Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. received a call on his cell phone on Tuesday. It was President-elect Donald J. Trump, calling from Florida.
After hours, the legal team of Mr. Trump would ask Justice Alito and eight of his colleagues on the Supreme Court to block his conviction in New York for falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a sex film actor before the 2016 election. And the next day, the presence of the phone will be leaked on ABC news – causing an uproar about Mr.
Justice Alito said in a statement on Wednesday that the pending application never came up in his conversation with Mr. Trump and that he did not know, at the time of the call, that the Trump team was planning to include you. People familiar with the call confirmed his account.
But the fact of the whistleblowing and its timing defy any consideration of even the appearance of a conflict of interest at a time when the Supreme Court is under intense scrutiny for its judges' refusal to adopt a more stringent and enforceable code of ethics.
The circumstances were unusual for another reason: Justice Alito was being dragged into a personal effort by Trump's blackball Republican aides who were deemed insufficiently loyal to Mr. Anonymity to describe private conversations.
The call focused on William Levi, Justice Alito's former law clerk who appears to have strong legal credentials. But in the eyes of the Trump team, Mr. Levi has a black mark on his name. In the first term of the Trump administration, he served as chief of staff to Attorney General William P. Barr, who is now considered a “traitor” by Mr. .
Mr. Levi has been under consideration for several jobs in the new administration, including Pentagon general counsel. He also worked for the Trump administration on matters related to the Department of Justice. But his request to get a full position was blocked by the advisers of Mr. Trump is vetting staffers for credibility, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.
As Mr. As Trump wraps up his second administration, Mr. Barr is among a handful of prominent Republicans who are being watched for suspicions that some of their allies are simply thinking they will not be offered jobs in the administration, according to people familiar with the matter. Republicans in that category include Mr Trump's former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and his former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. Being called “Pompeo's man” or “Haley's man” is considered the kiss of death in Mr. Resistance to such people is usually overcome only when Mr. Trump himself signed the lease.
Tuesday's call happened later. Several people close to Trump's transition team said Thursday that it was their understanding that Justice Alito had requested the call. But a statement from Justice Alito put the issue to rest as the justice partially agreed to take the call at the behest of his former clerk.
The termination appeared to be from the role of Mr. This is about laying the foundation of the fence on both sides. It is not clear whether anyone in the reform group suggested that he pick up the phone.
Mr Levi did not respond to a request for comment. The Supreme Court's press office said it had nothing to add to the statement it issued to Justice Alito on Wednesday. In that statement, Justice Alito said that Mr. Levi “asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump about his qualifications for government office.” I agreed to discuss this issue with President-elect Trump, he called me yesterday afternoon.”
He added: “We did not discuss the urgent request that we filed today, and in fact I had no idea at the time of our discussion that such a request would be filed. We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or may come before the Supreme Court or any previous Supreme Court decisions affecting the president-elect.”
During the call, according to many people who were told about it, Mr. Trump initially seemed confused as to why he was talking to Justice Alito, apparently thinking he was returning Justice Alito's phone call. Justice, two of these people said, told the president-elect that he understood that Mr. Trump wanted to talk about Mr. Levi, and Mr.
The spokesperson of Mr. Trump did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Although it is rare for an incoming president to address the Supreme Court on a job reference, it is customary for justices to serve as references for their former clerks. Traditionally, judges treat their clerks as a network of protégés who seek to promote their continued success as part of their legacies.
Seemingly or not, there is a long history of cooperation between the president and other top executive branch officials and Supreme Court justices who sometimes have a say in the outcome of administration policies.
In 2004, controversy erupted when a lawsuit sought disclosure of records about meetings of Vice President Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force. One of the defendants, the Sierra Club, asked Justice Antonin Scalia to withdraw from the case because he had just gone out with Mr. Cheney went duck hunting. Justice Scalia refused, issuing a 21-page memorandum explaining why he believed the recusal was improper.
Part of Justice Scalia's argument was that Mr. Cheney was accused of legal action. That made the effort of Mr. Trump, who is waiting to block his conviction on the charges found with his secret crimes, is somewhat different, although the basis of Mr. perform his official duties.
Trying to justify his decision not to withdraw, Justice Scalia noted that the justices have had personal friendships with presidents over the years, including some who played poker with Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman but did not withdraw the cases against them. policies and management actions.
Mr. Trump has long sought to pressure the Supreme Court, in part by publicly criticizing justices on social media for decisions he disagreed with. Mr. Trump has often privately complained that the three justices he appointed in his first term — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — “did nothing” for him, according to a person who spoke to Mr.
One week after the 2018 midterm elections, Mr. Trump and first lady Melania Trump had lunch with Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia Thomas. Mrs. Thomas, a longtime civil rights activist, made suggestions about the labor movement to Mr. Trump also later supported his efforts to try to change the results of the 2020 election.
In December 2020, Mr. Trump attacked the Supreme Court as “ineffective and weak” for refusing to deal with his legal team's efforts to challenge the 2020 election. Two years later, he stormed the court again by giving Congress access to his taxes.
The Supreme Court acquitted himself in the eyes of Mr. Trump last summer when six Republican-appointed judges ruled that former presidents are immune from prosecution for their official actions. That decision casts doubt on how many charges Mr. Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election could survive a trial — even after prosecutors filed a revised version of the court's ruling.
The intervention of the Supreme Court also greatly delayed the proceedings, making it impossible to bring the cases to the tribunal before the elections. And when Trump won the 2024 race, he could no longer face prosecution under the Justice Department's policy.
Kirsten Noyes contributed research in New York.
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