Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is facing increased pressure to recuse himself from Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee over his flying flags connected to the “Stop the Steal” effort at his two homes.
In a letter to Chief Justice Roberts, House Democrats asked for how the court planned to enforce its code of conduct, arguing that Alito had violated a provision that bars justices from endorsing a candidate for office and another that requires recusal when their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
SCOTUS adopted its code of conduct last year after Justice Clarence Thomas was criticized for the acceptance of numerous vacations, gifts, and tuition payments for a relative from a conservative donor.
Alito has refused to recuse himself despite growing calls for him to step back for certain cases.
In the letter, Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and the committee’s Democrats asked if Roberts planned on requesting “Justice Alito recuse himself from any cases related to Donald Trump? If not, why not?”
“Adopting a code of ethics and failing to enforce [it] only serves to reinforce the perception that Supreme Court justices operate without consequences for clearly unethical behavior,” they wrote in the letter.
The letter also asked Roberts to detail when he learned of Alito putting up the flags at his two properties.
The current case raising eyebrows is former President Trump’s presidential immunity claims that he was taking federally protected actions on Jan. 6 and, therefore, could not break any laws.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, but Alito has rejected recusal calls from the Senate.
Alito is said to have flown an upside-down American flag in late 2022, which usually signals distress but was used by those protesting Trump’s loss in the 2020 election and became a major symbol for the “Stop the Steal” movement, which attempted to pause the nation’s peaceful transition of power over false election fraud claims.
Then, in 2023, he is said to have flown an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which was first used in the Revolutionary War but has more recently been used by conservatives calling for a Biblical-centered government. The flag also made appearances among the mob members who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“While upside down flags can have other meanings, it is difficult to contemplate a situation in which Justice Alito’s inverted flag had any meaning other than to convey political support for Donald Trump,” the letter states.
Alito argued on Wednesday that he wasn’t behind the flag being raised, his wife was, but that she had every “legal right to use the property as she sees fit.”
The letter also inquires about an altercation Alito seems to have had with a neighbor who was displaying a “F‑‑‑ Trump” sign in their yard.
“He has since acknowledged 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,” their letter said.
Now Democrats are asking Roberts what his plan of action is and the reasoning behind it.
“Has this incident encouraged you to reconsider the absence of an enforcement mechanism in the Code of Conduct for Supreme Court Justices has no enforcement mechanism?” the letter asks.