Analysis: Samuel Alito, caught on tape, reinforces why people are skeptical of the Supreme Court
CNN
The religious zeal reflected in surreptitious recordings has long been evident in Alito’s public statements and written opinions.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito really wasn’t caught. The religious zeal reflected in the surreptitious recordings made public this week has long been evident in Alito’s statements and written opinions. But his remarks, captured secretly by a liberal activist presenting herself as a conservative Catholic, reinforce the pretense regarding any neutrality. Alito was notably cavalier about his views at a moment when he already faces public scrutiny over the provocative flags flown at his homes. And as much as Alito’s new comments reflected his broader approach to the law, they also stood in contrast to Chief Justice John Roberts’ measured response when he was similarly baited at the Supreme Court Historical Society gala dinner last week. An overriding question as the justices near the end of the 2023-24 session is how Alito’s attitudes will manifest themselves in rulings, including those that could affect the presidential election. Even before the latest revelations on Monday, tensions behind the scenes were high and relationships among the justices were frayed. To reach majority decisions, the justices must work toward compromise, even as extracurricular ethical issues cause strains and drive them apart. The new recordings also reveal conversations with the justice’s wife, Martha-Ann Alito. She is heard defiantly speaking of the flags hoisted at the Alito family homes, a subject of controversy because some of former President Donald Trump’s backers and the “Stop the Steal” campaign have flown such flags, including at the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.
Speaker Mike Johnson is a political survivor, weathering crisis after crisis since his unlikely ascent two years ago.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan are well matched, rhetorically forceful opposites. And they have been clashing for more than a decade over an increasingly relevant question of presidential power: How easy should it be for the president to fire the heads of independent agencies?
The Army gynecologist described in a recent lawsuit as a “predator in uniform” is now being held in the Bell County Jail in Texas, “after apparently violating conditions of liberty imposed by his commander,” according to an Army spokesperson.
Brian Walshe on Thursday came face-to-face for the first time with the man who had been having an affair with his wife before her death, as he took the stand to testify in Walshe’s murder trial.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use a congressional map that will boost President Donald Trump’s effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress, blocking a lower court decision that found the new boundaries were likely unconstitutional because they were drawn based on race.
The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.
A grand jury voted against indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, according to multiple people familiar with the development Thursday.
National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bad week just got worse. That’s after the long-awaited release Thursday of an inspector general’s report on his sharing of highly sensitive military attack plans on the unclassified app Signal earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
If nothing else, the controversy over the Trump administration’s second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has surfaced a long-overdue debate about its already legally dubious first strikes.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.