Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee asked Chief Justice John Roberts to detail how the Supreme Court plans to enforce its code of conduct, arguing that Justice Samuel Alito violated its policies by raising flags related to the “Stop the Steal” effort. in their two homes.
The group accuses Alito of violating a provision that prohibits judges from endorsing a candidate for public office and another that requires them to recuse themselves when their “impartiality could reasonably be questioned.”
The code of conduct was adopted last year in the wake of another Supreme Court scandal that documented Justice Clarence Thomas’s acceptance of countless vacations, gifts and even school tuition payments to a family member from a conservative mega-donor.
“Adopting a code of ethics and not enforcing it [it] it only serves to reinforce the perception that Supreme Court justices operate without consequences for clearly unethical behavior,” ranking member Jerry Nadler (DN.Y.) and committee Democrats wrote in the letter.
“Do you plan to request that Judge Alito recuse himself from any cases related to Donald Trump? If not, why not?”
The panel also asks Roberts to detail when he learned of Alito’s flag display.
The letter comes just hours after Alito rejected Senate calls for him to bail out of a pending case weighing whether former President Trump retains presidential immunity for actions he took before Jan. 6.
Shortly after the 2020 election, Alito raised an American flag upside down, a symbol historically used to signal distress that was also used by those protesting former Trump’s loss and that was later associated with the “Stop the Trump” movement. Steal”, which attempted to prevent the transfer of presidential power based on false allegations of electoral fraud.
And in 2023, at his vacation home in New Jersey, he flew an “Appeal to Heaven” flag — which while it originated in the Revolutionary War, has more recently served as an appeal to a conservative, Bible-centered government and has been seen in the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6th.
“While inverted flags may have other meanings, it is difficult to contemplate a situation in which Justice Alito’s inverted flag had any meaning other than conveying political support for Donald Trump,” the letter states.
Alito said Wednesday that it was his wife’s decision to fly the flag at their home, saying she has a “legal right to use the property as she sees fit” and describing her as “enjoying flying flags.”
He also confirmed reports of The New York Times that the couple was fighting with the neighbors. The article separately reported that the feud was over yard signs posted after the election that were critical of Trump. Alito also told Fox News on Wednesday that the display included a “F‑‑‑ Trump” sign.
Democrats say retaliation over the signage is itself problematic.
“He has since recognized that this yard sign conveyed strong anti-Trump sentiment, implying that the Alitos felt the need to respond with a show of support for Donald Trump,” the letter states.
Last year, Thomas also faced calls to recuse himself due to his wife, Virginia’s, involvement in the push to overturn the 2020 election results. Like Alito, Thomas refused to step aside.
The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The letter, however, asks Roberts to consider a number of questions about the court’s code of conduct, including how he plans to enforce it, as no mechanism for doing so is set out in the policy.
“Has this incident encouraged you to reconsider the absence of an enforcement mechanism in the Code of Conduct for Supreme Court Judges which has no enforcement mechanism?” they asked.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
