Upside-down flag at Supreme Court justice’s house was allegedly a « stop the steal » sign, in the days before Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Legal experts are weighing in on both sides over a « stop the steal » flag allegedly flown beside the house of Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito in the days before Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration.
As a result, some commentators have called on Alito to recuse himself from Donald Trump’s criminal immunity case, which is currently being considered by the Supreme Court. The case will decide whether Trump will have to face criminal trial for allegedly trying to interfere with the result of the 2020 presidential election.
Alito, who was nominated by Republican president, George W. Bush, said that his wife had flown the upside-down U.S. flag in response to « personally insulting » political signs hung by a neighbor near Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia.
The upside-down American flag, a nautical distress signal, was used by Trump supporters to symbolize their false claim that Biden had stolen the 2020 presidential election. The flag at the Alito home was seen flying 11 days after Trump supporters invaded the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an effort to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s win.
Newsweek sought email comment from Alito and from Supreme Court chief justice, John Roberts, on Friday.
The New York Times published a front-page story about the flag on Thursday. The article included a statement from Alito in which he said: « I 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. »
New York University law professor, Stephen Gillers, told Newsweek that he largely believed Alito’s version of events and said it was unlikely he would have displayed such an overt political symbol.
