Justice Alito's Upside-Down Flag

Floor Speech

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Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, through recent confirmed reports, we now know that after the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew an upside-down American flag in front of his home for several days.

This is just the latest brazen act by an out-of-control, extreme MAGA Justice whose conduct is directly responsible for the current public opinion on the Supreme Court being at record lows.

The inverted flag was a well-known symbol flown by far-right, extreme MAGA activists in early 2021. These were extremists who believed the former President's nonsensical election lie and who supported the goals of the January 6 assault on this body and our democracy.

Federal judges cannot make political displays, and Alito is a Supreme Court Justice. He knew exactly what he was doing when he expressed solidarity with January 6 criminals. To quote Esmeralda Santiago: ``Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.''

Time and time again, Alito has shown us who he is, a far-right, extreme MAGA ideologue who is anything but impartial with regards to justice.

In 2022, Alito followed the directives of the former President and the far-right, extreme MAGA camp to defy the will of the American people and 50 years of legal precedent by writing the decision to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Along with his fellow extreme MAGA Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Alito has routinely failed to report large, luxury gifts paid for by some of his friends, private flights, and other payments to him and his family by wealthy, far-right extremists.

Worst of all, Justice Alito has also openly failed to recuse himself from any of the several January 6-related cases currently before the Supreme Court. His bias is clearly showing.

During last month's oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the Donald Trump election interference case, Alito cozied up to Trump's absurd legal argument that past Presidents are completely immune from criminal prosecution.

You should recuse yourself.

In last month's oral arguments in a separate case involving charges against January 6 Capitol insurrectionists, Alito revealed his view that prosecutors may have gone too far by daring to charge these defendants.

You should recuse yourself.

Justice Alito is someone who will do everything in his power to make sure Donald Trump and the January 6 insurrectionists evade prosecution and accountability for their crimes.

For the sake of our democracy, Justice Alito must immediately recuse himself from all and any January 6-related cases before the Supreme Court.

Justice Alito's behavior also underscores the need for Congress to immediately pass H.R. 926, the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act. With H.R. 926, Supreme Court Justices like Samuel Alito will finally be held subject to the same ethics and recusal standards as other Federal judges in a manner that is meaningful and enforceable. Until this occurs, Justice Alito and his insurrectionist worldview will continue to dominate our highest court, representing a threat not just to the rule of law but also to American democracy itself.

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