Congressman Cohen Expresses Disappointment at Justice Alito’s Refusal to Recuse

WASHINGTON -- Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee who introduced a resolution of censure against U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito on May 21 for his demonstrated bias on matters before the High Court, today expressed disappointment at Justice Alito’s refusal to recuse himself on cases involving Donald Trump, the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, insurrectionists.

An inverted flag in front of Justice Alito’s home during the period between the January 6, 2021, insurrection and President Joe Biden’s inauguration, is a public demonstration of political activity and preference for a specific candidate for elected office, a breach of judicial ethics.  The upside-down American flag is a widely understood symbol of the “Stop the Steal” effort, which falsely claimed that Donald Trump was the true winner of the 2020 election.  A second “Appeal to Heaven” flag flown at his New Jersey beach house last summer is equally problematic.

Congressman Cohen’s resolution, which now has 13 cosponsors in the House, specifically censures Justice Alito “for knowingly violating the federal recusal statute and binding ethics standards and calling the impartiality of the Supreme Court of the United States into question by continuing to participate in cases in which his prior public conduct could be reasonably interpreted to demonstrate bias.” It also demands that he recuse himself from all litigation related to the 2020 election or the January 6 insurrection.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“I received Justice Alito’s letter in response to my and others’ demand that he recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and its aftermath with grave disappointment. Blaming his wife for the political statements broadcast from the home of a sitting Justice is both shameful and inadequate. A reasonable person seeing that expression would obviously conclude Justice Alito supported the January 6^th insurrection and President Trump’s lies about the 2020 election: a grave violation of judicial ethics. And he knows that. Just as troubling, he has continued to participate in cases directly about the 2020 election and subsequent insurrection, in direct violation of the federal recusal statue and the Constitution’s protections for due process and equal protection of the laws. His dismissive response demonstrates the urgent need for the House to censure him and for the American people to realize that he is now unfit to serve on the High Court.

“There must be accountability to protect the integrity and impartiality of the High Court. We must protect the Constitutional rights to fair and impartial proceedings. Justice Alito should be censured for flagrant breaches of the law and court rules, and he must recuse himself from all other 2020 election and January 6th related litigation.” 

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