Justice Alito makes 'rare' move in phone call with Trump: report

Image via Free Malaysia Today/Creative Commons.
Maya Boddie
January 08, 2025Frontpage news and politics

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito last year was found to have flown two flags outside of his properties — both of which Donald Trump supporters have used to symbolize their support for the president-elect's "Stop the Steal" campaign.

As a result, critics of the justice urged Alito to recuse himself from all Trump-related cases — which he refused to do.

Now, ABC News exclusively reports that Alito and the president-elect spoke on the phone Wednesday about a possible staffer in the second MAGA administration.

READ MORE: Justice Alito has bad news for right-wings’ plan to enshrine Supreme Court control

The right-wing justice recommended William Levi, "one of his former law clerks" to take up a role on the Trump team, ABC reports.

Alito told the news outlet that Levi "asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position."

He added, "I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon."

Per ABC, "It is not unusual for a sitting justice to offer a job recommendation for a former clerk, but it is rare, court analysts said, for a justice to have such a conversation directly with a sitting president or president-elect, especially one with an active stake in business pending before the court."

READ MORE: Alito leaving SCOTUS 'out on a limb' with 'puzzling' judicial approach: legal experts

ABC News' full report is available here.