In a new development, a petition that was created to facilitate the removal of a Supreme Court judge has now gained traction. The petition began after it was revealed that the judge had collected gifts from a billionaire, despite the latter legal woes.
Samuel Alito, a Supreme Court Justice, was discovered to have received some gifts from Paul Singer, a conservative billionaire. The discovery was announced by ProPublica, a non-profit media outlet, in June 2023. Subsequently, in July 2023, a petition for his impeachment was created, gathering almost 50,000 signatures in the first few months.
On May 30, 2024, it was announced that the petition had now accumulated over 75,000 signatures. The participants, through their signatures, believe that Alito should be removed from his roles for accepting the fights he failed to disclose.
According to reports from ProPublica, it was discovered that in July 2008, Alito followed Singer on a luxury fishing trip. The duo had arrived in Alaska on Singer’s private jet to the event which was hosted by another conservative businessman. A fact that was confirmed by a picture Alito had taken at the location around the same time as the trip.
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Further investigation showed that not only had Alito accepted the gifts, he never declared them. Additionally, during Singer’s legal proceedings at the Supreme Court, Alito did not excuse himself from the trial. Consequently, during the verdicts, Alito voted in favor of Singer alongside the majority in a vote that ended 7-1.
Upon evaluation, it was discovered that had Alito booked the private flight himself, it would have cost $100,000 one way. Additionally, the hotel in which they stayed charged $1000 per night. Amid concerns of bias, Alito was urged to be removed from the 2020 election and January 6 cases.
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People have increased their participation in the petition after it was discovered that in January 2021, Alito had displayed an inverted flag. In 2021, an inverted flag symbolized the “Stop the Steal” campaign, falsely claiming the 2020 election was illegitimate. Although most signee do not refer to the inverted flag controversy, instead they talk about being angry in general.
Alito stated in his defense, which was released by the Wall Street Journal. In his statement, he claimed that he had only met Singer on a few occasions, and their conversations were usually short and casual. He claims that except for the fishing trip in 2008, he had never met with the singer in any private location.
He further claimed that he and Singer had never discussed case or trials apart from in court. Additionally he asserted that they have discussed about Singer business operations before. Alito stated that singer only allowed him tag along to Alaska in an otherwise empty seat.
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Speaking on his possible impeachment, he said, that he believed that none of these circumstances had any effect on his verdicts. He had said that his wife had been called “the c-word” in an argument with left-leaning neighbors who had displayed anti-Donald Trump placards in their yard.
However, it was discovered that the flag was hung in that manner before the January 6 event, as confirmed by authorities.
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