White House jabs conservative Justice Alito's upside down American flag stunt, says Biden always treats 'sacred' flag with respect

The White House on Friday jabbed at the fact that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had an upside-down American flag flying outside his home, saying President Joe Biden treats the flag with respect.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president believes 'the American flag is sacred, and we should be respecting that flag.' 

The inverted flag, which symbolizes MAGA's 'Stop The Steal' campaign, flew outside Alito's home in 2021 as the Supreme Court weighed a 2020 election case.  It has been used as a sign of support for former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.   

But Jean-Pierre declined to weigh in on the whether or not Alito should recuse himself from any current election-related cases even after some court experts said it calls Alito's impartiality into question.

'I do not want to get into the business of the specific actions that at that Supreme Court justices, if they should recuse themselves or not,' she said at her daily press briefing.  'That is something for the court more broadly, they have to make that decision. That is something that we're not going to step into.'

The White House said President Joe Biden treats the American flag with respect

A photo shows the upside-down flag flying outside the Justice's home in Alexandria, Va, on January 17 2021, days after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, according to a new report in The New York Times.

Dozens of the rioters on January 6 carried similarly inverted flags and chanted slogans like 'Stop the Steal.'

The report raises concerns about Alito's impartiality as the Supreme Court considers two major cases related to the attack, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.

Alito blamed his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, for flying the flag.

He told Fox News that a neighbor had posted a sign saying 'F*** Trump' near a school bus stop and then a sign attacking his wife. On a walk, the justice said, the Alitos got into an argument with the neighbor, who used the term 'c**t' at one point. His wife then flew the inverted flag. 

Alito told Fox News he had no role in the flag decision, and it was flying outside their property only 'for a short time.' 

An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former President Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021

'I do not want to get into the business of the specific actions that at that Supreme Court justices, if they should recuse themselves or not,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her daily press briefing.

Judicial experts said the flag outside Alito's home clearly violates ethics rules set to avoid even the appearance of bias. 

Democrat Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, 'Flying an upside-down American flag - a symbol of the so-called 'Stop the Steal' movement - clearly creates the appearance of bias.'

Durbin said Alito should recuse from two cases currently pending before the Supreme Court that involve the 2020 election.

The first one is Trump's bid for immunity from prosecution on federal criminal charges for trying to reverse his 2020 defeat. 

The second one case involves a challenge by a Pennsylvania man to a federal criminal charge of obstruction that he faces for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. 

The case has implications for Trump, who faces the same charge in the election-related criminal case brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

'The court is in an ethical crisis of its own making, and Justice Alito and the rest of the court should be doing everything in their power to regain public trust,' Durbin said.

At the time the flag was flying outside Alito's home, the court was still considering whether to take up cases over the 2020 election. 

It ultimately rejected them over dissent from three conservative justices, including Alito, who was appointed to the court by Republican President George W. Bush. 

He wrote that the court's consideration of the cases would have no impact on the 2020 election but 'would provide invaluable guidance for future elections.'

Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. 

The inverted flag (file photo) has been used as a sign of support for former President Donald Trump 's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him

The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The code lacks a means of enforcement, however.

Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia, told the New York Times that flying the flag upside down is 'the equivalent of putting a `Stop the Steal´ sign in your yard, which is a problem if you´re deciding election-related cases.'

Even if it was placed by his spouse or someone else living in the home, 'he shouldn´t have it in his yard as his message to the world,' she said.

The Supreme Court has warned its own employees about public displays indicating partisan leanings, the newspaper reported. The court did not respond to questions about whether those rules apply to justices.

The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down 'except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.' 

It has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades. It took off as a symbol of Trump's 'Stop the Steal' campaign as he spread false claims that the election he lost to President Joe Biden had been stolen.

The controversy around Alito comes as another conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, has ignored calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election over his wife, Ginni Thomas´, support for Trump and as public trust in the Supreme Court is at its lowest point in at least 50 years.