NY Times Busts Alito Jan. 6 Flag Story Wide Open — And There Are Police Tapes

The New York Times blew a yuge hole in Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s cover story for the January 6 riot-sympathizing flag that flew at his home — and the reporting includes police recordings.

Justice Alito has been under fire over the flying of a “Stop the Steal” flag following the January 6 attack on the Capitol. But Alito blamed the display on his wife Martha-Ann Alito, whom he claimed flew the flag in response to a neighbor calling her a “cunt” during a verbal altercation.

But a new report from Jodi Kantor busts that story wide open. According to police, the altercation happened weeks after the flag was taken down — and there are tapes of the complaining phone call:

The police in Fairfax County, Va., received an unusual phone call on Feb. 15, 2021. A young couple claimed they were being harassed by the wife of a Supreme Court justice.

“Somebody in a position of authority needs to talk to her and make her stop,” said the 36-year-old man making the complaint, according to a recording of the call reviewed by The New York Times. The officer on the line responded that there was little the police could do: Yelling was not a crime.

The couple placed the call after a series of encounters with Martha-Ann Alito, wife of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., that had gone from uneasy to ugly. That day, Emily Baden, whose boyfriend (now husband) contacted the police, had traded accusations with Mrs. Alito, who lived down the street. In a recent interview, Ms. Baden admitted to calling her a lewd epithet.

The flag in question flew for “a few days” around Jan. 17.

The couple involved in the altercation made their own recording of the call as well:

To document the incident, the Badens called the police shortly afterward — they did not mention the vulgar expression — and recorded the conversation.

“It’s very hard for us to come into a situation like this after it’s already settled,” the officer on the line said, explaining that the matter didn’t warrant an immediate response. “Next time that happens, you’re welcome to call us back out there, we’ll see if we can get there to see what’s going on ourselves.”

Alito also faced criticism for a separate display of another flag associated with Jan. 6, but also with the Revolutionary War.