Trump Virtually High-Fives Samuel Alito for Refusing to Recuse Himself From January 6 Cases Over Flag Incidents

Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday to praise Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito for refusing to recuse himself from a pair of upcoming cases concerning January 6, despite the flags associated with the “Stop the Steal” effort that were literally flying outside of the justice’s homes.

“Congratulations to United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS’ to refuse stepping aside from making a decision on anything January 6th related,” Trump wrote on the social network he founded after being kicked off Twitter for inciting a violent riot. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT – Our Country would be far more advanced than its current status as A BADLY FAILING NATION, headed by the Worst President in American History, Crooked Joe Biden!”

Trump’s praise for Alito came shortly after the conservative justice sent a letter to senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Dick Durbin explaining that the reason he would not be stepping down from two cases related to January 6 is because the flags placed outside his Virginia home and New Jersey beach house—both of which were embraced by people who stormed the Capitol in 2021—were put their by his wife. Of the former, Alito eye-rollingly wrote: “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused.” He added that his wife “has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit, and there were no additional steps that I could have taken to have the flag taken down more promptly.” Elsewhere in the letter, the justice said: “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. 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.” (He did not address a report from The New York Times that Mrs. Alito allegedly spit at an anti-Trump neighbor’s car on Inauguration Day 2021.)

The highly political flags are, of course, far from the only reason we know Alito is comically biased toward Trump. Last month, during oral arguments for and against Trump’s claims of absolute presidential immunity, the conservative justice suggested that, in order to protect democracy, presidents must be allowed to commit federal crimes without fear of consequences. So yeah, it’s not surprising that the ex-president is thrilled Alito will be weighing in on his fate.

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