WASHINGTON DC, USA — An upside-down American flag, a logo adopted by some supporters of former US President Donald Trump contesting the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, was seen exterior the house of Supreme Court docket Justice Samuel Alito after the election, The New York Instances reported final Thursday.

This revelation is more likely to spark requires Justice Alito, a member of the court docket’s conservative wing, to recuse himself from a number of high-profile circumstances at the moment earlier than the court docket.

These circumstances contain points associated to the 2020 election and the next assault on the U.S. Capitol, together with whether or not Trump can declare immunity from federal election subversion fees.

The New York Instances revealed a photograph of the inverted flag, which it reported was seen on the justice’s Alexandria, Virginia, residence on January 17, 2021.

A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court docket didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from CNN, which has not independently verified the usage of the flag.

“I had no involvement in any respect within the flying of the flag,” Alito stated in an emailed assertion to the Instances. “It was briefly positioned by Mrs Alito in response to a neighbour’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard indicators.”

Within the weeks and months following the election, the upside-down flag turned a logo of the “Cease the Steal” motion, through which Trump’s supporters falsely claimed that Biden’s victory was illegitimate because of widespread fraud.

The inverted flag was prominently displayed through the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.

The Instances reported it was unclear how lengthy the flag flew exterior of Alito’s house.

An upside-down American flag throughout SCOTUS protest. Protestors collect after SCOTUS over turned Roe v. Wade. Lots of of protesters took to the road to protest in opposition to he Court docket’s choice within the Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being case, which overturned the landmark 50-year-old Roe v. Wade case, eradicating a federal proper to an abortion. | Ty O’Neil/ Sopa Photographs/Lightrocket by way of Getty

This story is more likely to intensify scrutiny of the excessive court docket, which is already beneath appreciable strain. Justice Clarence Thomas has confronted vital criticism and requires recusal in election-related circumstances after his spouse, conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, admitted to attending Trump’s rally earlier than the Capitol assault and supporting efforts to discredit the election outcomes.

Justice Thomas lately accused his critics of “nastiness” and “lies” throughout remarks at a judicial convention in Alabama.

Final fall, in response to revelations about journey accepted by Justices Thomas and Alito, the Supreme Court docket adopted a code of conduct for the primary time. This code guides the justices to “chorus from political exercise.”

“Two situations are believable and neither certainly one of them is engaging: Both the gesture was trivial pettiness and should be beneath the dignity of the court docket, or it was meant as significant symbolism, through which case it’s a actual drawback,” stated James Pattern, a Hofstra Legislation College professor who has studied judicial ethics.

Mixed with the sooner Thomas revelations, Pattern stated, “The situations amplify the necessity for Congress to impose significant ethics enforcement on a court docket that steadfastly refuses to police itself.”

GOP Senators Criticise Justice Alito Over Upside-Down Flag Controversy

WASHINGTON DC, USA  — Key Republican senators have sharply criticized Supreme Court docket Justice Samuel Alito after information stories confirmed an upside-down American flag – a logo utilized by some supporters of former President Donald Trump who challenged the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory – flying exterior his house in 2021.

Such criticism of a conservative justice from high-ranking GOP senators is extraordinarily uncommon and an indication of how uncommon the controversy is.

In a short interview with CNN on Wednesday, Could 22, 2024, Senate Republican Whip John Thune, one of many contenders vying to switch retiring Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, known as the flag a “dangerous choice.”

“I don’t know the way you clarify that,” Thune stated.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the highest Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that it was a “mistake” for Alito to have an American flag hanging the other way up at his house.

“It creates a foul picture,” Graham advised CNN’s Manu Raju. “It created a scenario that we’re all speaking about. So, yeah, I feel it was a mistake.”

Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney echoed issues concerning the flag. “It’s very unlucky and we ought to try it,” he stated to reporters.

The upside-down flag turned a logo of the “Cease the Steal” motion within the weeks and months following the election, through which Trump’s supporters falsely claimed that Biden’s win was illegitimate because of widespread fraud. The inverted flag was extensively seen through the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol.

The New York Instances revealed a photograph of the inverted flag, which it stated was seen on the justice’s house in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 17, 2021.

“I had no involvement in any respect within the flying of the flag,” Alito stated in an emailed assertion to the Instances. “It was briefly positioned by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard indicators.”

Many Republicans who spoke to CNN, nonetheless, defended Alito or downplayed the matter. Even some who questioned his judgment over the incident nonetheless defended his function on the court docket.

“There’s all the time accusations made about, you already know, members of this court docket, and the left has tried very exhausting to discredit them,” Thune stated. “It is a court docket that’s trying on the regulation within the Structure and deciphering it as they need to.”

“I don’t assume he ought to be recused,” Graham advised Raju.

Many Republicans vehemently argued in opposition to requires Alito to recuse himself from Trump- and election-related circumstances. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the Judiciary Committee who’s working to be GOP chief, stated, “there are extra vital issues to fret about.”

Cornyn described the deal with the upside-down flag as “continued harassment” in opposition to Alito.

“Ever since Clarence Thomas skilled what he known as the high-tech lynching, I feel we’ve seen repeated efforts to attempt to undermine the credibility of the Supreme Court docket. And that is simply the most recent episode,” Cornyn added.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, additionally a member of the Judiciary Committee, stated information of the flag is the “newest try by the left to assault and query the Supreme Court docket.” He stated calls by Democrats for Alito to recuse himself from some circumstances involving Trump is “an idiotic factor to assume that has nothing to do with what’s happening.”

GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana stated, “That is America and Mrs. Alito is entitled to her opinion, however I don’t see any proof in any respect that Justice Alito had something to do with it.”

Kennedy additionally weighed in on the function and obligations of Supreme Court docket spouses. “Ought to they be discreet and considered in the best way they articulate their viewpoint? Positive. However they don’t should be,” Kennedy stated.

One other GOP senator appeared to downplay the difficulty as a dispute between neighbours. “It seemed like some form of neighbourhood factor. I don’t actually have a touch upon it,” stated Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia.

The controversy underscores the fragile steadiness Supreme Court docket justices should keep between their personal lives and their public roles, significantly in a politically polarized local weather.