Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday rejected Democratic lawmakers’ requests to recuse himself from key cases involving former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection after flags were reportedly flown on his properties , who were connected to Trump’s supporters.
Alito said in two letters to lawmakers that he had “nothing at all to do with the flying” of an upside-down U.S. flag at his home in Virginia days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Alito also said he had “no involvement” in flying a flag with the “Appeal to Heaven” symbol in the backyard of his vacation home in the summer of 2023.
Rather, the letters say, his wife was “solely responsible” for putting up the flagpoles and “raising a variety of flags over the years.”
“My wife likes to fly flags. Not me,” Alito wrote.
The response means the conservative justices remain involved as the court considers Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution in the federal election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump argues that even after he leaves office, he enjoys broad presidential immunity from prosecution for official actions he took as president.
The Supreme Court is still pending a decision on the issue, which could further delay or effectively end Smith’s case against the former president. The court is expected to release its opinions Thursday morning but may not decide Trump’s case until later.
The New York Times first reported in early May that the inverted American flag – a symbol used by supporters of Trump’s false claim that Biden’s victory in the 2020 election was rigged – was erected in Alexandria, Virginia, the home of the judge and his Ms. Martha, was hoisted -Ann Alito, on January 17, 2021.
Shortly afterward, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin called on Alito to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and the Capitol insurrection, including Trump’s immunity case.
“Flying an upside-down American flag – a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement – clearly creates the appearance of bias,” Durbin wrote.
The senator last week reiterated his call for Alito to recuse himself after the Times reported that the Appeal to Heaven flag was flown at Alito’s summer home in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, in July and September 2023.
Both flags were carried by rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Alito wrote in Wednesday’s letters that his wife’s reasons for flying the U.S. flag upside down were “not relevant for present purposes.”
But he noted that she was “very disturbed at this point, due in large part to a very bad neighborhood dispute in which I was not involved.”
Alito said that a house on her street had a sign that read “Personally Attacked You” and that a male resident of that house “chased” her down the street and called her “vile language, including what I consider the most vile epithet.” hold whoever is there” was insulted and directed at a woman.
Martha-Ann Alito “is a private citizen” who “makes her own decisions,” Alito wrote, adding that she had to endure “numerous, loud, obscene and personally offensive protests outside our home” as a result of his visit to the Supreme Court.
These protests “continue to this day and now threaten to escalate,” he wrote.
One of Alito’s letters was addressed to Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. The other letter was sent to a group of 50 House Democrats, most of whom recently signed a letter claiming there was an “indisputable appearance of a conflict of interest” surrounding Alito’s recusal from the Trump immunity case and another case require.
Regarding the Appeal to Heaven flag, Alito said he remembered his wife flying it “for a while” and that he was unfamiliar with it when it was raised.
“She may have mentioned that it was from the American Revolution period, and I assumed she was flying it to express a patriotic and religious message,” he wrote.
“I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the Stop the Steal movement, and neither was my wife,” Alito wrote.
But he claimed: “It did not fly it to affiliate with this or any other group, and the use of an old historical flag by a new group does not necessarily strip that flag of all other meanings.”
Trump, awaiting the verdict in his hush money trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, applauded Alito for refusing to withdraw from the case.
“Congratulations to United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who demonstrated the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE and courage to refuse to weigh in on a decision on anything related to January 6th “To resign,” Trump wrote in a post truth social.
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2024-05-29 19:02:41
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