{"id":2388195,"date":"2025-01-09T08:56:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T13:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/medias-latest-alito-conspiracy-theory-is-particularly-ridiculous\/"},"modified":"2025-01-09T08:59:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T13:59:28","slug":"medias-latest-alito-conspiracy-theory-is-particularly-ridiculous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/medias-latest-alito-conspiracy-theory-is-particularly-ridiculous\/","title":{"rendered":"Media&#8217;s Latest Alito Conspiracy Theory Is Particularly Ridiculous"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmedias-latest-alito-conspiracy-theory-is-particularly-ridiculous%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2388195&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Left-wing media outlets reported on Associate Justice\u200c Samuel Alito \u2063providing a job reference for a former \u2062law clerk, William \u200dLevi, to\u200d President-elect Donald Trump. Alito\u2063 confirmed that \u200che took\u2064 a call from Trump\u200b to \u200bdiscuss Levi\u2019s qualifications for a government position, which\u2063 has led to \u2062concerns adn accusations about potential ethical violations.\u200c Critics have \u200dsuggested that this reference call is part of \u200ba larger conspiracy to influence ongoing\u2062 legal matters involving Trump. Though, federal guidelines state that it is \u2063indeed permissible for judges to provide job references upon inquiry, aligning with standard employment practices. <\/p>\n<p>The controversy \u200descalated as\u2062 certain\u2064 media commentators\u2063 framed \u2062the situation as\u2064 suspicious, ignoring established\u2064 ethical \u2062practices \u2062while linking the call to ongoing\u2064 legal challenges faced by Trump. The piece highlights\u2064 a broader\u2064 narrative of partisanship in\u200d media\u200c coverage and raises questions about judicial ethics \u2064and openness.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Left-wing media breathlessly reported Wednesday that Associate Justice Samuel Alito provided a job reference on behalf of one of his former clerks to President-elect Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position. I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon,&rdquo; Alito told <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/trump-speaks-justice-alito-amid-push-halt-criminal\/story?id=117386419\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ABC News<\/a>, which broke the shocking news that an employer gave a job reference for one of his former employees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/01\/08\/politics\/alito-trump-conversation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNN<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2025\/01\/08\/congress\/samuel-alito-donald-trump-call-00197258\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/alito-trump-law-clerk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CBS News<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-news\/trump-alito-supreme-court-hush-money-sentencing-1235229661\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rolling Stone<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/trump-speaks-justice-alito-amid-push-halt-criminal\/story?id=117386419\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Associated Press<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/08\/us\/justice-alito-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York Times<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/supreme-court\/justice-alito-says-was-no-discussion-trumps-pending-case-two-spoke-rcna186907\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NBC News<\/a>, and a host of other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-comms-team-gets-a-pass-where-trump-administration-would-have-had-a-scandal\/\" title=\"Biden Comms Team Gets A Pass Where Trump Administration Would Have Had A Scandal\">left-wing media<\/a> outlets amplified the report about Levi&rsquo;s efforts to secure a job as the Defense Department&rsquo;s general counsel and suggested it was part of an elaborate conspiracy to change the outcome of a looming case. Levi clerked for Justice Alito in the 2011-2012 term and was former Attorney General Bill Barr&rsquo;s chief of staff.<\/p>\n<p>Federal judges and Supreme Court justices provide references for former clerks regularly, in the same way that other employers provide references for former employees regularly. Ethics guidelines for federal judges acknowledge this reality and mention how to handle such scenarios in the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ProfMJCleveland\/status\/1877220471843824098\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Published Ethics Advisory Opinions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/guide-vol02b-ch02_1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">guidelines say<\/a> judges providing job references should not initiate contact with Congress or the White House, and should not respond to media requests in support or opposition of a nominee, but &ldquo;there would be no impropriety in a judge answering an inquiry from a screening committee or appointing authority with respect to the judge&rsquo;s knowledge concerning the qualifications and other relevant factors of a nominee for appointment to any public office.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>You would not know that judicial ethics codes approve of job references if all you read was Adam Liptak&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/08\/us\/justice-alito-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conspiratorial essay for The New York Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Justice Alito said the call was a routine job reference for a former law clerk whom Mr. Trump was considering for a government position.<\/p>\n<p>It was not clear, however, why Mr. Trump would make a call to check references, a task generally left to lower-level aides.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Then Liptak quoted left-wing activist Gabe Roth, the executive director of Fix the Court, which he describes in anodyne terms but is actually a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/fix-the-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">secretly funded left-wing activist group<\/a><\/a> that has lobbied against the three most recent Republican-nominated Supreme Court nominees. It also seeks to pack the court with additional justices in order to change the results of its decisions, term-limit sitting justices, require telecasts of oral arguments, and forbid the justices from holding stocks.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&ldquo;Typically,&rdquo; [Roth] added, &ldquo;Trump and Alito are better at hiding their ethics issues, at least for a few months or sometimes longer. But with the Supreme Court greenlighting near-absolute presidential immunity last year, and with Congress refusing to pass enforceable ethics for the justices, it appears there&rsquo;s no reason to even try.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>At no point did Liptak mention that Roth was incorrect about whether it was unethical to provide a job reference. Liptak hid the ethics guidelines from his readers. Instead, he &mdash; and reporters at other left-wing media outlets &mdash; spun an elaborate conspiracy theory that the calls were somehow related to Trump&rsquo;s efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/06\/efforts-to-sentence-trump-in-sham-ny-criminal-case-confirm-democrats-crazy-lawfare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fight Democrat lawfare<\/a> in the closing days of his transition. New York State Supreme Court judge <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/juan-merchan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Juan Merchan<\/a> flouted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/23-939_e2pg.