'Outright lying': Alito neighbor says timeline 'disproves' justice’s account of upside-down flag
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has tried to distance himself from the upside-down flag that, according to bombshell reporting from the New York Times' Jodi Kantor, was hanging outside his home in Alexandria, Virginia on January 17, 2021 — only 11 days after Donald Trump supporters violently attacked the U.S. Capitol Building.
The George W. Bush appointee has claimed that the flag, which Trump supporters adopted as a symbol of the "Stop the Steal" movement, was placed there by his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, after she got into a heated argument with a neighbor. And he has maintained that he had nothing to do with the flag's presence outside his home.
But during a Wednesday, June 5 appearance on CNN, a former neighbor of the Alitos is disputing the justice's account of what happened.
READ MORE: How the 'virus of Trumpism' is corrupting the Supreme Court and Congress: analysis
Emily Baden, the ex-neighbor, told CNN's Erin Burnett, "At best, he's mistaken, but at worst, he's just outright lying. Even if it were a valid excuse that they were having a dispute with a neighbor and that made them put the flag up, that timeline just disproves it. It just doesn't make sense."
According to Baden, the argument involving Martha-Ann Alito didn't occur until mid-February 2021 — which would have been roughly a month after January 17 of that year.
Baden told Burnett that Justice Alito "didn't do anything" when she was arguing with his wife.
"He just kept walking and basically disappeared," Baden recalled.
READ MORE: Lindsey Graham slams Samuel Alito: 'You are still a Supreme Court justice'
Baden reportedly called Martha-Ann Alito a c*** during the argument, and she told Burnett she regrets using profanity because it "distracts from that real message."
The New York Times has also reported that during the Summer of 2023, an "Appeal to Heaven" flag was hanging outside of Justice Alito's beachfront home on the New Jersey Shore. That flag, in recent years, has been adopted as a symbol of the "Stop the Steal" movement as well as far-right Christian nationalism.
But despite the two flag-related controversies, Justice Alito has been drawing widespread criticism for refusing to recuse himself from cases that are relevant to January 6, 2021 and Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
READ MORE: Alito's partisan behavior 'casts a dark shadow on the entire Supreme Court': legal expert
Watch the full CNN video below or at this link.
'At worst he's outright lying': Alito ex-neighbor at center of flag dispute speaks out www.youtube.com
