Trump Spoke With Alito Before Asking SCOTUS for Hush-Money Favor

Donald Trump appears to have a cozier relationship with the Supreme Court than previously thought.

The president-elect reportedly had a private call with Justice Samuel Alito on Tuesday, according to ABC News. Hours later, Trump filed a request with the court to dismiss his hush-money sentencing.

Alito spoke with Trump to recommend one of his former law clerks to a position within the forthcoming administration. Then, the following day, Trump’s lawyers had their own request of the bench: Block Trump’s criminal hush-money sentencing, reported ABC’s Katherine Faulders.

“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,” Alito told the network on Wednesday. “I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon.”

Levi is reportedly being considered as general counsel of the Department of Defense. Court analysts who spoke with ABC said that while it’s not wholly unusual for sitting justices to recommend their former clerks to future positions, it is rare that they would have a direct conversation with a president in order to do so.

Alito also denied discussing the hush-money case with Trump, telling the network that he and the president-elect “did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court.”

Alito has faced calls from within the government to recuse himself in cases relating to Trump. In July, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced impeachment articles against Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas for their bad habit of accepting lavish gifts from Republican billionaires (and failing to properly disclose them).

Trump requested an administrative stay Wednesday on the sentencing for his sole criminal conviction, claiming that the high court’s July immunity ruling should prevent him from having to face consequences. Trump’s sentencing is currently scheduled for Friday.

Officials at the Federal Reserve are worried that Trump’s policies will cause inflation to rise once again. Recent meeting notes included four separate mentions of the economic impact of changes on immigration, inflation, and trade policy, according to CNBC reporting.

“Almost all participants judged that upside risks to the inflation outlook had increased,” the minutes said. “As reasons for this judgment, participants cited recent stronger-than-expected readings on inflation and the likely effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy.”

Trump has been making broad threats about hardline tariffs against China, Canada, and Mexico, as well as promising mass deportations and deregulation. All of these things are causing the Fed to move carefully.

Officials noted that they still expect inflation to get down to 2 percent, but not until 2027 at the earliest.

“In discussing the outlook for monetary policy, participants indicated that the Committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing,” the meeting minutes said.

During the 2024 elections, the Israel lobby poured at least $45.2 million into winning candidates for Congress, the most by any organization in history, according to a new report from Sludge.

The report states that 349 senators and members of the House of Representatives, or 65 percent of Congress, received money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or its affiliated super PACs in both parties. For example, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson received at least $654,000, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, received at least $933,000.

AIPAC in particular targeted two Democratic members of the House: Representatives Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York, each known for their progressive reputations and for being among the first in Congress to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. AIPAC spent $20 million to back their primary election opponents Wesley Bell and George Latimer, respectively, successfully unseating Bush and Bowman.

It’s a massive increase from AIPAC’s spending in 2022, which only amounted to $13 million in contributions to congressional campaigns. This time, the lobby upped its spending due to opposition to Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, which has created a humanitarian catastrophe and led to a massive civilian death toll.

Candidates that it backed oppose a ceasefire to end the war, which has continued unabated for more than a year and led to war crimes charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif. But Israel still receives unconditional backing from the United States from President Biden as well as President-elect Donald Trump, and that will only become stronger when Trump is sworn in.

Rudy Giuliani is trying to get out of attending in-person trial proceedings, after being held in contempt of court, by pretending that his life is in danger.

Lawyers for the former New York City mayor argued in a filing Wednesday that their client cannot attend a session in person at the end of the week. Giuliani had appeared virtually in court on Monday.

“He is 80 years old and suffers from a number of medical conditions,” the lawyers explained, noting that he has issues with his knee, lungs, and heart.

The filing also cited “a number of credible death threats” against the disgraced politician.

“As one of the more outspoken critics of the current Iranian regime, at a time of heightened terrorism concerns following the recent events in New Orleans and Las Vegas and the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and its various proxies, it is reasonable to take extra precautions regarding Mayor Giuliani’s safety, and limit travel whenever possible,” the filing said.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the profound concern for Giuliani’s safety extends to two weeks from now, when his lawyers requested permission for their client’s trial to be delayed so he could attend Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration festivities.

RFK Jr. is being accused of voter fraud. 

Watchdog group Accountable.US alleges that the former presidential candidate and current Trump pick to lead Health and Human Services should be investigated for  “registering for and voting” from “a New York residence at which he does not legally reside.” This would be a federal felony if true.

A New York Supreme Court in Albany found that Kennedy was using an address in Katonah, New York, to vote from while he actually lived in California. Public records show that he voted from that same address this November, according to the watchdog group. Kennedy said he’d been renting a room from a friend at the address, while the friend’s wife testified that he’d only spent a single night there. 

“Not actually living in New York in the eyes of the law apparently did not stop RFK Jr. from casting his election ballot there illegally,” said Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk. “If RFK Jr. is so dismissive of the law in his personal matters, how can he be trusted to properly apply the law when it comes to our public health? Senators should press Kennedy on whether he intends to play by his own rules and thumb his nose at the law as HHS Secretary, like President-elect Trump is wont to do.”

RFK Jr. joins Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz, and Tulsi Gabbard on a list of embattled Cabinet nominees. His team has yet to comment on the allegation.