US Supreme Court judge says German socialite gifted him €810 tickets

Justice Samuel Alito reported on Friday that he accepted €810 worth of concert tickets from a German socialite and princess, but disclosed no trips paid for by other people, according to a new financial disclosure form.

The required annual filing, for which Alito has often sought an extension, didn't include details of the event tickets gifted by socialite Gloria von Thurn und Taxis of Germany.

Thurn and Taxis and Akitho are known for their Catholic faith and their ultra-conservative political views.

Thurn und Taxis has expressed support for Gerrmany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the past.

The financial disclosures filed by Supreme Court justices come against the backdrop of a heightened focus on ethics at the high court amid criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The other eight justices filed their forms in June; Alito received an extension.

Justice Clarence Thomas, for example, belatedly acknowledged more travel paid by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow from 2019 this year, including a hotel room in Bali, Indonesia and food and lodging at a private club in Sonoma County, California.

Alito, meanwhile, took a private plane trip to a luxury Alaska fishing lodge from two wealthy Republican donors in in 2008, the non-profit investigative news site ProPublica reported last year. Alito, for his part, said he was not obligated to disclose the travel under a previous exemption for personal hospitality.

Alito also reported a handful of stock sales, including between $1,000 and $15,000 of Anheuser Busch stock sold in August of 2023, as the stock began to stabilise following a boycott from conservatives over a promotion Budweiser had with a transgender influencer. Alito has not commented on the stock sale, which was first disclosed in May. He also noted a 2015 loan from the financial services firm Edward D. Jones that was originally worth between $250,000 and $500,000 has now been mostly paid down, but was inadvertently omitted from some of his past reports.

Alito has separately been under scrutiny over flags that flew outside homes he owned. He has said they were raised by his wife.

The justices