Alito says his wife is responsible for putting ‘Stop the Steal’ solidarity flag on front lawn after Jan. 6 insurrection

Left FILE - Associate Justice Samuel Alito joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose a code of ethics on the Supreme Court, making him the first member of the court to take a public stand against proposals in Congress to toughen ethics rules for justices in response to increased scrutiny of their activities beyond the bench. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File); Right:

Left FILE — Associate Justice Samuel Alito joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File); Right: A demonstrator waves an upside-down American flag before a rally in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana).

A federal district judge violated judicial ethics rules by publishing an essay saying that it was “dumb” for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to fly a “stop the steal” flag in front of his house after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The New York Times reported last May that it obtained photos of an upside-down flag displayed at the Alito home in Alexandria, Virginia, on Jan. 17, 2021, days after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The display was widely seen as signaling agreement with unsupported claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and ignited widespread criticism of the Alitos for what was viewed as their public statement during a time of political tension as well as a time when a case about Donald Trump’s immunity was before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ultimately held in July that Trump could not be prosecuted for actions that were within his powers as president, and the case was dropped after Trump won the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Alito provided a statement to the Times in which he said, “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” but offered, “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

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