Reps. Jamie Raskin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez want Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to answer some questions.
On Friday, the top two ranking Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to Roberts over “renewed concern about Justice Samuel Alito’s apparent refusal to abide by the Supreme Court’s Code of Conduct or constitutional and statutory guarantees that cases be heard by impartial judges.”
The lawmakers cite a recent New York Times report that Roberts made the unusual choice to replace Alito, who had been assigned to write a majority opinion about prosecutors overreaching when they charged some Capitol rioters with obstruction.
According to the Times, Roberts decided to take over writing the majority opinion himself for the Fischer v. United States case. This move happened shortly after reports surfaced about Alito and his wife flying an upside-down American flag—a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement following the 2020 election.
Despite many calls for Alito to recuse himself from any “Stop the Steal” insurrection-related cases, the justice refused and offered a sophomoric letter defending his position.
The Democrats’ letter on Friday also notes that friend-to-billionaires Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni also have well-documented ties to the insurrection movement, which are similarly problematic.
“Your own conduct, in taking the ‘highly unusual step’ of removing Justice Alito as the author of the Fischer opinion last May, just days after the public learned that he repeatedly flew flags and banners supportive of the January 6 insurrectionists, strongly suggests you recognized that Justice Alito’s conduct presented a situation in which the Justice’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” Raskin and Ocasio-Cortez write.
“Yet by taking the half measure of replacing him as the opinion’s author, instead of requiring him, as well as Justice Thomas, to recuse wholly from the matter, you allowed the Court to violate and defy federal law, the Constitution, and its own Code of Conduct,” according to the lawmakers.
Raskin and Ocasio-Cortez ask Roberts to answer a series of questions as to his decision-making process in the matter:
1. Did you, as Chief Justice, make the decision to replace Justice Alito as the drafter of the Fischer opinion?
a. When did you do so and what was your basis for doing so? Did public reporting that Justice Alito and his spouse displayed flags and banners supportive of the insurrectionists and the “Stop the Steal” movement play any role in this decision?
b. When and how did you become aware that Justice Alito and his spouse displayed flags and banners supportive of the insurrectionists and the “Stop the Steal” movement both in January 2021 and in the summer of 2023?
c. Were there any other individuals involved in making the decision to replace Justice Alito as the drafter of the Fischer opinion? Did you discuss this decision with any other sitting or retired Justice of the Supreme Court?
d. How was the decision conveyed to Justice Alito?
2. Did you have any conversations with Justice Alito or Justice Thomas about whether either’s participation in cases involving January 6 defendants was consistent with the Supreme Court’s Code of Conduct, federal law, or the Constitution? In particular, did you have any discussion with Justice Alito or Justice Thomas about recusing from cases involving January 6 defendants?
3. Did you have any conversations with any sitting or retired Justice of the Supreme Court about whether the participation of Justice Alito or Justice Thomas in cases involving January 6 defendants was consistent with the Supreme Court’s Code of Conduct, federal law, or the Constitution?
Roberts has not yet commented on the letter, according to The Hill.
Walter Einenkel October 04, 2024 at 11:30PM From Daily Kos
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