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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that he had spoken to the president-elect Donald Trump However, the day before Trump’s appearance before the Supreme Court, they said they had not discussed an emergency motion that the former president’s legal team planned to file to delay the verdict.
Alito told Fox News’ Shannon Bream he was asked if he would take a call from Trump about a position his former staffer William Levi was being considered for, and praised Levi’s “excellent resume.”
“William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications for a government position. “I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump and he called me yesterday afternoon,” Alito said.
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Associate Justice Samuel Alito poses with other members of the Supreme Court for a new group portrait in October 2022. (AP/J Scott Applewhite)
Alito said he had not spoken to Trump about the emergency request, nor was he “even aware at the time of our conversation that such a request would be filed.”
“We also did not discuss other matters that are pending or may be pending before the Supreme Court in the future, or previous Supreme Court decisions involving the president-elect,” Alito said.
Alito told Fox News that he is often asked to provide recommendations for former employees to potential employers and that this is common practice.
Levi once served in the Ministry of Justice He also served as a clerk for Alito from 2011 to 2012 during the president-elect’s first term.
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President-elect Trump meets with lawmakers. (Getty Images)
Alito, who spoke to Trump about his New York hush money case the day before Trump’s Supreme Court appearance, sparked criticism from some, saying the conversation was a “blatant breach of protocol.”
“No person, no matter who they are, should communicate outside of court with a judge or justice reviewing that person’s case,” Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan group Fix the Court, said in a statement.
Alito said did not know that Trump’s legal team was preparing an emergency motion regarding the New York state case and there was no discussion about it.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. during the official 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 no matter involving a Trump legal matter was discussed – past, present or future.
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He also said that no matter had been discussed before the court or could potentially come to trial.
ABC News was the first to report the Trump-Alito call.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
