WASHINGTON — Progressive lawmakers and organizers on Wednesday called on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and to testify before Congress regarding two flags expressing sympathy for insurrectionists that were flown outside his two homes .
Against the backdrop of the Supreme Court, a group of about 20 people held signs reading “Investigate Alito” and decrying the “five alarms that are eating away at democracy,” as Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia put it.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said: “Chief Justice (John) Roberts and Justice Alito must testify publicly and under oath about the flag flying incidents and the court’s handling of them.”
Johnson and Jayapal respectively introduced bills aimed at impressive term limits for Supreme Court judges i imperative an enforceable code of ethics for the nation’s highest bench.
Johnson too He joined Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman of New York introduced a bill on Tuesday to establish an independent investigative body for Supreme Court ethics.
Two flags
Days after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol, an inverted U.S. flag hung outside Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, according to photos obtained by Alito. New York Times.
The upside-down American flag is widely considered a sign of concern or protest across the political spectrum.
The Times also published the story of the “Appeal to Heaven” flag. waved over Long Island Beach, New Jersey, the judge’s home in the summer of 2023. A white flag with a pine tree can be seen on photos the January 6 riot, when Trump supporters took over the Capitol, attacking and injuring police officers with flagpoles, bear spray and other improvised weapons.
On May 29 letter to lawmakers, Alito said his wife flew the flags and that he was refusing calls to recuse himself from January 6-related matters.
“My wife likes to fly flags. I am not,” he wrote to Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts.
Both senators who required meeting with Chief Justice Roberts in the Alito case, supported an ethics bill titled the Supreme Court Ethics, Denial, and Transparency Act, which advanced withdrew from the committee along party lines in July 2023 but did not receive a majority of the votes.
Supreme Court rulings on the way
Opinions from the Supreme Court are expected this month in two Jan. 6 cases – one involving a former police officer who broke into the Capitol and is searching for the withdrawal of the obstruction fee. The decision could impact hundreds of cases for the Jan. 6 defendants and the 2020 election interference case against Trump, who faces the same obstruction charge.
The court too decide whether Trump is immune from four federal criminal charges alleging that he planned to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and knowingly spread false information that prompted his supporters to riot on January 6.
Trump nominated three of the current Supreme Court justices: conservatives Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
During Wednesday’s demonstration, one of the leaders, Christina Harvey, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Stand Up America, said: “I don’t know about you, but I prefer Supreme Court justices who fly American flags right side up.”
Harvey’s group was one of several outside the Supreme Court, including the Alliance for Justice, whose justice program director Jake Faleschini also called for Justice Clarence Thomas to resign. ProPublica investigation revealed Justice received gifts from and traveled with major Republican donors.
“Even Judge Roberts abandoned his duties. He does not seem willing or able to address the corruption and abuse of power of his colleagues,” Faleschini said.
More flag shows
The inverted U.S. flag and the “Appeal to Heaven” flag were also flown in other places.
On Friday, the conservative Heritage Foundation flew an upside-down American flag outside its Washington office, following Trump’s lead conviction in New York on hush money charges, according to reporting from NPR and photos from The Associated Press.
According to House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, one of the leading voices in the legal movement to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, he is flying an “Appeal to Heaven” flag outside his congressional office. reporting by the Associated Press.
The flag was also spotted (*6*)outside the office Republican Party Representative Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin.
