The Washington Post revealed on Saturday that it had reported on the upside-down flag in front of Justice Samuel Alito’s house, but didn’t run it in 2021.
Topline
The revealed Saturday it previously looked into the presence of an upside-down American flag at Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s house—which has recently prompted questions about Alito’s impartiality given the flag’s link to election denialism—but decided not to publish a story on it.Key Facts
The Post reported that its Supreme Court reporter (Robert Barnes, now retired) visited the Alito home in 2021 following a tip about the flag, finding it was down by the time he arrived.
The Post story describes a tense confrontation between Barnes and Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito—who Alito has claimed was responsible for the flag—with Martha-Ann Alito telling the reporter to get off their property and insisting the flag was an “international signal of distress,” the Post reported.
Alito then reportedly intervened and gave the reporter the same explanation he’s since offered publicly in recent days, after the New York Times broke the flag story earlier this month: Martha-Ann Alito had flown the flag as part of a conflict with neighbors, and it was not intended as a political protest.
