Alito urged to recuse himself from Trump cases over reports of upside-down US flag outside his house – live | US supreme court
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Senate judiciary committee chair calls for Samuel Alito to recuse himself from Trump cases
The Democratic chair of the Senate judiciary committee, Dick Durbin, is calling on Samuel Alito to recuse himself from cases concerning Donald Trump and the 2020 election after the New York Times reported that a flag supporting the ex-president’s false election fraud claims flew outside the supreme court justice’s residence.
Here’s what Durbin had to say:
Flying an upside-down American flag – a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement – clearly creates the appearance of bias. Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection, including the question of the former President’s immunity in US v Donald Trump, which the supreme court is currently considering.
The court is in an ethical crisis of its own making, and Justice Alito and the rest of the court should be doing everything in their power to regain public trust. This latest story is further proof that Congress needs to pass the SCERT Act to create an enforceable code of conduct for the supreme court. Supreme court justices should be held to the highest ethical standards, not the lowest.
The Scert Act would require the supreme court to adopt a code of conduct and create a mechanism to investigate violations. While the court adopted an ethics code last year, it lacks any mechanism for enforcement.
Republicans are vehemently against any new regulations on the supreme court, and have the votes to prevent the Scert Act from passing the Senate.
Key events
A big story that broke this week was the agreement – made public in a series of rapid-fire tweets – for Donald Trump and Joe Biden to meet for two debates, in June and September. The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports that the two candidates are hoping to use the events to gain an edge over the other:
It’s game on for a pair of presidential debates between two unpopular candidates most Americans wish weren’t running for the nation’s highest office.
In a ratatat social media exchange on Wednesday, Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreed to participate in two debates on 27 June, hosted by CNN, and on 10 September, hosted by ABC.
“Make my day, pal,” Biden said in a video, challenging his predecessor and rival to a high-stakes showdown. Trump, who had been insisting for months he would debate Biden “anytime, anyplace”, quickly accepted the offer: “Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!”
The arrangement jolted a general election campaign that had begun to feel stagnant. And if their plans hold, Americans will be treated to a presidential matchup far earlier than usual – before either candidate will have formally accepted his party’s nomination.
“The candidates realize the value of the debates, especially given their ages,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan. “They need to show that they have the stamina to debate for 90 minutes or two hours to reassure the country.”
The decision to square off at least twice before the November election reflects a careful calculation by both candidates who believe televised confrontations will help magnify the other’s weaknesses.
The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, also did not have much to say when asked if Joe Biden had any thoughts on the partisan fracas that took place last night in the House oversight committee.
“I have not talked to him about if [he’s] seen it,” Jean-Pierre said at her press conference.
“What we can say and I think this is something the president would agree upon … as someone who was a senator for 36 years he believes that people should respect each other, treat with each other with dignity and civility.”
White House spokesperson declines comment on reports of Alito flying flag associated with Trump support
The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, declined to comment on the New York Times’s report that Samuel Alito flew an upside down American flag at a time when it was being used by supporters of Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
“We’ve seen the reporting, and I don’t want to comment on the specific report,” Jean-Pierre replied when asked about the Times’s story at her ongoing press briefing.
However, she noted that Joe Biden believed people should respect the country’s flag:
What I can say more broadly, is that the president believes that the American flag is sacred. You’ve heard him say that, and is owed proper respect and honor for the brave men and women who have defended our country for generations.
In a series of tweets, the progressive Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the squabble that broke out last night at a meeting of the House oversight committee was used as an excuse by Republicans to force a vote on holding the attorney general, Merrick Garland, in contempt.
The GOP is pushing the contempt citation over Garland’s refusal to hand over recordings of Joe Biden’s interview with a justice department special counsel. Ocasio-Cortez accused Republicans of seizing on the chaos that broke out as insults flew between the far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Democrat Jasmine Crockett to block the opposition from offering amendments to the resolution:
Here’s the problem with “both sidesing” the chaos that was the Republican Oversight hearing.
Republicans VOTED in cmte to allow the rhetoric that was used against Ms. Crockett last night.
Notice that when Dems have the majority, these things don’t happen.
It also gets worse… https://t.co/tZjb28IemQ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 17, 2024
Remember: the hearing was about contempt proceedings – otherwise known as a “markup hearing,” where the full committee must vote at the end.
In markups, both parties offer amendments. This is standard. Amendments are voted on and then the full proposal.
Dems had 7 amendments.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 17, 2024
This is where the GOP chaos matters.
AFTER the Republican Chair and GOP members broke official House protocol to allow MTG’s horrific opening silo of rhetoric, they THEN made another change to dispense with the legislative process.
THAT part is not getting enough attention.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 17, 2024
They THEN did something highly unusual and still unclear to me how legitimate it was – they cut off the *rest of the amendment process,* end all legislative debate, and cut straight to a vote on their text without standard procedure.
Needless to say, this is not normal at all.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 17, 2024
From the Guardian’s Dani Anguiano, here’s more on the sentencing of David DePape, who broke into then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home two years ago and bludgeoned her husband:
David DePape, a rightwing conspiracy theorist who broke into Nancy Pelosi’s northern California home in 2022 and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
A federal jury convicted him of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official in November 2023, just over a year after the attack in the former House speaker’s San Francisco home.
