Home of U.S. Supreme Court judge flew an upside-down flag after Trump's loss
• An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former president Donald Trump's claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, The New York Times reported.
A photo obtained and published by the newspaper on Thursday shows the flag flying on Jan. 17, 2021, days after the Republican's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory. Dozens of the pro-trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like “Stop the Steal.”
The report could raise concerns about Alito's impartiality as the court considers two major cases related to the Capitol attack, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election-interference charges. The justice said the flag was placed there by his wife amid a dispute with neighbours.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on Alito to recuse himself Friday from cases related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 riot.
“Flying an upside-down American flag — a symbol of the so-called Stop the Steal movement — clearly creates the appearance of bias,” Durbin said in a statement.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, meanwhile, called the report an attempt to “intimidate justices,” in a social-media post.
It comes as another conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, has ignored calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election over his wife's support for Trump and as public trust in the Supreme Court is at its lowest point in at least 50 years. Judicial experts said the flag clearly violates ethics rules set to avoid even the appearance of bias.
At the time the flag was flying, the court was still considering whether to take up cases over the 2020 election. It ultimately rejected them over dissent from three conservative justices, including Alito, who was appointed by former president George W. Bush, a Republican. He wrote that the court's consideration of the cases would have no impact on the 2020 election but “would provide invaluable guidance for future elections.”
Alito acknowledged the presence of the flag at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, but said he had “no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag.”
“It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbour's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs,” Alito said in an emailed statement to the newspaper.
Martha-ann Alito had been in a dispute with another family in the neighbourhood over an anti-trump sign on their lawn, and neighbours also interpreted the flag as a political statement, the Times reported. It's unclear how long the flag was flying.