‘Contemptuous’: Top constitutional scholar warns Alito he's ‘close to treason’
Laurence Tribe, a top constitutional expert, is suggesting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's actions may be "close to treason," after the jurist flew flags associated with the January 6 insurrection and the far-right Christian nationalist movement at two of his homes.
Professor Tribe alleged Justice Alito may have committed impeachable offenses, including "giving aid and comfort to an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States, which is close to treason," he said in his Wednesday interview on the MeidasTouch Network (video below). He also called for a "serious investigation" by the U.S. Senate into Alito, who "has been contemptuous for quite a while." He added, "it's about time that he be held to account."
Justice Alito "serves not for life but during good behavior. That’s the language of the Constitution. It is settled that any judge or justice who commits high crimes and misdemeanors, and that certainly includes giving aid and comfort to an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States, which is close to treason, that any such person is subject to impeachment by the House of Representatives," declared Tribe, University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, a professor of law, and author of a major textbook on the U.S. Constitution.
READ MORE: Why Alito’s ‘Stop the Steal’ Flag Story Just Fell Apart
"Obviously, this House of Representatives is not going to impeach Samuel Alito," he continued.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Christian nationalist, has the same flag Alito flew at his New Jersey home outside his congressional office.
The GOP-led House "is very much in league with Donald Trump. He controls Mike Johnson, but he's subject to impeachment and then trial in the Senate. The very fact that the House of Representatives will not do its duty is not an excuse for the Senate, not to at least initiate a serious investigation into whether impeachable offenses have been committed. And in any event, whether an enforceable meaningfully enforceable code of ethics, enforceable by an Inspector General, whether that should be enacted. That's something within the Senate's purview as well."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) is under increasing pressure to hold hearings into Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas, and to pass legislation to reform the Supreme Court.
"To have that kind of investigation without Samuel Alito being called to testify – and if you won't testify, voluntarily being subpoenaed – is like playing Hamlet without the prince. He is, in this scenario, the prince, perhaps the Prince of Darkness, he needs to be heard from. He needs to be asked what he meant by allowing that symbol of sympathy with insurrectionists to fly in front of his home. It's not enough for him to say casually to the Fox News Service, 'Oh, that was just my wife responding to nasty comments about FU to Trump and to us by our neighbors.' As far as I can tell, it seems that his defense for unethical behavior and worse, for expressing aid and comfort to an insurrection against the Constitution is that his neighbors were exercising their First Amendment rights in a way that he thought was not going to be nice for his children."
READ MORE: ‘Going for the Jugular’: Legal Scholar Warns ‘Trumpers’ Want to End Major Civil Right
"Let him do it under oath," Tribe continued, "and if he refuses to show up, in response to a subpoena claiming some new kind of judicial privilege, it doesn't exist. He could be held in contempt, and should be. He has been contemptuous for quite a while, it's about time that he be held to account."
Watch below or at this link.
Laurence Tribe: Alito serves not for life but during good behavior. That’s the language of the constitution. It is settled that any judge or justice that commits high crimes and misdemeanors, that certainly includes giving aid and comfort to an insurrection against the… pic.twitter.com/JBwWYSaa2i
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 23, 2024