John,

During Justice Samuel Alito’s confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court in January 2006, he committed to holding himself to an even higher standard for recusals than the judicial code of conduct required, claimed he would be an impartial judge with no ideological agenda and repeatedly asserted that the president is not above the law.

Justice Alito has not abided by his own commitments.

Alito has failed to recuse from cases about presidential immunity and accountability for the January 6th insurrection despite flying flags associated with the insurrection and the “Stop the Steal” movement at his houses. This raises serious concerns about his impartiality—and it’s only adding to the ethics crisis on the Supreme Court and plummeting faith in the institution.

So, here’s what went down during his confirmation hearing:

Alito faced scrutiny for his initial failure to recuse from a case against the financial company Vanguard while serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, despite holding at least $390,000 in Vanguard funds. Alito maintained that his failure to recuse was a mistake that he later remedied, and that ruling in the case did not actually violate judicial ethics rules.

When asked about the case by Senator Orrin Hatch, Alito said, “I not only complied with the ethical rules that are binding on Federal judges—and they’re very strict—but also that I did what I have tried to do throughout my career as a judge, and that is to go beyond the letter of the ethics rules and to avoid any situation where there might be an ethical question raised.”

When pressed further by Senator Russ Feingold, Alito said he would not commit to recusing from all Vanguard cases going forward, but, “I will very strictly comply with the ethical obligations that apply to Supreme Court Justices.”

John, when it comes to cases regarding January 6th – and considering Alito’s insurrection-related flags, it’s clear that Alito has fallen short of his commitments.

As he considers whether Trump has legal immunity for January 6th, we also need to remind him of his past statements:

During questioning by Senator Patrick Leahy about whether presidents can authorize the use of torture, Alito said, “I think the first thing that has to be said is what I said yesterday, and that is that no person in this country is above the law, and that includes the president and it includes the Supreme Court.”

John, if Alito were to follow through on what he’s said in the past – that no one is above the law, not even the president – then he would have to agree that Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution.

If you agree, we need your support in this fight. CREW is working to hold Justice Alito accountable to both the law and his own public statements. And we’re also demanding judicial ethics reform. But it’s a big fight, and we can’t do it without a grassroots team behind us.