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NEW YORK TIMES: UPSIDE-DOWN US FLAG FLEW AT HOME OF JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO AFTER
2020 ELECTION

By John Fritze, CNN
Updated 9:10 AM EDT, Fri May 17, 2024
02:27 - Source: CNN
NYT: Upside-down flag visible at Justice Alito's home for a few days after Jan.
6

CNN  — 

An upside-down American flag – a symbol used by some supporters of former
President Donald Trump who challenged the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s 2020
victory – hung outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the
election, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The revelation is almost certain to prompt calls for Alito, a member of the
court’s conservative wing, to recuse himself from several high-profile cases
pending before the court this year involving the election and subsequent attack
on the US Capitol, including the blockbuster question of whether Trump may claim
immunity from federal election subversion charges.

The Times published a photo of the inverted flag, which it said was seen at the
justice’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 17, 2021.

See more
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A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for
comment from CNN, which has not independently verified the flag’s use.

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito said in an
emailed statement to the Times. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response
to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard
signs.”

from The New York Times
A photo obtained by The New York Times shows an inverted flag at the Alito
residence on January 17, 2021, three days before Joe Biden's inauguration.

The upside-down flag became a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement in the
weeks and months following the election, in which Trump’s supporters falsely
claimed that Biden’s win was illegitimate due to widespread fraud. The inverted
flag was widely seen during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

The Times said it was not clear how long the flag flew outside of Alito’s home.

The story will heap further scrutiny on the high court at a time when it is
already facing considerable blowback. Justice Clarence Thomas has been the
subject of significant criticism and calls for recusal in election-related cases
after his wife, conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, acknowledged she
attended Trump’s rally before the Capitol attack and supported White House
efforts to discredit the election results.

Thomas recently accused his critics of “nastiness” and “lies” in remarks to a
judicial conference in Alabama.

Last fall, in response to a series of revelations about travel accepted by
Thomas and Alito, the Supreme Court adopted a code of conduct for the first
time. That code guides the justices to “refrain from political activity.”

“Two scenarios are plausible and neither one of them is attractive: Either the
gesture was trivial pettiness and ought to be beneath the dignity of the court
or it is was intended as meaningful symbolism in which case it is a real
problem,” said James Sample, a Hofstra Law School professor who has studied
judicial ethics.

Combined with the earlier Thomas revelations, Sample said, “The scenarios
amplify the need for Congress to impose meaningful ethics enforcement on a court
that steadfastly refuses to police itself.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

View on CNN



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