Conservative columnist slams Senate Dems for 'doing nothing' to hold Alito accountable

25 May 2024

Senate Democrats aren't doing enough in response to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's displaying of insurrectionist symbols, according to a conservative columnist for the Washington Post.

Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that the George W. Bush-appointed justice displayed the "Appeal to Heaven" flag — also known as the Pine Tree flag — outside of his vacation home in Long Beach Township, New Jersey between July and September of last year. That flag was seen prominently during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol along with the upside-down American flag, which Alito also flew outside of his Alexandria, Virginia home the week of President Joe Biden's inauguration.

During a recent appearance on MSNBC, columnist Jennifer Rubin said she's so far been disappointed in the tepid response from Senate Democrats, who control the chamber and its committees. She said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) has the power to do far more than he's currently done, and urged him to use the full power of his committee to investigate Alito.

The problem also resides with people like Senator Durbin, who makes a tweet, who writes a letter saying, 'please recuse yourself' or 'will you come and have a meeting,' he actually has power," Rubin said. "He has the power of the gavel. He could call a hearing. He could demand Alito appear. He could call experts on judicial ethics. And he could put his bill that he's been working for over a year on a mandatory set of ethics for the Supreme Court, he could demand it go to the floor. He's doing nothing."

"In this case, there's a direct responsibility from another branch, which right now is half controlled by Republicans, half controlled by Democrats, and the Democrats in the Senate are abrogating their responsibility," she added.

Both Sen. Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) recently sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, asking him to meet with them privately in order to discuss Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas. Whitehouse told MSNBC on Friday that the justices have "gone completely rogue" and that Roberts needs to account for how he plans to address the controversies regarding Alito's flags and Thomas' numerous failures to disclose large gifts and luxury trips from far-right billionaire benefactors.

"You just can't put up with that. You wouldn't put up with that in any agency," Whitehouse said. "My God, how about the United States Supreme Court?"

Both Durbin and Whitehouse have called on Alito to recuse himself from cases relating to the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 insurrection. However, no Democrats have so far called for Alito's resignation. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) has put forth a motion in the Republican-controlled House to censure him, but House Speaker Mike. Johnson (R-Louisiana) has the power to prevent that legislation from coming to the floor.

“He’s not going to resign, he’s not going to recuse himself, and I don’t think Justice Roberts is going to be able to influence him in that regard,” Cohen told the New York Times earlier this week. “So the best we can do is to kind of put a scarlet letter on him.”

Watch Rubin's segment below, or by clicking this link.

From Your Site Articles