Alito said he spoke to Trump before his lawyers asked the Supreme Court to delay the sentencing in Trump’s New York business records case.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said that he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump by phone on Jan. 7 to recommend a former law clerk for a government position but did not discuss the upcoming emergency motion or any other court matters.
Alito’s phone call with Trump took place just one day before the president-elect’s lawyers
filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court on Jan. 8 seeking to postpone his sentencing in the New York case, which is scheduled to take place on Jan. 10 in Manhattan.
“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,” Alito said in a
statement to ABC News. “I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon. 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.”
Alito added that they 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.”
Trump’s lawyers asked the court to put the sentencing on hold until questions around presidential immunity are resolved.
They argued that moving forward with the sentencing could cause “grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government.”
“President Trump is currently engaged in the most crucial and sensitive tasks of preparing to assume the Executive Power in less than two weeks, all of which are essential to the United States’ national security and vital interests,” Trump’s attorneys
wrote. “Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests.”
Trump’s attorneys filed the emergency petition with the Supreme Court after a New York appeals court on Tuesday denied an earlier request for a delay to Friday’s sentencing.
The Supreme Court has requested New York prosecutors file a response by Jan. 9.
‘Unmistakable Breach of Protocol’
While it is not unusual for justices to give recommendations for former clerks for top government and law firm jobs, the timing of Alito’s call with Trump has drawn some criticism.Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan group Fix the Court, said that the call amounted to “an unmistakable breach of protocol.”
“No person, no matter who they are, should engage in out-of-court communication with a judge or justice who’s considering that person’s case,” Roth said.
Carrie Severino, president of the conservative advocacy group JCN, said in a
statement posted to social media platform X that the call was a “manufactured ‘ethics’ scandal over a simple reference check” amplified to “smear” the justice.
Trump was
convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
In July, the Supreme Court ruled former presidents have
broad immunity from criminal prosecution for certain core official acts performed while president.
The court’s opinion stemmed from a separate case against Trump but his lawyers say it supports their argument that his New York conviction should be overturned.
The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for Trump for comment.
Chase Smith and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
