Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Justice Alito Questions Possibility of Political Compromise in Secret Recording
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 months ago on
June 11, 2024

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is heard questioning the possibility of political compromise and agreeing with a return to 'godliness' in a secret recording. (AP File)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is heard questioning whether compromise between the left and right is possible in a conversation posted on social media. The conservative justice is also heard agreeing with a woman who says the United States should return “to a place of godliness.”

The audio was posted Monday by liberal filmmaker Lauren Windsor. She said it was recorded at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner last week.

“One side or the other is going to win,” Alito said. “There can be a way of working, a way of living together peacefully, but it’s difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can’t be compromised.”

Windsor then told Alito: “I think that the solution really is like winning the moral argument. Like, people in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that, to return our country to a place of godliness.”

“I agree with you,” Alito responded.

Chief Justice Roberts’ Response

Windsor also spoke with Chief Justice John Roberts, who rejected a similar argument. When Windsor suggested the court should lead the nation on a “Christian” path, Roberts responded, “I don’t know if that’s true.”

The court declined to comment on the recordings.

Alito’s Controversial Flags

Alito has rejected calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants after stories emerged about controversial flags that flew above his homes.

In letters to members of Congress, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying both an upside-down flag over their home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at their New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

Martha-Ann Alito spoke to Windsor about her flags on another recording made at the dinner, according to an additional edited recording the filmmaker posted online. She said she wanted to fly a religious flag because “I have to look across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month,” an apparent reference to celebratory LGBTQ+ displays during Pride month in June.

Her husband asked her not to, she told Windsor. “He’s like, ’Oh please don’t put up a flag.'”

Martha-Ann Alito also imagined making a flag with “yellow and orange flames” and the Italian word for shame in the center.

Roberts declined an invitation to meet with Democratic senators to talk about Supreme Court ethics and the flags that flew outside Alito’s homes.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Windsor said she recorded the conversations with Alito and Roberts because “the Supreme Court is shrouded in secrecy, and they’re refusing to submit to any accountability in the face of overwhelming evidence of serious ethics breaches, I think that it’s justified to take these types of measures.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Republicans Win 218 US House Seats, Giving Donald Trump and the Party Control of Government

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

DON'T MISS

Who Is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman Donald Trump Picked to Serve as AG?

DON'T MISS

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

DON'T MISS

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

DON'T MISS

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

DON'T MISS

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

DON'T MISS

R&B Concerts, Comedy, & Worship Take Center Stage This Weekend

DON'T MISS

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

UP NEXT

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

UP NEXT

Who Is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman Donald Trump Picked to Serve as AG?

UP NEXT

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

UP NEXT

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

UP NEXT

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

UP NEXT

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

UP NEXT

R&B Concerts, Comedy, & Worship Take Center Stage This Weekend

UP NEXT

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

UP NEXT

ICE Immediately Moves to Bolster Surveillance of Illegal Immigrants After Trump Win

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

12 hours ago

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

12 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

12 hours ago

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

13 hours ago

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

13 hours ago

R&B Concerts, Comedy, & Worship Take Center Stage This Weekend

14 hours ago

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

14 hours ago

ICE Immediately Moves to Bolster Surveillance of Illegal Immigrants After Trump Win

14 hours ago

You Can Win a Lexus in This Fresno Telethon Drawing. Get Tickets Now.

15 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to Be Attorney General

15 hours ago

Republicans Win 218 US House Seats, Giving Donald Trump and the Party Control of Government

WASHINGTON — Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on...

8 hours ago

8 hours ago

Republicans Win 218 US House Seats, Giving Donald Trump and the Party Control of Government

12 hours ago

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks at the Republican Party of Florida Freedom Summit, Nov. 4, 2023, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP File)
12 hours ago

Who Is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman Donald Trump Picked to Serve as AG?

12 hours ago

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

12 hours ago

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

Wired Wednesday Cover, 11/13/24, KMPH Screengrab
12 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

13 hours ago

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

13 hours ago

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

Search

Send this to a friend