CNN
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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said he spoke by phone with President-elect Donald Trump this week to support a former jurist who is seeking a job in the new administration – but the judge said he would not had not discussed Trump’s ongoing efforts to delay his sentencing. .
“William Levi, one of my former lawyers, asked me to respond to a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to hold a government position,” Alito said in a statement released Wednesday. “I agreed to discuss this issue with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon.”
The call, first reported by ABC Newscame a day before Trump filed an emergency appeal seeking to delay his sentencing Friday in his hush money case in New York.
It is not uncommon for judges to make job recommendations on behalf of former clerks, who often remain close to the judge for whom they worked. But it’s notable that the justices would confer with a new president, especially before a major court filing involving a former president’s first-ever criminal conviction.
The call could give the court’s conservative critics another reason to question its independence from politics and Trump in particular. The new president appointed three justices during his first term, and the court issued several high-profile opinions in which the six conservatives and three liberals lined up on opposing sides.
Alito, a member of the court’s conservative wing, has faced repeated calls for recusal from ethics experts and Democrats on Capitol Hill. More recently, these critiques have focused on two controversial flags raised on his Virginia properties And New Jersey.
In his statement, Alito said he spoke with Trump on Tuesday — and said he did not discuss the matter with Trump. The president-elect filed his appeal Wednesday morning.
“We did not discuss the emergency request he filed today, and in fact, I did not even know at the time of our conversation that such a request would be filed,” Alito said. “We also did not discuss other matters pending or likely to come before the Supreme Court, or previous Supreme Court decisions involving the president-elect. »
The Trump transition did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Fix the Court, said Trump, Alito and Levi “should know better” but also “know that no one in Congress or the justice system will hold them accountable of ethical violations.
“No one questions Levi’s credentials, which are as good as they come,” Roth said. “This call was just an excuse for Trump to speak with one of nine people who will determine the fate of his secret conviction in the coming days and who will examine many other Trump-related issues over the next four years.”
Levi worked for Alito during the 2011 term and has worked in all three branches of the federal government, including in a number of high-level positions. He served as chief of staff to Attorney General William Barr during the first Trump administration and also worked as senior legal counsel to Sen. Mike Lee, Republican of Utah.
Levi did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Trump will have a hard time convincing the Supreme Court to stay his sentencing because his case is still pending in New York and the nation’s highest court is reluctant to hear emergency appeals in this situation.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that he saw no problem with the call.
“I think it’s very positive that President Trump and his team are having conversations at all levels about all aspects of government,” Gonzales told CNN.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Steven Contorno contributed to this report.