Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that he spoke with the president-elect donald trump the day before Trump’s high court appearance, but said they did not discuss an emergency request the former president’s legal team planned to file to delay the ruling.
Alito told Fox News’ Shannon Bream that he was asked if he would take a call from Trump about a position his former secretary, William Levi, is being considered for, and praised Levi’s “outstanding resume.”
“William Levi, one of my former legal secretaries, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump about his qualifications for government office. I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday at afternoon,” Alito said.
JUDGE DENIES TRUMP’S MOTION TO STOP JUDGMENT IN NY CRIMINAL CASE
Associate Justice Samuel Alito joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait in October 2022. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Alito said he did not speak to Trump about the emergency request, nor did he “know at the time of our conversation that this request would be shelved.”
“We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or may in the future come before the Supreme Court or any previous Supreme Court decision involving the president-elect,” Alito said.
Alito told Fox News that he is often asked to give recommendations to potential employers for former employees and that it was a common practice.
Levi once served in the Department of Justice during the president-elect’s first term and also served as Alito’s secretary from 2011 to 2012.
TRUMP SAYS NEWSOM TO BE ‘BLAMED’ FOR ‘APOCALYPTIC’ FIRES
President-elect Trump meets with lawmakers. (Getty Images)
Alito, speaking with Trump the day before Trump’s high court appearance in his New York hush money case, is getting some to call him out, saying the conversation was 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 is considering that person’s case,” Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan group Fix the Court, said in a statement.
Alito said he did not know that Trump’s legal team was preparing an emergency request regarding the New York state case and there was no discussion.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. during the formal group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, USA on Friday, October 7, 2022. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He confirmed to Fox News that the call was solely about Levi and that there was no discussion of any matter involving a Trump legal matter — past, present or future.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
He also said that there was no discussion of any issue before the Court or that it could come before the Court.
ABC News was the first to report the Trump-Alito call.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
