Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was reportedly missing from court on Thursday.
“Justice Samuel Alito was not on the bench for opinions this morning,” Courthouse News reporter Kelsey Reichmann wrote on X, formerly Twitter. It is unclear why Alito was not present.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court via email for comment.
Some have scrutinized Alito following reports that an upside-down American flag flew outside his Virginia home in January 2021. The inverted flag is a symbol associated with former President Donald Trump‘s unproven claims of election fraud in 2020 and was seen being carried by some Trump supporters during the riot at the U.S. Capitol that month.
Alito has denied such claims and maintains no intention to recuse himself from cases related to the Capitol riot or presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court convened as decisions on multiple high-profile cases wait in the wings, notably whether they will rule whether Trump has immunity from his remaining three criminal trials. Recess typically occurs in July, but on June 20, more than a dozen cases were still without resolution, with only a couple of days to spare for opinions. This could lead to additional days for opinions to be scheduled and issued.
In April, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from the legal team for the former president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee regarding whether a president is immune from criminal charges while still in the White House.
The claim mostly relates to the ex-president’s federal case helmed by special counsel Jack Smith.
In it, Trump was indicted on four counts of allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election, leading to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The former president has denied the charges and says they are politically motivated.
Last month, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying records in relation to hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of his 2016 election victory. The charges in the case stemmed from actions before Trump—who denied the affair and any wrongdoing—was in the Oval Office.
A major January 6 case was previously brought to the High Court by Joseph Fischer, a Pennsylvania police officer who was charged with obstruction for his participation in the Capitol riot. His charges include assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct in the Capitol, and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Trump was charged with the same, plus additional charges.
On April 16, the Court heard oral arguments in the case.
Those developed after the Court initially agreed in December 2023 to hear a challenge to the Department of Justice’s interpretation of the “obstruction of an official proceeding” charge. The Court granted certiorari for Fischer v. United States on December 13, 2023, taking up Fischer’s appeal on the felony charge that has been used against hundreds of people allegedly involved in the riot.
A decision in Fischer’s favor could potentially lighten or get rid of some January 6-related sentences entirely.
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