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President Donald Trump shakes hands with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after Mark Esper was sworn in as Secretary of Defense during a ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is embroiled in yet another ethics controversy involving his relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.
Alito, who faced widespread criticism over the flying of an upside-down American flag — a move largely associated with Trump supporters following the 2020 presidential election — in front of his house just after the Jan. 6 insurrection, spoke directly with Trump on Tuesday, just hours before Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing in the New York hush-money case.
After reports over the phone call arose, Alito issued a statement Wednesday, in which he said one of his former law clerks asked him to take a call from Trump regarding the clerk’s qualifications to serve in the Trump administration. Alito said he agreed to discuss the matter with Trump, who then telephoned the justice on Tuesday afternoon.
Alito added that the call was a routine job reference for the clerk, William Levi, who was a former law clerk for the justice. The justice did not comment on why the President-elect would personally call about Levi’s references, nor about what position Trump is considering for Levi.
ABC News reported the statement, made by Alito himself, about the call:
William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position. I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon. We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed. We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the President-elect.
Levi, a Federalist Society lawyer, is a partner at Sidley Austin who served as Bill Barr’s chief of staff during Barr’s term as attorney general during the first Trump administration. In addition to clerking for Alito, Levi was also chief counsel to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and clerked for Third Circuit Judge Anthony J. Scirica. Levi’s father is former federal judge David Levi and his grandfather is Gerald Ford administration attorney general Edward Levi, who has been widely recognized as the person who restored confidence in the Justice Department after the Watergate scandal.
Legal analyst and blogger Christopher Geidner sharply condemned Alito’s choice to take the call from Trump.
“If no one in charge cares about people who break ethical laws, rules, and norms, then people who don’t care about ethical laws, rules, and norms are going to simply ignore them,” Geidner posted on his website Wednesday.
“If nothing else, this capsule moment lays bare just how difficult tracking ethical questions is going to be in the coming years — and how important it is that those of us covering government continue to speak out,” Geidner added.
Tristan Snell, the former assistant attorney general for New York state who led the investigation and prosecution of Trump University, posted on X Wednesday:
BREAKING: Justice Alito takes call from Trump, right as Trump’s lawyers sought stay to stop Trump’s criminal sentencing in NYC. Alito claims it was to help a former clerk get a job. Doesn’t matter. Federal law requires Alito now be DISQUALIFIED from the Trump stay petition.
Likewise, Gabe Roth, the executive director of advocacy group Fix the Court, said the call was deeply problematic and dismissed Alito’s explanation that the call was about Levi’s professional references.
“The call was merely an excuse for Trump to speak with one of the nine people determining the fate of his hush money sentencing in the coming days and who will review many more Trump-related issues over the next four years,” said Roth.
Hours after the call between Trump and Alito, the former president filed a 51-page application arguing that Trump’s 2024 presidential win entitled him to total immunity from criminal proceedings both during and after the period of Presidential transition.
In addition to the controversy over Alito’s flag display, the justice has come under scrutiny for ethics concerns over stock sales that coincided with Court rulings, his refusal to recuse in certain tax cases, and his failure to disclose luxury trips.
In November 2023, all nine justices signed on to an official Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court. In their introductory statement, the justices noted that many of the code’s requirements simply mirrored ethics rules they had already been implementing. The code requires that justices uphold the independence of the federal judiciary, avoid all forms of impropriety and outside influence, operate without bias or fear of criticism, recuse themselves in cases to which they are personally connected, avoid engaging in activities that “detract from the dignity” of official duties, and refrain from engaging in political activity.
Since its adoption, the code has been harshly criticized for lacking any enforcement mechanism and instead, leaving compliance up to the justices who are appointed for life.
