Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said Wednesday that he had talked with Donald Trump about a job for one of his former law clerks in the president-elect’s administration a day before Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the sentencing in his New York “hush money” case.
Alito said in a statement that the clerk, William Levi, had asked him to take a call from the president-elect “regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position.” The conservative justice also said that he and Trump “did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the President-elect.”
“We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,” Alito said.
Justices often recommend former clerks for top government and law firm jobs, but a direct call with a president appears unusual and comes as Trump has business before the court. Trump’s lawyers are asking the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He is currently scheduled to be sentenced Friday, and the judge in the case said he does not intend to sentence Trump to incarceration. He is also allowing him to appear virtually, instead of in person.
Trump’s attorneys argue the sentencing could disrupt the presidential transition and would violate the Supreme Court’s previous ruling on immunity for former presidents in another case against Trump. The court has not yet responded.
During Trump’s first term, Levi served as chief of staff to Attorney General Bill Barr. He was a law clerk for Alito from 2011 to 2012.
Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan group Fix the Court, called the phone call “an unmistakable breach of protocol.”
“No person, no matter who they are, should engage in out-of-court communication with a judge or justice who’s considering that person’s case,” he said in a statement.
A spokesman for Trump did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
But Carrie Severino, president of JCN, a conservative group that has boosted Trump’s judicial nominees, said in a social media post that the call was a “manufactured ‘ethics’ scandal over a simple reference check” amplified to “smear” the justice.
Alito faced calls to recuse himself from two major cases related to Trump last year after revelations that flags associated with Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were previously seen flying outside of his homes. Alito said his wife had flown the flags and rejected the calls to step aside.
The Tuesday call was first reported by ABC News.