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">July 2024 Supreme Court decision<\/a> about presidential immunity to pursue sentencing this week in the show trial of Trump he ran earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan, a literal Biden donor with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/judge-merchan-sued-financial-disclosures-amid-concerns-daughters-democrat-work\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">financial conflicts of interest<\/a>, should have recused himself from the trial or been removed. His daughter works for a firm whose clients include top Democrat opponents of Trump. The case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg using <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/04\/05\/braggs-case-against-trump-is-utterly-incoherent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">provocative and outlandish theories<\/a> that were critiqued even by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecution-rests-its-case-in-ahmaud-arbery-murder-trial\/\" title=\"Prosecution Rests Its Case in Ahmaud Arbery Murder Trial\">left-wing observers<\/a>. His <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/04\/12\/manhattan-d-a-enlisted-a-whos-who-of-biden-admin-buddies-for-trump-takedown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">team<\/a> included a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/12\/18\/meet-lawyer-michael-dreeben-the-man-behind-three-major-anti-trump-operations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bevy of Biden-connected attorneys<\/a>. The prosecution and trial were run without regard for Trump&rsquo;s due process rights. For example, Democrat donor Merchan allowed highly prejudicial testimony from prosecution witness Stormy Daniels but did not allow the nation&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/15\/trumps-strongest-new-york-defense-has-nothing-to-do-with-alvin-bragg-or-judge-merchan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">top campaign finance expert<\/a> to testify. The case purportedly dealt with campaign finance violations.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan should have vacated the guilty verdict he secured through his mishandling of the troubled trial, or entered a judgement of acquittal after the Supreme Court said official presidential acts cannot be grounds for prosecution of the president. Prosecutors told the jury Trump was guilty based on his alleged communications with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, communications that would clearly be ruled out of consideration by the Supreme Court ruling.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Marchan has pushed for sentencing of Trump on Friday. After Trump and Alito spoke this week, Trump&rsquo;s legal team also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/manhattan-da-and-judge-are-hell-bent-on-continuing-lawfare-against-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed an appeal to the Supreme Court<\/a> in the Merchan case. The media are presenting an &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gnomes_(South_Park)#:~:text=Following%20the%20episode's%20release%2C%20the,era%20business%20plans%20and%20ill%2D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">underpants gnome<\/a>&rdquo; theory that the job reference call was somehow tied to this subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court. Perhaps they think that Alito provided a job reference for a clerk in exchange for upholding the Supreme Court&rsquo;s previous rulings on presidential immunity? Perhaps they think that Trump offered Levi a job in exchange for Alito continuing to issue decisions the same way he has for 19 years? Perhaps they are just consumed with so much hatred that they are inclined toward conspiracy theories any time Trump is mentioned?<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,&rdquo; Alito said in his statement.<\/p>\n<p>The left-wing media and other Democrats have been engaged in a years-long information operation to suggest that Alito and other conservative justices are unethical. The effort ramped up as Alito and other justices considered overturning <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em>, the extremely controversial 1973 decision that claimed a right to end the lives of unborn children was found in the U.S. Constitution. The Court in 2022 handed down the <em>Dobbs<\/em> decision, which painstakingly noted that the Constitution does not mention such a right, and returned decisions about abortion law to the people and their elected representatives.<\/p>\n<p>Conservative justices have faced threats to their safety and lives as a result of this campaign. Two years ago, a pro-abortion man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/kavanaugh-assassin-pro-abortion-extremism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attempted to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh<\/a> at the home he shares with his wife and children after a draft of the <em>Dobbs<\/em> decision was leaked in a likely attempt to change the final outcome.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Im gonna stop roe v wade from being overturned &hellip; I could get at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come, and I am shooting for 3,&rdquo; would-be assassin Nicholas Roske texted before his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>The media campaign against conservative justices has been relentless and well-funded, and has included attacks on the spouses of some justices. For example, the New York Times ran a never-ending series of articles attempting to get Alito ousted because his wife had flown various flags at her house and beach home. The New York Times was apoplectic with rage over Martha Alito&rsquo;s flying of a white flag with a large green pine tree placed in the center that was originally <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/24\/nyt-attacks-alito-a-second-time-over-well-known-american-revolution-flag-flown-at-private-residence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">designed by George Washington&rsquo;s secretary<\/a> and flown during the American Revolution. &ldquo;Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home,&rdquo; read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/22\/us\/justice-alito-flag-appeal-to-heaven.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inadvertently hilarious piece<\/a> written by Jodi Kantor, Aric Toler, and Julie Tate.<\/p>\n<p>But even by the standards of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-advisor-admits-nyt-wapo-are-in-the-tank-for-dems\/\" title=\"Kamala Advisor Admits NYT, WaPo Are In The Tank For Dems\">left-wing press&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s campaign against Alito, this week&rsquo;s hit is particularly stupid.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. She is Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College and a Fox News contributor. She is the co-author of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Justice-Trial-Kavanaugh-Confirmation-Supreme\/dp\/1621579832\">Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court<\/a><\/em>. She is the author of &#8220;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Rigged-Media-Democrats-Seized-Elections\/dp\/168451259X\/\">Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections.<\/a><\/em>&#8221; Reach her at <b><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/mailto:mzhemingway@thefederalist.com\">mzhemingway@thefederalist.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Left-wing media reported that Justice Alito gave Trump a job reference for former clerk William Levi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":2388196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-80.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4430,32662,32133,4188,5291],"class_list":["post-2388195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alito","tag-conspiracy-theory","tag-current-events","tag-media","tag-ridiculous"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-80.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2388195"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2388199,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388195\/revisions\/2388199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2388196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2388195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2388195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2388195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}