Justice Alito says he spoke with Trump the day before the former clerk’s deposition
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump the day before Trump appeared in court but said they did not discuss an emergency motion the former president’s legal team was planning to file to delay the sentencing.
Alito told Fox News’ Shannon Bream that he was asked if he would accept a call from Trump about the position being considered by his former secretary, William Levi, and praised Levi’s “outstanding resume.”
“William Levi, one of my law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump about his qualifications for public office. I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon,” Alito said.
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Associate Justice Samuel Alito joins other members of the Supreme Court as he takes on a new team image in October 2022. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Alito said he did not speak to Trump about the emergency request, and “did not even know at the time of our conversation that such a request would be filed.”
“And we have not discussed any other matter that is pending or may come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions that affect the President-elect,” Alito said.
Alito told Fox News that he was often asked to provide recommendations to potential employers of former clerks and that it was a common practice.
Levi previously worked at the Justice Department during the President-elect’s first term and again for Alito from 2011 to 2012.
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President-elect Trump meets with lawmakers. (Getty Images)
Alito, speaking with Trump the day before Trump’s appearance at the Supreme Court on his New York money laundering case, is causing some to call him out, saying the conversation is “a clear violation of the treaty.”
“No one, no matter who they are, should have contact outside of court with a judge or jury hearing that person’s case,” Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan organization Fix the Court, said in a statement.
Alito said he did not know there was an emergency motion being prepared by Trump’s legal team regarding the New York State case, and there was no discussion about it.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. during an official group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He confirmed to Fox News that the call was only about Levi, and that there was no discussion of any matter related to Trump’s legal case – past, present or future.
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He also said that there is no discussion about any issue that is in the Court or may come before the Court.
ABC News was the first to report the Trump-Alito call.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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