After some prompting, she caught Alito appeared to back her up, saying of the country’s polarized politics, “one side is going to win.” The argument that the nation needs to return to “godliness.”
The recording is unusual in that it represents a kind of heavy-handed political tactic. The recordings are from the Supreme Court, which have previously been seen during election campaigns and undercover operations by groups like Project Veritas. The recordings were first reported by Rolling Stone magazine.
In the audio, film director Lauren Windsor can be heard telling Alito that she “doesn’t think you can negotiate with the left” to end the country’s polarization and that religious conservatives need to “win.”
“I think you’re probably right,” Alito replied. “One of us will win. I don’t know. I mean, there may be a way to live peacefully together — to work together — but it’s difficult, because we disagree on fundamental points that we can’t compromise on. We can’t compromise. So we can’t find a middle ground.”
Windsor later told Alito that people who believe in God must continue to fight “to restore our country to sanctity.”
“I agree with you,” Alito can be heard saying. “I agree with you.”
An AI-detection tool run by the nonprofit organization TruMedia said it found little evidence that the audio clips published on X were generated by AI. Windsor did not immediately provide the full recording to The Washington Post, so it was not possible to independently verify the audio’s authenticity. Alito and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
James Duff, executive director of the Supreme Court Historical Association, lamented the recording in a statement.
“We condemn the secret recording of the justices at this event, which is counter to the overall spirit of the evening,” Duff said.
Windsor also released audio of the conversation she had. He plans to meet with Alito at the same event in 2023. We were able to identify the leaker who overturned the Dobbs decision. Roe v. Wade“I can’t name names unless I know for sure,” he added. The court had no power to subpoena testimony or records.
In the recording, Justice Alito also blamed the media for undermining confidence in the Supreme Court, whose ratings have fallen sharply in recent years and remain near record lows, according to Gallup polls.
“All they do is criticize us,” Alito said of the news media.
Alito’s unguarded comments contrasted with those of Roberts, who was secretly recorded by Windsor at a 2024 event. Roberts has repeatedly intervening in political debate, despite the filmmakers’ urgings.
Windsor suggested that the Supreme Court had a duty to set the nation on a moral path, but Justice Roberts rejected the idea. “You want me to be responsible for setting the nation on a more moral path?” Justice Roberts reportedly said. “That’s the job of the people we elect. Not the job of the lawyers.”
Roberts also rejected Windsor’s suggestion that the United States is a Christian nation, citing the views of his “Jewish and Muslim friends.”
In an interview, Windsor said she was forced to make the secret recordings because she felt the court was not holding her accountable after news broke of her unreported, extravagant free trips. These were gifts to the justices from wealthy friends and associates. She said she recorded Justices Alito and Roberts at a cocktail reception before the annual dinner.
“They’ve been shrouded in secrecy, and we’ve seen them trying to overturn long-standing conventions in really extraordinary ways,” Windsor said. “Americans are really at a crossroads as to whether we want to continue as a secular democracy or whether we want to move our conservative majority down the path of Christian theocracy.”
The audio was released after the flag controversy led Democrats to question Alito’s political impartiality. Democrats called for him to be removed from two high-profile incidents related to Jan. 6 after an upside-down flag was seen flying at Alito’s Virginia home in the weeks after the 2021 Capitol attack and a second “Appeal to Heaven” flag was seen at his New Jersey beach house last summer. Both flags were flown by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Alito refused to back down from the matter, saying it was his wife who had flown the flag in their home, not him. He said his wife had flown the flag upside down after an argument with a neighbor, and that the couple did not know that the “Call to Heaven” flag was associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement. Both flags have long histories and connotations unrelated to January 6th.
Steve Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor who follows Supreme Court activity closely, said the secret recordings of the two justices during a Supreme Court event confirm that the court and its justices have become inseparable from and influenced by every aspect of modern political machinations.
“It’s unfortunate that it got to the point where the judge was caught up in this seizure moment, but this wouldn’t be news if there was nothing to seize,” Vladeck said.
Vladeck said: Alito’s comments were clearly inappropriate. “Judges shouldn’t have a say in whether someone wins,” Vladeck said. “It’s not a judge’s job to win.”
Vladeck said he was most surprised that Alito, already under intense scrutiny, would be so vulnerable at a historical society event that has “become part of the narrative that conservative judges are too close to right-wing groups.”
Tickets for the 2024 annual dinner, costing $500 apiece, will mark the 50th anniversary of the nonprofit that preserves and collects Supreme Court history. The organization and its annual dinner were the subject of a 2022 New York Times article detailing how donors had tried to use the organization to gain access to the justices.
“Attendees are warned that discussion of ongoing litigation, the decisions of sitting judges, or judges’ jurisprudence is strictly prohibited and that engaging in such conduct may result in termination of membership in the association,” Duff, the association’s executive director, said in a statement.
Drew Harwell, Pranshu Verma, Samuel Oakford and Elise Samuels contributed to this report..
