Dozens of House Democrats call on Alito to withdraw from Jan. 6 cases

A group of House Democrats on Tuesday asked Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from all future cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol or the 2020 presidential election.

On a Letter addressed to the conservative justice, 45 Democrats pointed to recent New York Times reporting about a photograph — taken less than two weeks after the 2021 attack on the Capitol — that showed an upside-down American flag displayed outside Alito’s home .

At the time, this symbol was closely associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement, which attempted to prevent the transfer of presidential power based on false allegations of electoral fraud. Alito said he had nothing to do with the inverted flag and that his wife hung it amid a fight with neighbors.

“Your own public statement attempts to pass the buck to your wife, but nevertheless acknowledges that it was a political statement in support of Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election,” they wrote in the letter.

“Even if you had ‘no involvement’ in the display, the fact of such a political statement in your home creates, at a minimum, the appearance of inappropriate political bias,” they added.

The letter, led by Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Dan Goldman (DN.Y.), specifically asks that Alito recuse himself from the upcoming decision involving whether former President Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for his actions related to the 2020 elections and another decision related to the January 6 protesters.

It also follows an earlier request from Democrats for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to January 6 due to his wife’s involvement in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential results. it.

“Unfortunately, you are now the second judge who has demonstrated at least an appearance of conflict of interest related to the events surrounding the January 6th insurrection,” the members wrote.

They added that Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas, attended the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally and was “actively strategizing” with Trump allies about how to overturn the election results, which Democrats said was “precisely the same underlying conduct” in both of the next cases.

“Although Justice Thomas apparently recognized this conflict of interest by recusing himself from the Court’s case relating to Trump’s lawyer, John Eastman, he shockingly refused to recuse himself from Trump and Fischer,” they added.

The Hill has reached out to the Supreme Court for a response to the letter.

News that the flag was hung outside Alito’s home in the days surrounding the Jan. 6 attack sparked growing criticism among Senate Democrats, who also have called Alito to abstain from upcoming cases.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story