A petition to impeach Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for accepting gifts from conservative billionaire Paul Singer has been signed more than 75,000 times.
The signatories believe Alito should be punished for accepting a seat on Singer’s private plane and for taking part in a luxury fishing trip to Alaska organized by another right-wing businessman.
He did not declare these gifts or recuse himself from Singer’s dealings with the court, the nonprofit ProPublica first reported last June.
The Move On petition, addressed to the US Senate, has been active for almost a year, reaching 50,000 signatures 10 months ago.
People who signed in recent weeks did so amid controversy surrounding Alito’s family flying an inverted flag in January 2021, after it became a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” campaign which aimed to overturn the 2020 elections on false grounds. assert that President Joe Biden did not win legitimately.
Against this backdrop, Alito has faced calls to recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and the chaos that took place on January 6, fearing he was too biased.
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The people who recently signed the petition don’t directly mention the flag controversy, but instead write about their anger in general.
Barbara said: “Because we should all be outraged. Tell me where to show up for the protests. »
Melanie K said Alito’s “behavior and ideology are unacceptable” and called him a “traitor to the Constitution and the country.”
Tim G. wrote that Alito “has shown that he believes he is above the law, which undermines justice in our beloved country.”
At the time the Alito gift story broke, he said ProPublica’s report was “misleading its readers.”
News week contacted Alito for comment via email to the Supreme Court Office of Public Information.
Alito wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal in which he stated: “As I recall, I only spoke to Mr. Singer on a handful of occasions, which (with the exception of small talk on a fishing trip 15 years) consisted of brief and informal comments. at events involving large groups.
“On no occasion did we discuss the activities of his companies, and we never spoke about any case or matter before the court.
“On two occasions, he introduced me before I gave a speech, as did dozens of other people. And, as I will discuss, he allowed me to occupy what otherwise would have been an unoccupied seat on a private flight to Alaska.
“I believe and continue to believe that these facts would not permit a reasonable and impartial person to doubt my ability to decide the issues in question in an impartial manner.”
It comes like THE New York Times published an article to debunk Alito’s version of events with the inverted flag.
An upside-down American flag — a symbol adopted by Donald Trump supporters who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen — was flown at the home of Justice Samuel Alito as the Supreme Court considered an election case in early 2021. pic.twitter.com/uwQOBNFOJY
– The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2024
He claimed that during an argument with liberal neighbors who had put up anti-Donald Trump signs in their yard, his wife was nicknamed “the C-word.”
Justice said it was “distraught” by this case and suspended the United States “for a short period”, according to its interview with Fox News journalist Shannon Bream.
But the Times discovered the flag had been hung that way — and taken down — weeks before this incident took place, according to their analysis of a text message and the initial police call, corroborated by county authorities from Fairfax.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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