Defiant Sam Alito again blames his wife for MAGA flags and refuses to recuse

U.S. Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito notified Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) that he would not recuse himself from deciding Donald Trump's immunity case.

The conservative justice has come under fire after reports emerged that two flags carried by Jan. 6 rioters flew above his Virginia residence and his vacation home in New Jersey, and the Democratic senators had asked to meet with chief justice John Roberts to ensure Alito recused from cases related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump's efforts to remain in power.

"My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not," Alito wrote. "My wife was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home and has flown a wide variety of flags over the years. In addition to the American flag, she has flown other patriotic flags (including a favorite flag thanking veterans), college flags, flags supporting sports teams, state and local flags, flags of nations from which the ancestors of family members came, flags of places we have visited, seasonal flags, and religious flags."

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Alito has claimed his wife flew an upside-down American flag in the days between the Jan. 6 insurrection and Inauguration Day in response to a dispute with a neighbor, although neighbors dispute his account, and he blames her for an "Appeal to Heaven" flag that originated during the Revolutionary War era but has become associated with Christian nationalism in recent years.

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1 was not familiar with the 'Appeal to Heaven' flag when my wife flew it," Alito wrote. "She may have mentioned that it dates back to the American Revolution, and I assumed she was flying it to express a religious and patriotic message. I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement,' and neither was my wife. She did not fly it to associate herself with that or any other group, and the use of an old historic flag by a new group does not necessarily drain that flag of all other meanings."

Alito made clear he had no intention of stepping aside from Trump cases, and accused Durbin and Whitehouse of improper partisan motivations.

"A reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that this event does not meet the applicable standard for recusal," Alito wrote. "I am therefore duty-bound to reject your recusal request."

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