[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 22, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H3403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    JUSTICE ALITO'S UPSIDE-DOWN FLAG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Espaillat) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, through recent confirmed reports, we now 
know that after the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, Supreme 
Court Justice Samuel Alito flew an upside-down American flag in front 
of his home for several days.
  This is just the latest brazen act by an out-of-control, extreme MAGA 
Justice whose conduct is directly responsible for the current public 
opinion on the Supreme Court being at record lows.
  The inverted flag was a well-known symbol flown by far-right, extreme 
MAGA activists in early 2021. These were extremists who believed the 
former President's nonsensical election lie and who supported the goals 
of the January 6 assault on this body and our democracy.
  Federal judges cannot make political displays, and Alito is a Supreme 
Court Justice. He knew exactly what he was doing when he expressed 
solidarity with January 6 criminals. To quote Esmeralda Santiago: 
``Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are.''
  Time and time again, Alito has shown us who he is, a far-right, 
extreme MAGA ideologue who is anything but impartial with regards to 
justice.
  In 2022, Alito followed the directives of the former President and 
the far-right, extreme MAGA camp to defy the will of the American 
people and 50 years of legal precedent by writing the decision to 
reverse Roe v. Wade.
  Along with his fellow extreme MAGA Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice 
Alito has routinely failed to report large, luxury gifts paid for by 
some of his friends, private flights, and other payments to him and his 
family by wealthy, far-right extremists.
  Worst of all, Justice Alito has also openly failed to recuse himself 
from any of the several January 6-related cases currently before the 
Supreme Court. His bias is clearly showing.
  During last month's oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the 
Donald Trump election interference case, Alito cozied up to Trump's 
absurd legal argument that past Presidents are completely immune from 
criminal prosecution.
  You should recuse yourself.
  In last month's oral arguments in a separate case involving charges 
against January 6 Capitol insurrectionists, Alito revealed his view 
that prosecutors may have gone too far by daring to charge these 
defendants.
  You should recuse yourself.
  Justice Alito is someone who will do everything in his power to make 
sure Donald Trump and the January 6 insurrectionists evade prosecution 
and accountability for their crimes.
  For the sake of our democracy, Justice Alito must immediately recuse 
himself from all and any January 6-related cases before the Supreme 
Court.
  Justice Alito's behavior also underscores the need for Congress to 
immediately pass H.R. 926, the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and 
Transparency Act. With H.R. 926, Supreme Court Justices like Samuel 
Alito will finally be held subject to the same ethics and recusal 
standards as other Federal judges in a manner that is meaningful and 
enforceable. Until this occurs, Justice Alito and his insurrectionist 
worldview will continue to dominate our highest court, representing a 
threat not just to the rule of law but also to American democracy 
itself.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would remind Members to refrain 
from engaging in personalities toward presumptive nominees for the 
Office of President and to direct their remarks to the Chair.

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