Roberts rejects Senate Democrats’ request to discuss Supreme Court ethics and Alito flag controversy

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts has declined an invitation to meet with Democratic senators to talk about Supreme Court ethics and the controversy over flags that flew outside homes owned by Justice Samuel Alito. Roberts’ response came in a letter to the senators Thursday, a day after Alito separately wrote them and House members to reject their demands he recuse from major Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 rioters because of the flags, which are like those carried by rioters at the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Alito says he concluded nothing about the flags outside his homes in Virginia and New Jersey required his recusal.