But Mr. Singer’s connection to the case, Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital, was widely reported. A Forbes article covering the decision bore the headline “Supreme Court Hands Billionaire Paul Singer a Victory Over Argentina.” An article in The New York Times noted that the parties to the case included “NML Capital, an affiliate of Elliott Management, the hedge fund founded by Paul Singer.”
Justice Alito said he was not required to disclose the trip on Mr. Singer’s private jet in “a seat that, as far as I am aware, would have otherwise been vacant.”
A federal law requires disclosures of gifts over a certain value but makes exceptions for “personal hospitality of any individual” at “the personal residence of that individual or his family or on property or facilities owned by that individual or his family.” Justice Alito wrote that a jet is such a facility, quoting from dictionary definitions.
The Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking body for the federal courts, had recently issued new guidelines requiring disclosure of travel by private jet and stays in commercial properties like resorts.
After ProPublica disclosed that Justice Thomas had taken luxury trips paid for by Mr. Crow, the justice said he would comply with the new guidelines. Justice Thomas justified accepting the trips because of what he said was his close friendship with Mr. Crow.
Justice Alito disputed the notion that the trip was particularly fancy. “I stayed for three nights in a modest one-room unit at the King Salmon Lodge, which was a comfortable but rustic facility,” he wrote. “As I recall, the meals were home-style 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.”
Among the other guests was Leonard Leo, a longtime leader of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group. In a statement to ProPublica, Mr. Leo, who ProPublica said had helped organize the trip, wrote that justices across the ideological spectrum had received similar hospitality from their own allies and that their judicial work had been unaffected.