Alito Shoots Down Calls to Recuse Himself After Flag Controversy

⚖️Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election or the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The conservative justice is facing calls to recuse from such cases after reports surfaced of flags being flown outside his homes that were perceived as signaling a connection to the “Stop the Steal” movement.

However, in a three page later, Alito said his wife was behind both incidents.

The justice noted he and his wife own their Virginia home jointly and “she therefore has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit.”

Additionally, he insisted the American flag was flown upside-down after his wife was engaged in a “very nasty neighborhood dispute” involving a house that “displayed a sign attacking her personally,” and another neighbor who used “berated her” with the “vilest epithet that can be addressed to a woman.”

“My wife is a private citizen, and she possesses the same First Amendment rights as every other American,” Alito noted.

Still, he said he asked his wife to take the flag down, but “for several days, she refused.”

The upside-down flag was used by people connected with the “Stop The Steal” effort, but it has also long been used to signal distress.

The Hill notes, “The Supreme Court