

Whitehouse told Capehart that "by looking at a plane as a facility," Alito "steered everybody away from the actual text of the actual 'personal hospitality' rule, which limits it to food, lodging and entertainment."

Whitehouse argued, "That's pretty dispositive. It's not allowed to count jet travel as personal hospitality, even if you call a jet a facility."

READ MORE: 'Conflicts of interest': Senate Judiciary chair urges John Roberts to adopt Supreme Court ethics code