(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
In Huge Ethics Breach Trump Talks To Alito As He Appeals To the Supreme Court [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-08
Imagine if Biden, on the eve of filing an appeal before the Supreme Court, had an off record, ex parte communication, with one of the justices. Let's not make it Biden. Imagine any party to a case before the Supreme Court has secret, ex parte communication with one of the justices as the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
Unimaginable, you may think. Inconceivable. Any member of the Supreme Court would surely know better than to create such an appearance of impropriety, conflict, and the forbidding of ex parte communications between judges and parties to a case is a longstanding and sacrosanct rule of judicial ethics. And yet exactly this happened.
Donald Trump had a secret call with Justice Alito even as Trump petitioned the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing (set for Friday) for Trump's felony conviction in the hush money to a porn star case. Alito, with numerous potential ethical breaches already marring his career, claims the conversation was solely about a recommendation for one of his former clerks to get a job within the administration. As if Alito's seeking such a favor from Trump as Trump is filing an appeal before Alito makes it better?
Of course, no one knows if the discussion was confined to that because there were no witnesses to the discussion. Which is exactly the problem and exactly why ex parte communications are forbidden. As for the rule on this, Rule 2.9 of the Model Rule for Judicial Conduct says quite plainly:
"A judge shall not initiate, permit, or consider ex parte communications, or consider other communications made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers, concerning a pending* or impending matter."
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_code_of_judicial_conduct/model_code_of_judicial_conduct_canon_2/rule2_9expartecommunications/
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/8/2295904/-In-Huge-Ethics-Breach-Trump-Talks-To-Alito-As-He-Appeals-To-the-Supreme-Court?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
