4 weeks ago
11
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
The justice said that the call was a routine job reference for one of his former clerks and that the request to stay the president-elect’s sentencing did not come up.
Jan. 8, 2025, 7:57 p.m. ET
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. spoke with President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, not long before Mr. Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing following his conviction in New York in a case arising from hush money payments.
“William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position,” Justice Alito said in a statement on Wednesday. “I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon.”
Justices often serve as references for their law clerks, but the prospective employers are seldom certain to have business before the court.
Justice Alito said he had not talked about the hush money case or any other legal proceeding with Mr. Trump.
“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,” the justice said. “We also 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.”
Gabe Roth, the executive director of Fix the Court, an advocacy group that seeks more openness at the Supreme Court, said the call was unseemly.
