In a new discussion on CNN this weekend, former prosecutor Harry Litman warned that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito may have perpetrated an “impeachable offense” in recent interactions with Congress, depending on how things unfold.
In short, the point of dispute is the context around the Alitos’ residence flying an upside down American flag, which was used in the “Stop the Steal” movement and present at the U.S. Capitol during the violence of January 6, 2021, though the imagery has historical origins outside this prominent, recent usage. (“Stop the Steal” refers to the pro-Trump movement alleging systematic election fraud in 2020.)
The judge, who credits his wife with flying the flag at all, is apparently trying to blame it on a confrontation with a neighbor that this neighbor says — and, as Litman recapped, “material evidence” suggests — actually happened afterwards.
“Now as to this discrepancy, the neighbor says that,” Litman recounted on CNN. “There is material evidence. We have a picture in The New York Times in January and a police report of the altercation in February, which Justice Alito says triggered it. Look, I am not saying that the neighbor’s word should be taken over that of a Justice of the United States. However, there is the discrepancy, and I really think it is essential to get to the bottom of it. If it is the case — I am not saying it is the case, but if it is — that Justice Alito sent a letter to the Congress and didn’t tell the truth in it, that is exceptionally grave. I think that would be an impeachable offense.”
Alito has faced extensive criticism in connection to imagery outside that residence and another situated in New Jersey, where the “Appeal to Heaven” flag — American independence era-imagery also used in “Stop the Steal” — was reportedly flown. The upside down American flag showed up in January 2021 according to reports on it, not long after that month’s violence at the U.S. Capitol.
