Was there a seat for an 8-year-old childs Make-a-Wish on Justice Alitos luxury fishing trip to Alaska?

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No.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation has no affiliation with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, according to a spokesperson from the organization.

The tweet by Al Franken mentioning a seat reserved for a child’s Make-a-Wish to catch a halibut “is satire,” Make-a-Wish spokesperson confirmed in an email to MinnPost.

The joke came after ProPublica reported recently that a hedge fund billionaire who has had business before the Supreme Court had flown Alito to Alaska for the trip in 2008. Alito has said he was unaware of the billionaire’s connection to the cases.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources:

• MinnPost Email correspondence with Make-a-Wish
• Wall Street Journal Justice Samuel Alito: ProPublica Misleads Its Readers
• ProPublica Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court

Jayne Williamson-Lee is a freelance science journalist who is part of MinnPost’s fact briefs team.