Justice Samuel Alito’s wife says upside-down American flag is ‘an international distress signal’ in 2021

The wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito previously said the inverted American flag flying over the couple’s home in January 2021 was “an international distress signal,” The Washington Post reported Saturday, detailing an encounter around that time between the Alitos and an out-of-town Post reporter. the couple’s house.

The flag was no longer flying when reporter Robert Barnes visited the judge’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, on the day of President Joe Biden’s inauguration to follow up on a related tip, according to the report. Martha-Ann Alito asked the reporter to “get off my property” as he passed the couple leaving their home, the Post said.

According to The Post, Martha-Ann Alito shouted, “It’s an international distress signal!” as Barnes searched for information on the case before the judge led his wife to a car while denying the flag was linked to a political protest and claiming it came from a neighborhood dispute.

Martha-Ann Alito then shouted, “Ask them what they did!” in apparent reference to the Alitos’ neighbors, before retrieving a novelty flag from the couple’s house and shouting, “There!” Is this better?” after placing it on the flagpole, according to The Post.

A Post spokeswoman said in the article that the newspaper did not report the interaction at the time “because the flag-raising appeared to be the work of Martha-Ann Alito, rather than justice, and that it was linked to a dispute with his neighbors” and that it was not clear whether this was rooted in politics.

The Post article comes as the conservative judiciary is embroiled in controversy over displays outside its properties.

The New York Times last week published a photograph of the inverted American flag raised at the Alitos’ Virginia home in 2021. Alito said the inverted American flag was raised by his wife and was a response to an argument with neighbors. The dispute involved a neighbor who posted a sign saying “F**k Trump” near a school bus stop and then a sign attacking his wife, Alito said. The judge told Fox News that the Alitos had argued with the neighbor, who used the term “c**t” at one point. His wife then displayed the reverse flag.

The inverted flag was a symbol for supporters of former President Donald Trump who falsely claimed there was widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

The Times then reported Wednesday that a flag that was on display during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was seen flying outside the Alitos’ vacation home in New Jersey last summer. The “Call to Heaven” flag, which dates from the Revolutionary War, has become a symbol for Trump supporters.

The flag revelations sparked criticism in Washington, including from key Republican and Democratic senators, who called on Justice to recuse herself from cases involving Trump and the 2021 Capitol attack.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune, one of the contenders to replace outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, told CNN the flag was a “bad decision.”

“I don’t know how you explain that,” the South Dakota Republican said.

The news also reinvigorated calls from the left for Congress to enact ethics rules for the Supreme Court, an effort that has been stalled for months.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, who has frequently criticized conservative judges, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Thursday that it “raises a serious question” for a member of the nation’s highest court to wave such flags on its properties.

Some Republican lawmakers have defended Alito, with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday that “all the hype is greatly exaggerated” and accusing Senate Democrats of trying to delegitimize the court.

CNN’s John Fritze, Holmes Lybrand and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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