#SCOTUS Justice Samuel A. #Alito Jr. has offered multiple accounts of how politically charged flags [#insurrectionist flags] came to fly outside his homes in VA & NJ — the type of display that is generally off-limits for judges, who must remain #impartial & avoid even the appearance of #bias as they handle cases.
Since the public revelation of the #flags engulfed the nation’s highest court in criticism last month & prompted calls for #Alito’s #recusal from certain cases, the justice has said it was his wife who flew the banners, not him, & that she flew one of them after a neighborhood dispute. But his successive explanations — in a statement, an interview w/ FoxNews & letters to Congress — have raised additional questions, & in some cases #conflicted w/known #facts.
#Alito has yet to fully explain some key aspects of the controversy: How long did an #UpsideDown American #flag fly at the Alitos’ Virginia home? Where did they get the “#AppealToHeaven” flag that flew at their New Jersey beach house? And more. Here are the major discrepancies in Alito’s telling & what he still has not fully answered. Neither he nor his wife, #MarthaAnnAlito, responded to a request for comment.
The most pivotal question about the #UpsideDown American #flag has yet to be fully answered: #MarthaAnnAlito’s motivation for flying it.
…The Alitos have not explicitly addressed whether the upside-down flag had a connection to #Jan6 or “Stop the Steal,” & Justice #Alito’s comments about his wife’s motivation for flying it have shifted.
…The letters include a much more specific explanation of why #MarthaAnnAlito flew the “#AppealToHeaven” flag at the couple’s vacation home….
#Alito said he “assumed” his wife was flying it for #religious & patriotic reasons. He definitively said neither he or his wife knew the flag was associated w/the “Stop the Steal” & it was not flown in solidarity w/that movement.
…#MarthaAnnAlito, in her only known public comments about the flag, shouted at a WaPo reporter, “It’s an international sign of distress!”
…#Alito repeated his contention that a neighborhood dispute sparked the flag flying in a statement….
In letters Alito sent to Congress saying he would not recuse himself from the #Jan6 cases, however, the justice’s explanation subtly changed.…writing, “my wife’s reasons for flying the flag are not relevant for present purposes.”
A 2nd #Trump admin could #weaponize existing government agencies to dismantle democracy itself.
This article is part of “Project 2025: The Plot Against #America,” a Nation special issue devoted to unpacking the right’s vast & chilling program for a 2nd Trump term.
“The biggest innovation of 21st-century #authoritarians has been to maintain the facade of democratic #elections while at the same time tilting the rules against their opponents,” the group explains in its report, The Authoritarian Playbook. “They do this by suppressing votes & biasing, distorting, falsifying, or even overturning the results—either through capturing the referees or by manipulating the electoral rules in their favor.”
#POTUS#Biden said Thurs he would not #pardon his son, if convicted.
Biden said “yes” when asked in an ABC interview if he would rule out pardoning Hunter Biden…. Biden also said yes when the interviewer asked if he would accept the trial’s outcome.
The president has said for months that he would not pardon his son.
“I’ve been very clear — the president is not going to pardon his son,” WH press sec Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in Dec.
Suing Apple is a necessary step in challenging our perception of Big Tech… https://somegadgetguy.com/b/468
We can't take our eyes off this target. We need to build more momentum. Our legal system has been too slow to adapt to consumer tech trends, and we need to keep the pressure on if we're to course correct for YEARS of bad policy.
Judge rules #SteveBannon must go to #prison by July 1 while appealing #contempt case
The former #Trump adviser is challenging a 4-month prison term for contempt of Congress after failing to appear before a House panel investigating the #Jan6, 2021, riot.
U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols agreed after a nearly hour-long hearing. “I don’t believe that the original basis for my stay of Mr. #Bannon’s sentence exists any longer. I no longer consider that his appeal raises substantial questions of #law of a kind likely to reverse his #conviction,” Nichols said, citing that panel’s ruling.
The wife of #SCOTUSJusticeSamuel #Alito told a WaPo reporter in Jan 2021 that an #UpsideDown American #flag recently flown on their flagpole was “an international signal of distress” & indicated that it had been raised in response to a neighborhood dispute. #MarthaAnnAlito made the comments when the reporter went to the couple’s FairfaxCounty, VA, home to follow up on a tip about the flag….
MAGA Mike Johnson announces his plan to “go after” the United States system of justice.
Why this plan is destined to end in failure like most of Republican’s plans to protect felon Donald Trump.
MAGA Mike Johnson has announced his “three pronged approach” to ”go after” the Dept. of Justice. The FBI, local DA’s, Judges, juries and anyone involved in the administration of justice in the U.S.
White Nationalist Mike Johnson plans to use the ⭕ appropriations process, ⭕ Anti law and order legislation and
⭕ Congressional oversight to greatly weaken if not destroy America’s justice system.
What has caused this drastic reaction from the #TrumpStooge who is supposed to serve all of the citizens of the U.S.?
Johnson is committed to destroying our entire system of justice in service to one FELON. Remember Election Denier Liar Mike Johnson led the attempt to use FRAUDLENT ELECTORS, throw out valid electors in 2020 and return the election to the states.
“…when he gets to be president, not only is he gonna secure the #border, he’s going to #deport hundreds of thousands of people here illegally. And if you wanna shut down illegal #immigration, those coming need to see an outflow by the tens & hundreds of thousands. That will deter. The only #policy change that will work is to have #MassDeportations.”
#Trump Tues night on the conservative network #Newsmax:
“I said, ‘Wouldn’t it really be bad? … wouldn’t it be terrible to throw the president’s wife & the fmr secretary of state — think of it, the fmr secretary of state — but the president’s wife into #jail? … But they want to do it … So, you know, it’s a terrible, terrible path that they’re leading us to, & it’s very possible that it’s going to HAVE TO HAPPEN to them.”
#Trump has made #payback for opponents central to his campaign, at one point declaring to a crowd: “I am your #retribution.” In private, has told advisers & friends that he wants his #DOJ to investigate specific fmr aides & allies who are now critical of him. And he has promised to appoint a special prosecutor to scrutinize #Biden & his family.
The vote on the #RightToContraceptionAct was 51-39, falling short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a #filibuster & move forward. Republicans said the bill is unnecessary as the use of #BirthControl is protected under #SCOTUS precedent as if [#SupremeCourt precedent means anything anymore].
#Republicans Lisa #Murkowski of Alaska & #SusanCollins of Maine voted w/ #Democrats in support of the bill. #Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, switched his vote to “no” for procedural reasons so he could bring up the bill again at a later date.
#ClarenceThomas’s concurring opinion begins on page 117. On page 119 Thomas specifically states “in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process #precedents, including #Griswold, Lawrence, & Obergefell.”
#Democrats argue the bill is necessary because #SCOTUS cannot be trusted to uphold its #precedent on protecting the use of #contraceptives in the 1965 case #GriswoldVConnecticut. They note that when the court invalidated federal #AbortionRights in 2022, Justice #ClarenceThomas wrote separately saying that the court “should reconsider” other precedents like the #contraception case. And they cite a recent survey that found 1 in 5 Americans believe the right to contraception is under threat.
The GA Court of Appeals on Wed ordered a halt to the proceedings in the election interference case against Trump & 8 co-defendants pending the outcome of their appeal seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney #FaniWillis.