Democratic senators urging chief justice to act on Alito recusal after flag controversy

Democratic senators are requesting a meeting with the chief justice over Jan. 6-associated flags displayed at the homes of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Two Democratic senators are seeking a meeting with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. after photos revealing that two separate flags carried by rioters at the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol had flown outside houses owned by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard J. Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Judiciary Committee, wrote to Roberts asking that he meet with them to discuss Supreme Court ethics and steps to ensure that Alito, a fellow conservative, recuses himself from any cases before the court concerning the Jan. 6 attack or former President Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. “We request a meeting with you as soon as possible, in your capacity as Chief Justice and as presiding officer of the Judicial Conference of the United States, to discuss additional steps to address the Supreme Court’s ethics crisis,” Durbin and White-house wrote to Roberts on Thursday in a letter released Friday by their offices. The senators’ letter comes as another conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, has ignored calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election over his wife, Ginni Thomas’, support for efforts to overturn Trump’s election loss — and as public trust in the Supreme Court is at its lowest point in at least 50 years. Politics Supreme Court controversy over Alito, Thomas free trips began with Justice Scalia Justice Antonin Scalia’s impact on the Supreme Court includes forging the way for justices to accept free trips —something that has entangled Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.