On Wednesday, CNN’s Laura Coates referred to the “Appeal to Heaven” flag flown outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito as controversial and questioned his legitimacy in overseeing important election cases. Despite the fact that the “Appeal to Heaven” flag symbolized the unyielding pursuit of liberty and justice, Coates asks former FBI attorney Andrew Weissmann if Alito should be involved in cases such as Trump’s presidential immunity claim or other January 6th cases.
According to a New York Times report, Justice Alito was seen flying the “Appeal to Heaven” flag outside his home last year which Coates described as a “controversial” flag. The flag dated back to before the American Revolution and symbolized the growing anger of the colonists who were not willing to give their freedom away to the oppressive English Monarch. The flag today symbolizes that the American people’s journey should be towards a more perfect union.
Although this flag stands for many American values, Coates rather associated this flag with rioters. She downplayed the history of the flag she states “But it has been carried by rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.”
The Appeal to Heaven flag was carried in the protest that occurred but was among other flags such as the American flag. The American flag, flown by many Americans including Alito, should also be associated with the January 6 protest.
When Coates asked Weissmann if Alito should be overseeing important cases, Weissmann answered:
The idea that he sat on the decision to decide whether the president should be disqualified because he was an insurrectionist, should he be disqualified from being on the ballot again, that is a decision that you would think he might have to recuse himself on.
In May of this year, the decision to include former President Trump on the ballot was unanimous by all of the Supreme Court Justices. Excluding Alito from being involved in this case would not have changed the outcome of Trump being on the presidential ballot.
He completely ignored the history of the flag and asserted that flying it was only about January 6:
And if you think back to what those flags mean at the time, as you reported, this is about flying that flag just shortly after the January 6th insurrection. We all can remember our reaction to what was going on, particularly if you were in Washington, D.C. But I think for the nation, it was shocking and horrifying.
And not only was he flying a flag that was a symbol used during that insurrection, but his sort of claim that it was something that was okay to do because it was retaliation for a sign that was sort of against Trump that his neighbor was flying.
Weissmann stated that a justice flying this flag had an “appearance of impropriety” and decried that there was “no system to hold him to account so that he isn't sitting on cases where there's an appearance of impropriety.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN Laura Coates
5/23/2024
11:20:59-11:24:25
[ON SCREEN HEADLINE: Second Provocative Flag Spotted Outside Alito Property]
LAURA COATESCOATES: So tonight, another controversial flag spotted outside of a Supreme Court justice's property. Again, Samuel Alito. The New York Times for a second time uncovering the photos. But this time, it was the "Appeal to Heaven" flag that was flying outside his vacation home in Jersey. Now, that flag has a long history dating back to the Revolutionary War. But it has been carried by rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.
Now, Alito, he previously pointed fingers at his wife for raising the upside-down U.S. flag, a "Stop the Steal" symbol, at his Virginia home during a clash with a neighbor, notably just three days before Biden's inauguration. Now, one might wonder who was responsible this time.
Well, joining us now, senior prosecutor to Robert Mueller Special Counsel Investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and also the co-author of The Trump Indictments, Andrew Weissmann. Andrew, so good to have you on. Thanks for stopping by today.
You know, when you hear about the Supreme Court justices and yet another controversial issue like this, does it raise questions for you about the fact that he is sitting and overseeing important cases like, I don't know, Trump's presidential immunity claim or other January 6th cases?
ANDREW WEISSMANN (FORMER FBI ATTORNEY): Absolutely. The idea that he sat on the decision to decide whether the president should be disqualified because he was an insurrectionist, should he be disqualified from being on the ballot again, that is a decision that you would think he might have to recuse himself on.
But even more important is the point that you're making, which is that he has just heard in his sitting on a case deciding the issue of presidential immunity. And if you think back to what those flags mean at the time, as you reported, this is about flying that flag just shortly after the January 6th insurrection. We all can remember our reaction to what was going on, particularly if you were in Washington, D.C. But I think for the nation, it was shocking and horrifying.
And not only was he flying a flag that was a symbol used during that insurrection, but his sort of claim that it was something that was okay to do because it was retaliation for a sign that was sort of against Trump that his neighbor was flying. So, his neighbor has a First Amendment right to fly that, and so a sitting Supreme Court justice has on his lawn. And I don't buy that sort of like "my wife did it" defense when it's on his own front lawn.
To me, the issue is it's an appearance of impropriety. And there really is, unfortunately, right now, there is no system to hold him to account so that he isn't sitting on cases where there's an appearance of impropriety.
COATES: I mean, he does have life tenure, much like federal court judges do, the other Article III judges. But there is a difference in the way in which one has this code of ethics and guidelines that do require a certain behavior compared to really, it's good to be the king when it comes to the Supreme Court.
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