WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke with President-elect Donald Trump about a former law clerk the day before Trump went to the high court in a push to delay the sentencing in his New York hush-money case, the justice said Wednesday.
Alito said he took the call Tuesday afternoon from Trump at the request of his former law clerk, William Levi, to recommend him for a job in the upcoming administration. The two did not discuss the upcoming emergency motion, or any other court matters, Alito said.
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“I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,” he said in the statement. They also did not discuss any other matters that could come before the court in the future, the conservative justice said. Justices often recommend former clerks in high demand for top government and law firm jobs, but a direct call with a president appears unusual and comes as Trump has business before the court.
Levi served in the Justice Department during Trump’s first term as chief of staff to then-Attorney General Bill Barr. He clerked for Alito from 2011 to 2012.
Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan group Fix the Court, said the call was “an unmistakable breach of protocol.”
“No person, no matter who they are, should engage in out-of-court communication with a judge or justice who’s considering that person’s case,” he said in a statement.
A spokesman for Trump did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Carrie Severino, president of JCN, a conservative group that has boosted Trump's judicial nominees, said in a social media post that the call was a “manufactured ‘ethics’ scandal over a simple reference check” amplified to “smear” the justice.
Trump's attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to a hush-money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
His attorneys argue the sentencing could disrupt the presidential transition and would violate the Supreme Court's previous ruling on immunity for former presidents in another case against Trump. The court has not yet responded.
Alito faced calls to recuse himself from two major cases related to Trump last year after revelations that flags associated with Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 were previously seen flying outside of his homes. Alito said his wife had flown the flags and rejected the calls to step aside.
The Tuesday call was first reported by ABC News.