Samuel Alito’s flag claims debunked

Samuel Alito’s claims that his wife flew an upside-down U.S. flag outside their home in response to a clash with neighbors has been brought into question.

The Supreme Court Justice came under fire earlier this month following reports that the inverted flag was flown from his house in January 2021 after it had become the symbol of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, which aimed to overturn Joe Biden‘s 2020 election win.

Justice Alito told The New York Times that he had “no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” saying his wife “briefly” put up the inverted flag “in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

Martha-Ann Alito, Justice Alito’s wife, reportedly hung the flag upside down after she was “distraught” over words exchanged with her neighbors, including vulgar insults such as “the c-word”, according to Fox News journalist Shannon Bream.

But now, The New York Times has reported that this name-calling took place on February 15, weeks after the flag was taken down. This is according to the newspaper’s analysis of a text message and an original police call, corroborated by Fairfax County authorities.

This is a breaking story. More to follow.