Here's Alito's BS letter explaining why his insurrection flag is no biggie
Yes, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew an upside-down flag at his Virginia home shortly after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol—widely understood as a “Stop the Steal” nod among Donald Trump’s insurrectionist supporters. And yes, he flew an “Appeal to Heaven” flag—another favorite among insurrectionists and Christian nationalists—at his New Jersey beach house. No, he won’t be recusing himself from any insurrection-related cases before the court, despite the many calls for him to do, because fuck you is why and also he did nothing wrong and also it’s his wife’s fault anyway. Here’s his letter to Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse, the leading Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying so. Let’s take a look at some choice quotes below. First, he didn’t even know about the flag, but also, his wife refused to remove it when he found out about it by … looking outside his window? The first incident cited in your letter concerns the flying of an upside-down American flag outside the house in Virginia where my wife and I reside. In considering whether this event requires recusal, an unbiased and reasonable person would take into account the following facts. As I have stated publicly, I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag. I was not even aware of the upside-down flag until it was called to my attention. As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused. Also, she was super upset because someone said a swear at her. And that’s why she had to signal her support for the attempted coup to overthrow an election. My wife’s reasons for flying the flag are not relevant for present purposes, but I note that she was greatly distressed at the time due, in large part, to a very nasty neighborhood dispute in which I had no involvement. A house on the street displayed a sign attacking her personally, and a man who was living in the house at the time trailed her all the way down the street and berated her in my presence using foul language, including what I regard as the vilest epithet that can be addressed to a woman. Plus, the Constitution says she can support an insurrection if she wants to, so there. My wife is a private citizen, and she possesses the same First Amendment rights as every other American. She makes her own decisions, and I have always respected her right to do so. See above re wife’s fault. The second incident concerns a flag bearing the legend “An Appeal to Heaven” that flew in the backyard of our vacation home in the summer of 2023. I recall that my wife did fly that flag for some period of time, but I do not remember how long it flew. And what is most relevant here, I had no involvement in the decision to fly that flag. She just really fucking loves flags, OKAY? 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. 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. I was not familiar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when my wife flew it. 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. Even though she is super into flags, she had no idea what the flags she was flying actually meant—not that there’s anything wrong with flying a flag that represents the desire to see America officially turned into a Christian theocracy. Totally normal and constutitional. 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. Again, see above re wife’s fault. As I said in reference to the other flag event, my wife is an independently minded private citizen. She makes her own decisions, and I honor her right to do so. Our vacation home was purchased with money she inherited from her parents and is titled in her name. In closing, normal, reasonable people—obviously not Democratic senators or any other American who has dared to question Alito’s ability to be impartial—can see this is totes no big so screw you. I am confident that 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 the events recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal. I am therefore required to reject your request. You can read the entire letter below. Scribd Content Campaign A
JoriPress
Yes, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew an upside-down flag at his Virginia home shortly after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol—widely understood as a “Stop the Steal” nod among Donald Trump’s insurrectionist supporters.
And yes, he flew an “Appeal to Heaven” flag—another favorite among insurrectionists and Christian nationalists—at his New Jersey beach house.
No, he won’t be recusing himself from any insurrection-related cases before the court, despite the many calls for him to do, because fuck you is why and also he did nothing wrong and also it’s his wife’s fault anyway.
Here’s his letter to Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse, the leading Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying so.
Let’s take a look at some choice quotes below.
First, he didn’t even know about the flag, but also, his wife refused to remove it when he found out about it by … looking outside his window?
The first incident cited in your letter concerns the flying of an upside-down American flag outside the house in Virginia where my wife and I reside. In considering whether this event requires recusal, an unbiased and reasonable person would take into account the following facts. As I have stated publicly, I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag. I was not even aware of the upside-down flag until it was called to my attention. As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused.
Also, she was super upset because someone said a swear at her. And that’s why she had to signal her support for the attempted coup to overthrow an election.
My wife’s reasons for flying the flag are not relevant for present purposes, but I note that she was greatly distressed at the time due, in large part, to a very nasty neighborhood dispute in which I had no involvement. A house on the street displayed a sign attacking her personally, and a man who was living in the house at the time trailed her all the way down the street and berated her in my presence using foul language, including what I regard as the vilest epithet that can be addressed to a woman.
Plus, the Constitution says she can support an insurrection if she wants to, so there.
My wife is a private citizen, and she possesses the same First Amendment rights as every other American. She makes her own decisions, and I have always respected her right to do so.
See above re wife’s fault.
The second incident concerns a flag bearing the legend “An Appeal to Heaven” that flew in the backyard of our vacation home in the summer of 2023. I recall that my wife did fly that flag for some period of time, but I do not remember how long it flew. And what is most relevant here, I had no involvement in the decision to fly that flag.
She just really fucking loves flags, OKAY?
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. 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. I was not familiar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when my wife flew it. 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.
Even though she is super into flags, she had no idea what the flags she was flying actually meant—not that there’s anything wrong with flying a flag that represents the desire to see America officially turned into a Christian theocracy. Totally normal and constutitional.
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.
Again, see above re wife’s fault.
As I said in reference to the other flag event, my wife is an independently minded private citizen. She makes her own decisions, and I honor her right to do so. Our vacation home was purchased with money she inherited from her parents and is titled in her name.
In closing, normal, reasonable people—obviously not Democratic senators or any other American who has dared to question Alito’s ability to be impartial—can see this is totes no big so screw you.
I am confident that 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 the events recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal. I am therefore required to reject your request.
You can read the entire letter below.
