Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is calling for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from Jan. 6 related cases before the court following a report that a ‘Stop the Steal’ symbol was on display at his home in 2021.
The New York Times reported that an upside down American flag— which supporters of Trump’s debunked claim of a stolen election began displaying after he lost to Biden— was seen at Justice Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia on January 17, 2021, more than a week after the deadly attack at the Capitol.
Alito said in a statement that he “had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag. It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”
The report comes as some high-profile cases are pending before the court related to the election, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and whether Trump is immune from prosecution over election interference.
“Flying an upside-down American flag — a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement — clearly creates the appearance of bias,” Durbin said. “Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection, including the question of the former President’s immunity in U.S. v. Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court is currently considering.”
The Supreme Court’s ethics code bans justices from making political statements in order to preserve their impartiality on matters that comes before the court.
Justice Clarence Thomas also face calls to recuse himself from election-related cases after his wife, conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, admitted to attending Trump’s rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol and was involved in efforts to overturn the election results.
Justice Thomas has refused to recuse himself and accused his critics of spreading “nastiness” and “lies” about him and his wife while speaking at a judicial conference last week.
