Alito tells congressional Democrats he won't recuse over flags

Responding to calls from congressional Democrats, Justice Samuel Alito is flatly rejecting calls to recuse himself in two cases before the Supreme Court involving Donald Trump because of two flags that flew outside his homes.

In letters Wednesday to House and Senate Democrats, Alito said he had nothing to do with the flying of the flags, and that nothing about the incidents merited recusal under the code of conduct. In addition, he says, neither he nor his wife knew of the meanings that are now being ascribed to the flags.

"My wife and I own our Virginia home jointly. She therefore has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit, and there were no additional steps that I could have taken to have the flag taken down more promptly," Alito wrote in the letters to Democrats.