Top Senate Democrats seek to meet with Chief Justice Roberts on ‘Supreme Court ethics crisis’

Two top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked to meet with Chief Justice John Roberts to address “the Supreme Court’s ethical crisis” following reports that controversial flags were flown in the Capitol building by some supporters of former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, were also displayed in the homes of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

In the letter released Friday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked to meet with Roberts “as soon as possible” and renewed their “request that the Supreme Court adopt an enforceable code of conduct for judges.”

The senators wrote that Alito created “reasonable doubts about his impartiality” and repeated calls for him to recuse himself from cases related to Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The Supreme Court is currently set to consider two cases related to January 6: Trump’s presidential immunity claim in his election interference case and an appeal for a man prosecuted for his actions at the US Capitol.

Their request came after the New York Times reported that Alito flew head first–below the American flag at his home in Virginia in January 2021. At that time, weeks after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the flag was a symbol used by those in the “Stop the Steal” movement, who believe that the President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 presidential election.

After the first report, Durbin told NBC News he did not plan to hold an inquiry into the matter, but repeated calls for Alito to recuse himself from cases involving Trump.

A subsequent Times report found that a “Appeal to Heaven” Flagwhich was also transported by some protesters on January 6, was transported for an undetermined period of time at the Alitos’ vacation home in New Jersey.

The news about Alito’s flags comes amid a litany of stories that have raised questions about the court’s ethical standards and calls on justices to recuse themselves from certain cases. Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative activist who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Durbin and Whitehouse also allude to Thomas in their letter, writing that the judge “has repeatedly participated in cases related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election.”

“His wife’s involvement likely provided grounds for recusal under federal recusal law,” the senators wrote. “but it appears that the Court did not ask what the facts were, particularly the critical facts about what Judge Thomas knew about his wife’s interactions with alleged participants and when he knew them.”

Senators also repeated calls for the court to take “meaningful steps” to resolve the “ongoing ethical crisis” by adopting an enforceable code of ethics. In November 2023, the court issued a 14-page code of conduct that did not mention how ethics complaints would be enforced.