Alito disputes new ProPublica report that says justice failed to disclose trip with billionaire who later had business before Supreme Court

Justice Samuel Alito did not disclose a luxury 2008 trip he took in which a hedge fund billionaire flew him on a private jet, even though the businessman would later repeatedly ask the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf, ProPublica reported. In a highly unusual move, Alito preemptively disputed the nature of the report before it published Tuesday night, authoring an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he acknowledged knowing billionaire Paul Singer but downplaying their relationship. The new report adds to the growing list of ethics questions surrounding the court, which have become a key focus of congressional Democrats. Earlier this year, reporting by ProPublica about a relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and a frequent Republican donor led to calls for greater transparency about the financial disclosure process for the Supreme Court.