The wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Martha-Ann Alito, expressed her desire to retaliate against those who criticized her and her husband for displaying politically affiliated flags at their homes.
The comments were made during a private conversation at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner on June 3 and were recorded by progressive filmmaker Lauren Windsor. Windsor attended the event under her real name, posing as a conservative to elicit responses from Alito and others.
“You come after me, I’m gonna give it back to you,” Martha-Ann Alito said in the recording, which was later published by MSNBC and Windsor’s activist site, The Undercurrent. “There will be a way. It doesn’t have to be now, but there will be a way. They know. Don’t worry about it.”
The controversy surrounding the Alitos began last month when it was discovered that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag and an upside-down American flag were flown at their homes. These symbols have been associated with far-right politics, Christian nationalism, and participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Justice Alito claimed the flags were not political statements but responses to personal attacks by a neighbor, although the neighbor has disputed aspects of Alito’s story. This incident has led to widespread criticism from Democrats in Congress, with several high-profile members demanding that Justice Alito recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases.
In the recording, Martha-Ann Alito also mentioned her intention to fly a “Sacred Heart of Jesus” flag at their homes to protest a nearby display of an LGBTQ pride flag. The Sacred Heart of Jesus flag has been used by some opponents of gay rights to protest Pride and LGBTQ rights in general. She stated that her husband has asked her not to put up flags at their properties, but she plans to do so once he is no longer under public scrutiny.
“I won’t do that because I’m deferring to you,” she told her husband. “But when you are free of this nonsense, I’m putting it up, and I’m gonna send them a message every day, maybe every week. I’ll be changing the flags.” Martha-Ann Alito also revealed that she has designed her own flag, featuring the Italian word “vergogna,” which means shame. “Shame, shame, shame on you, you know?” she said, apparently referring to the pride flag.
Windsor’s conversation with Justice Alito included his agreement with her assertion that the U.S. should strive to be a Christian nation and his admission that much of the court’s business comes down to political ideology. In contrast, Chief Justice John Roberts resisted her ideas in their recorded conversation.
Windsor defended her decision to record the meeting surreptitiously, stating to The Hill that she felt “justified” because the court is “shrouded in secrecy, and they’re refusing to submit to any accountability in the face of overwhelming evidence of serious ethics breaches.”
