Justice Samuel Alito confirmed that he received a phone call from President-elect Donald Trump the day before Trump sought the Supreme Court’s intervention in his hush money case. Alito stated that the discussion, initiated by one of his former law clerks, focused solely on Trump’s qualifications for government service and did not touch upon the emergency application Trump submitted that same day to halt legal proceedings against him. In his filing, Trump’s legal team argued for presidential immunity to prevent what they termed “grave injustice” to the presidency and federal operations. The Supreme Court has yet to respond to Trump’s request after a New York judge rejected a similar motion earlier in the week. After the call with Trump, Alito reiterated they did not discuss other pending matters before the court or past decisions related to Trump. This revelation comes amidst past scrutiny of Alito regarding a politically charged incident involving an upside-down American flag outside his home, which certain Trump supporters adopted as a protest symbol. Following that incident, some congressional Democrats called for Alito’s recusal from Trump-related cases, but he has maintained his position that it was unwarranted.
