(NewsNation) — The call for Justice Samuel Alito to resign after his wife hung an upside-down flag outside their house after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol is hypocritical.
The New York Times reported the flag — a signal of distress — was flown Jan. 17, just 11 days after the Capitol attack by pro-Trump rioters trying to overturn the 2020 election results.
“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” the justice said in a statement to the Times. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”
While Alito says he wasn’t involved, the episode has raised ethical concerns given that the timeframe coincided with the Supreme Court considering cases related to the 2020 election brought by allies of former President Donald Trump.
Some liberals have called for Alito’s recusal from such cases or even his resignation. However, similar calls did not come in 2016 when the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg criticized Trump as a presidential candidate, calling him a “faker” with an “ego.”
Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, took a more active role surrounding Jan. 6 by attending the pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” rally and urging then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to work to overturn the election results.