The Washington Post revealed Saturday that the outlet initially passed over the Samuel Alito flag story in 2021 after its former Supreme Court reporter had a confrontation with the judge's wife.
“The Post decided not to report on the episode at the time because the flag-raising appeared to be the work of Martha-Ann Alito, rather than justice, and was related to a dispute with her neighbors,” the Washington Post report said. . quoting a spokesperson for the newspaper. “It wasn't clear then that the argument had its roots in politics.”
Former Washington Post Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes went to the Alitos' home in 2021 after receiving a tip about the flag. According to the outlet, Alito's wife, Martha-Ann, shouted, “It's an international distress signal” after being investigated by the flag reporter.
An inverted American flag, a symbol used by the former president's supporters who falsely claim that President Biden did not win the 2020 election, was seen flying at Alito's home in the weeks after the Jan. 6 riot, it was first reported. The New York Times last year. week.
The Washington Post revealed Saturday that it overlooked Justice Alito's flag story in 2021. (Left: (Photo by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images), right: (Photo by Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post via Getty Images))
ALITO SAYS HIS WIFE SHOWED THE FLAG BACKWARDS AFTER AN ARGUMENT WITH AN INSULTING NEIGHBOR
Alito previously told Fox News that his wife was the one who hung the flag in response to insults from a neighbor.
Cameron Barr, former senior editor-in-chief, took responsibility for not publishing the story at the time, according to Semafor.
“I agree with [Supreme Court reporter] “Bob Barnes and others that we shouldn't do a single story about the flag, because it seemed like the story was about Martha-Ann Alito and not her husband,” Barr told the outlet.
Semafor called the decision “cautious and deferential, and long before Dobbs,” suggesting it meant more now after the Supreme Court's conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade.
“It's hard to imagine now,” the outlet wrote.
Members of the media and prominent Democratic lawmakers are calling on Alito to recuse himself from all court cases involving Donald Trump. Conservatives have said the story is much ado about nothing and is part of a broader effort to delegitimize the Supreme Court.
FILE – Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr., left, and his wife Martha-Ann Alito, pay their respects at the casket of the Rev. Billy Graham in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martínez Monsiváis, File)
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“In hindsight, I should have pushed harder for that story,” Barr told Semafor.
Alito's wife reportedly told the Washington Post reporter to ask her neighbors what they were doing and told the reporter to get off her property.
Another symbol carried by Trump supporters, an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, was seen flying at a beach house owned by Alito in New Jersey, the New York Times reported days after its initial report. The flag, also known as the Pine Flag, dates back to the War of Independence.
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