Trump’s Call to Justice Alito Amid Legal Motion Sparks Ethics Concerns

President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, coinciding with Trump’s motion to block his sentencing in his New York criminal case, has sparked outrage among legal experts. The timing has raised concerns about the appearance of Trump attempting to sway the court’s decision improperly.

While Justice Alito claimed the call was unrelated to the case and simply to serve as a reference for William Levi, a former law clerk Trump is considering for Department of Defense general counsel, legal analysts remain skeptical. In a Slate article published Thursday, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern argued that Levi’s prior service in the Trump administration makes the need for such a reference dubious.

The analysts noted that the timing and circumstances suggest the call might have been about more than Levi’s appointment. “There is the appearance Trump was trying to lean on Alito to bail him out of sentencing,” they wrote but added two other plausible explanations for the call.

First, they posited, Trump might be assessing Levi’s loyalty. Levi had played a key role in mobilizing federal law enforcement during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, summoning FBI assistance after rioters breached security.

Trump could be seeking reassurances that Levi would remain a “loyal foot soldier” if appointed again. “As a steadfast champion of the president-elect’s agenda, Alito is well positioned to vouch that his former clerk remains a true believer,” they wrote, emphasizing Alito’s alignment with Trump’s mistrust of the so-called “deep state.”

Second, the analysts suggested, Trump may be engaging in a broader strategy to curry favor with Alito and other justices. “Trump sought to flatter Alito by calling upon him as a character reference, part of his long campaign to butter up the justices whom he wants to retire,” they wrote.

Trump’s prior success in persuading Justice Anthony Kennedy to step down may indicate a similar effort to convince Alito that his legacy would be secure under Trump’s presidency, potentially through appointments of former Alito clerks.

The call’s optics are undeniably problematic, the analysts concluded. “Remember back when Bill Clinton met briefly on an airport tarmac with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and it somehow represented the demise of all remaining public trust in the Justice Department? Us too.

And yet a Supreme Court justice chatting with a party to an emergency matter pending at the court this week is apparently of no concern now.” As the controversy unfolds, questions about judicial ethics and Trump’s intentions loom large.