Justice Samuel Alito flatly rejected on Friday a request by Senate Democrats to recuse himself from future Supreme Court seats, calling the claim invalid.
In an Aug. 3 letter, Democrats led by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois asked Chief Justice John Roberts to “take appropriate steps” to ensure Alito recuses himself from Moore v. United States. did. The request was made after Alito gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal with opinion journalist David B. Rivkin, his attorney in the case.
“This argument is unwarranted,” Alito wrote in an unusual statement added to the list of Supreme Court orders. “In this case, there is no valid reason for my resignation.”
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Mr. Alito and other members of the court for failing to adopt ethics rules following reports that Mr. Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas had gone on undisclosed paid trips. I’ve been criticizing it. The commission approved the court’s ethics code on a party-line vote, but it is unlikely to become law.
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Associate Justice Samuel Alito joins other Supreme Court officials as they pose for a new group portrait at the Supreme Court building in Washington on October 7, 2022. Alito renewed his tensions over ethics issues on Friday, September 8, 2023, when he rejected a request from Senate Democrats to recuse himself from future Supreme Court justices because of his interactions with one of his lawyers. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
In an August letter, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee asked that Mr. Alito be removed from the tax case, which will be heard this fall.
Lawmakers argued that Alito himself sat for four hours in an interview on the Wall Street Journal’s opinion page with the paper’s editor and David Rivkin, one of the couple’s lawyers filing the lawsuit. , complained that it cast doubt on its ability to judge cases fairly. tax bill. Mr. Rivkin also represents Leonard Leo, the former leader of the conservative legal group Federalist Society, in negotiations with Senate Democrats seeking details of Mr. Leo’s involvement with the judge. Serving as a person. Leo helped Alito arrange his private trip to Alaska in 2008.
In one of two articles produced from the interview, Alito said Congress has no “power” to regulate the Supreme Court.
“I know this is a controversial view, but I’m happy to say it. Nothing in the Constitution gives us the power to regulate the Supreme Court,” Alito said.
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![Samuel Alito and Dick Durbin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/08/1200/675/611fc34c-Alito-Durbin.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Sen. Richard “Dick” Durbin (D-Ill.) (Getty Images)
In a statement, Mr. Durbin accused Mr. Alito of undermining public trust in the Supreme Court.
“No one should be surprised that Justice Alito, an originalist who believes that an empty seat on a plane doesn’t count as a gift, would take on a case involving a lawyer who praised him in a puff article in the Wall Street Journal. Why? Are we going to do something like this? Are the justices going to continue to carry a wrecking ball that continues to discredit the highest court in this country?” Durbin said.
“The court is in a self-inflicted crisis, and Justice Alito and the rest of the court should do everything in their power to restore the public’s trust, not the other way around.” “This is further evidence that the SCERT Act remains unsustainable and would require Congress to pass the SCERT Act to create an enforceable code of conduct. “They should adhere to the highest ethical standards,” he added.
In a written response to Durbin’s request, Alito said the Democratic theory “fundamentally misunderstands the context in which Supreme Court justices must work.”
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![United States Supreme Court (front row left and right) Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, (back row left and right) Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett , Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson pose for official portraits.](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/03/1200/675/united-states-supreme-court-justices-portrait.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
United States Supreme Court (front row left and right) Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, (back row left and right) Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett , Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson pose for an official portrait in the East Chamber of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“We have no control over the attorneys a party chooses to represent us. As a result, we frequently receive lawsuits in which one of our attorneys has made favorable or unfavorable statements about our work or character. Similarly, we regularly receive briefings submitted that support or oppose our approval, or that comment favorably or unfavorably about us or our activities. by or on behalf of any member of Congress who did so,” Alito wrote.
He added: “We participate in cases where one or more of the attorneys is a former law clerk, a former colleague, or a long-time acquaintance. When we recuse in such cases, we typically have a case in which we “The compensation you receive will be less than usual.” Full courtrooms would effectively disrupt and distort court operations. ”
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“In all of the above cases, we must put out of our minds any comments, favorable or unfavorable, or personal connections to the lawyer, and decide the case solely on the law and the facts. It’s what we do,” he concluded. .
“For these reasons, there is no valid reason for my resignation in this case, and I decline to do so in accordance with my duty to sit.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.