The Washington Post revealed Saturday that the paper did not initially cover a story about Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on the flag in 2021 because a former reporter for the Supreme Court had a feud with the justice’s wife over the issue.
“The Post decided not to report on the incident at the time because the flag-raising appeared to be the work of Martha Ann Alito, not the judge, and because it had to do with a dispute with a neighbor.” Washington Post report It quoted a spokesman for the paper saying: “It was not clear at the time whether the discussion was politically rooted.”
Robert Burns, a former Supreme Court reporter for The Washington Post, visited the Alitos’ home in 2021 after being provided with information about the flag. According to the Post, Alito’s wife, Martha Ann, shouted “It’s an international distress signal” after being asked about the flag by a reporter.
An upside-down American flag, a symbol used by supporters of the former president who falsely claim Biden did not win the 2020 election, was displayed at Alito’s home in the weeks after the Jan. 6 riot. First reported by The New York Times last week.
Alito previously told Fox News that it was his wife who put up the flag in response to insults from neighbors.
Former editor-in-chief Cameron Barr accepted responsibility for not publishing the story at the time. According to Semaphore.
“I [Supreme Court reporter] “Bob Burns and other reporters argued that we shouldn’t write a front-page story about the flag because it seemed to be about Martha Ann Alito and not about her husband,” Barr told the outlet.
Semaphore called the decision “careful and respectful and very pre-Dobbs” and suggested it takes on even more meaning now that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has overturned Roe v. Wade.
“It’s unimaginable now,” the outlet wrote.
Media Top Democrats have called on Justice Alito to recuse himself from all Supreme Court cases related to Donald Trump, a move conservatives say is bluster and part of a broader effort to delegitimize the court.
“In retrospect, I should have been more forceful in that article,” Barr told Semaphore.
Alito’s wife reportedly instructed a Washington Post reporter to ask the neighbor what he had done and told the reporter to leave the property.
An “Appeal to Heaven” flag, another symbol used by Trump supporters, was seen flying at Alito’s New Jersey beach house. The New York Times reported. A few days after the initial report. Also known as the Pine Tree Flag, the flag dates back to the Revolutionary War.
