Last Updated on 09/09/2024 by Arun jain
At its most recent Financial Disclosure FormJustice Samuel A. Alito Jr. reported a single gift: $900 concert tickets from a German princess known for her ties to conservative activists.
The disclosure does not list details of the event, including the name of the concert, the location or how many tickets Princess gave away. But in An interview With a German news organization, the gift provider, Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, described Justice Alito and his wife as “private friends” and said the tickets Regensburg Castle Festival, She hosts an annual summer celebration in her 500-room Bavarian castle.
This PrincessIn previous decades the party-loving, art-collecting aristocrats were known and who were Once named Princess TNT Known for her explosive personality, her close relationships with some high-profile people who have opposed the current pope in recent years, as well as Stephen K. BannonFormer President Donald J. A longtime ally of Trump.
The announcement has heightened scrutiny surrounding ethics in the Supreme Court, which some of its members, Especially Justice Clarence ThomasAccepting lavish gifts and travel from wealthy benefactors without disclosing large sums on their mandatory annual financial forms.
“No matter the identity of the patron — whether it’s a German princess, Queen Bey or a Dallas real estate mogul — judges should not accept expensive gifts,” said Gabe Roth, who heads Fix the Court, an organization Criticism of judicial transparency, said in response to Justice Alito’s comments.
Justice Alito, who did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, was the focus of the ProPublica report. Failure to report private jet flight The payments were made by conservative billionaires who later sued. The flight was part of a luxury salmon-fishing trip. in An opinion column Before the article was published in The Wall Street Journal, Justice Alito argued that he had no qualms about accepting “hospitality” and was not obligated to disclose the trip.
No dates were listed for the concert on Justice Alito’s latest form, which includes a disclosure for 2023, and he did not provide ticket numbers or information about lodging or transportation. N Archived searches The festival’s 2023 schedule shows that it was scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 23 of that year.
The princess’s palace, the site of the festival, has been floated as a possible campus for a European network of final schools for far-right conservatives, according to one in 2019. Financial Times interview With Mr. Bannon.
The princess has described Cardinal Raymond Burke, the American leader of a Catholic group opposed to Pope Francis, as a family priest close to her. She also played matchmaker between German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller Francis dismissed From his position as the church’s top doctrinal watchdog, and Mr. Bannon, who has ties to far-right political parties in Germany and France.
Mr Bannon has met with leaders of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party and discussed his plans. “Gladiator School” For the training of Catholics hostile to Francis.
Mr. Bannon could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. it is is serving a four-month federal prison sentence On charges of contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas in January 6, 2021 investigation, Attack on the US Capitol.
The princess has also been in controversy over caste issues in the past. In 2001, she stated that Africa has a high rate of AIDS “Black people like to fuck a lot.” She later tried to amend her comment and said it was because of the extreme heat of the continent.
A 2008 interview Described as a committed Catholic, who rested in her Chelsea loft, “She was no different from the media monster who burst onto the scene in the early ’80s as the wild-child bride of bisexual billionaire Prince Johann von Thurn. And taxis.”
Princess told an interviewer That she immersed herself in her religious beliefs after her husband’s death in 1990, when she was left to raise three children and dig her way through debts and inheritance taxes estimated at more than $350 million.
Since then, she has become known for hosting orthodox Catholic salons and religious meetings in Rome, where she also has a palace.
She has also traveled to Lourdes in southern France as a volunteer through the Order of Malta. She also published a book of conversations with Cardinal Joachim Meissner, who was known for his outspoken conservative views, including efforts to ban abortion in Germany, before his death in 2017.
Her statements and religious views have sparked controversy around her, including in 2019, when El Museo del Barrio in Harlem, the oldest museum in the United States focused on Latino art, He withdrew his decision To honor him on his 50th anniversary.
The princess said in an email at the time that she was “disappointed at how divided society is today and that it seems there is no room for tolerance.”
She added that her “conservative religious views have absolutely no bearing” on her “open mind to cultural diversity and inclusion” and that she has “been friends with all kinds of people with different political and religious views throughout my life.”
Later that year, in October, Princess joined Justice Alito on the Supreme Court, along with Justice Brett M. Cavanaugh, Cardinal Muller, and Brian S. met with Brown. Prominent anti-LGBTQ activistAccording to Photo and post on website For the International Organization for the Family.
Mr. Brown is is listed as the president of the groupWhich says its mission is to “unite and equip leaders, organizations and families to affirm, celebrate and defend the natural family as the only fundamental and sustainable unit of society.”
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