McConnell recommends ‘disciplinary action’ against Democratic senators who pressured Supreme Court over Alito flag | Wilnesh News

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested on Wednesday that the Supreme Court should punish at least two Democratic senators for calling on Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself in connection with former President Donald Trump key cases.

Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island are bound by court rules that “punish those who engage in conduct unbecoming of an officer of the court.” Disciplinary Action,” McConnell Speaking on the Senate floor.

Many Democrats in both houses of Congress criticized Alito after reports surfaced that flags supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election were flying at Alito’s home.

But McConnell singled out Blumenthal and Whitehouse because they are members of the Supreme Court Bar.

He argued that two Democrats violated the American Bar Association’s rules of judicial conduct by “privately” asking Chief Justice John Roberts to “change the course of pending litigation.”

As a result, they “may engage in unethical professional conduct in court,” McConnell said Blumenthal and Whitehouse are both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“It’s a good sign when Mitch McConnell, Leonard Leo and the Wall Street Journal editorial page all criticize your views on the Supreme Court,” Whitehouse said in a statement to CNBC , shows you are on the right track.

Whitehouse also pushed back on McConnell’s assertion that his communications with Roberts were “private.”

“This is an open letter to the court on an administrative matter, pointing out the lack of any meaningful ethics process to enforce our recusal laws and asking the chief justice to carry out his administrative duties as chief judge,” he said. “This is not A confidential request for a judge to rule on the merits of the case.”

Whitehouse added that Roberts and Alito’s responses confirmed that they, too, considered the communications to be public.

A spokesperson for Blumenthal did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

In a late May letter, the White House and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill. urging roberts Let Alito recuse himself from any cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. They noted that includes a case pending before the courts over whether Trump is immune from prosecution on federal election charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Blumenthal Roberts wrote separately Last week, he asked him to persuade Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas to recuse themselves from the same case due to alleged conflicts. The senator said Roberts should stop assigning conservative judges to opinion or circuit judges if they refuse.

Alito has resisted calls to remove himself from the cases, arguing that his wife was responsible for flying an upside-down American flag outside his Virginia home and an “Calling to Heaven” flag outside his vacation home.

roberts refuse to meet With Dubin and Whitehouse.

In a speech Wednesday, McConnell dismissed Democrats’ concerns about the Alito flag controversy as “extremely unserious.”

But he said the senators’ efforts “exceeded the standard of disgraceful bullying that my Democratic colleagues have perfected” because “recusal is a judicial act.”

The Republican said Blumenthal and the White House “may have a false impression that their continued attempts to threaten federal courts are an abuse of their legislative power.” “But they are officers of the court and are bound by different rules than senators.”

He said the Supreme Court “should impose whatever remedies it deems appropriate.”

“The legal profession is in trouble. Unfortunately, unethical behavior by lawyers serving political causes is not influenced by any party or faction,” he continued. “The legal profession has a responsibility to police itself.”

“Ultimately, this means that courts – including the Supreme Court – must regulate their officials,” he said. “We don’t need to pray to heaven to resolve this issue. As long as the Supreme Court has the power to oversee the legal ethics practices of its members of the bar.”

When asked by CNBC what discipline the high court should impose on Democratic senators, a spokesman for McConnell declined to comment.

The Supreme Court has come under intense pressure in recent years due to a series of politically inflammatory appointments, rulings and ethics scandals. In November, Roberts announced that the court had adopted an ethics code but lacked any enforcement mechanism, leaving critics largely unmoved.

The White House has Sponsor legislation This would impose an enforceable code of conduct before the nation’s highest court.