DePape broke in through the back door in the early hours of 28 October 2022 with plans to kidnap Nancy Pelosi, interrogate her and post footage online. Instead, he found Paul Pelosi, who was 82 at the time and awoke to DePape in his bedroom with a hammer and zip ties, asking: “Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?”
Paul Pelosi was able to call 911, and police officers arrived just before DePape struck him in the head multiple times with a hammer, knocking him unconscious. Pelosi required surgery for a skull fracture as well as injuries to his arm and hands after the attack, which was captured in police body-camera footage.
The former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has put out a statement after, David DePape, the attacker of her husband Paul Pelosi was sentenced to 30 years in prison for breaking into the family home and bludgeoning her husband with a hammer.
In a statement, a family spokesman for the applauded the bravery of Paul Pelosi during the night of the attack and subsequent trial.
From the spokesperson, Aaron Bennett:
The Pelosi family couldn’t be prouder of their Pop and his tremendous courage in saving his own life on the night of the attack and in testifying in this case. Speaker Pelosi and her family are immensely grateful to all who have sent love and prayers over the last eighteen months, as Mr Pelosi continues his recovery.
Given the ongoing state court proceedings, Speaker Pelosi and the Pelosi family will not be offering further comment on this matter at this time.
Here’s more on the allegations in Arizona against John Eastman, from the Associated Press:
The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the election’s outcome in Arizona and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump himself was not charged in the Arizona case but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Charges have not yet been made public against Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump-aligned attorney, but he was readily identifiable based on descriptions of the defendants in the indictment. No arraignment date has been scheduled for Giuliani. Arizona authorities say they have been unable to serve Giuliani with the notice of the charges …
Last year, Eastman was indicted on racketeering, conspiracy and other charges in a scheme to overturn the 2020 president election in Georgia. He has pleaded not guilty to the Georgia charges. Eastman also is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the sprawling federal indictment filed in Washington against Trump for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.
Read the full article here.
Attorney John Eastman pleaded not guilty to fraud, conspiracy and forgery charges for his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported.
Eastman is the first person in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned. Eastman was charged after he attempted to create a plan to get Congress not to certify the 2020 election.
“I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona [and] zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings. And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully be exonerated at the end of this process,” Eastman said in a brief statement outside the courthouse.
The day so far
Democrats are howling after the New York Times reported that a flag associated with Donald Trump’s false election fraud claims flew outside the house of Samuel Alito, a conservative supreme court justice. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chair of the Senate judiciary committee, called on Alito to recuse himself from cases involving Trump and the 2020 election – such as the ex-president’s petition for immunity from the federal charges related to his plot to keep Joe Biden from taking office. In a rare interview with Fox News, Alito said that the flag was flown by his wife after a confrontation with a neighbor.
Here’s a rundown of what has happened so far today:
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Alito was among the conservative justices who appeared skeptical of the government’s arguments at a hearing over Trump’s immunity petition last month.
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The banner flown from Alito’s house was an upside-down American flag, a traditional symbol of distress that became associated with support for Trump’s “stop the steal” movement.
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The House oversight committee devolved into chaos last night as personal arguments broke out between Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
The Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, weighed in on the kerfuffle in the House oversight committee last night, saying the sparring between Democratic and GOP lawmakers was “not a good look”.
From the Daily Beast:
Speaker Johnson on the chaos that went down at the Oversight markup last night:
“It’s not a good look for Congress. And as I’ve said a few times this morning, decorum is an important principle to maintain. And we’re going to continue to try to advance that principle and we…
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) May 17, 2024
Here’s video of the moment last night when an exchange between the far-right Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and the progressive Democratic congresswoman Jasmine Crockett sparked a quarrel that ground the House oversight committee’s business to a halt:
“I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re saying.”
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Rep. Jasmine Crockett, sparking a fracas at Thursday night’s House Oversight Committee markup of content of Congress against AG Garland pic.twitter.com/GHw1lonbgC
— The Recount (@therecount) May 17, 2024
It escalated from there:
Rep. Jasmine Crockett then got into a heated argument with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna after Luna tried to strike Crockett’s “bleached blonde, bad built, butch body” comments from the record:
Luna: “I can’t hear you with your yelling.”
Crockett: “No! Don’t tell me to calm down!” pic.twitter.com/QAxeO0jgba
— The Recount (@therecount) May 17, 2024
A bout of cross-chamber Democratic infighting has broken out after the Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman attempted to make light of the argument that ensued late last night in the House oversight committee:
In the past, I’ve described the U.S. House as The Jerry Springer Show.
Today, I’m apologizing to The Jerry Springer Show. pic.twitter.com/y6wxLX5FIV
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) May 17, 2024
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York who was a part of yesterday’s rhetorical melee, did not take kindly to her ostensible ally’s comment:
I understand you likely would not have stood up for your colleague and seem to be confused about racism and misogyny being a “both sides” issue.
But I stand up to bullies, instead of becoming one.
And to the women of Pennsylvania: I’d stand up for you too.
Enjoy your Friday. https://t.co/cInF4YXO2y
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 17, 2024
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