45 House Democrats Call On Samuel Alito To Recuse Himself From Jan. 6 Cases

WASHINGTON ― More than 40 House Democrats are calling on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection over the display of an upside-down U.S. flag at the conservative justice’s home shortly after the attack on Congress occurred.

In a letter addressed to Alito and obtained by HuffPost, Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), and 43 other House Democrats argued that the presence of the upside-down flag ― a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement opposing Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory ― revealed political bias and requires the justice to recuse from pending cases relating to the Jan. 6 riot.

“Even if you had ‘no involvement’ in the display yourself, the fact of such a political statement at your home creates, at minimum, the appearance of improper political bias,” the members of Congress wrote to Alito on Tuesday.

“Reasonable people will doubt that you can be impartial in deciding whether Mr. Trump should face criminal prosecution for his actions arising from the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement,” they added.

The letter was organized by members of the Court Reform Now Task Force, a new congressional group advocating for a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court and setting term limits for justices.

Alito said last week that his wife put up the upside-down flag after a dispute with neighbors over “insulting language” on yard signs, including one sign that blamed her for the Jan. 6 riot.

The justices are currently considering Trump’s claims for total immunity from prosecution relating to his Jan. 6 election subversion case, and a decision is expected sometime in the coming weeks. The court expressed skepticism of Trump’s legal arguments during a hearing