12:30 Report — Inside the Justice Alito flag controversy (2024)

Happy Thursday! Here’s what’s happening today:

• The Supreme Court allowed South Carolina Republicans to redraw their congressional districts.
• Former President Trump is holding a rare NYC campaign rally, in the Bronx of all places. Yes, the electric blue, liberal area where Biden won 84 percent of the vote in 2020 — that Bronx!
• The New York Times reported a second controversial Jan. 6-related flag flying outside one of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s homes. Keep reading for a brief explainer on this saga — and its potential implications for two upcoming decisions.
• The Department of Justice is accusing Ticketmaster and Live Nation of being a monopoly.

I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. 

Late this morning, the Supreme Court ruled that a Republican-drawn congressional district in South Carolina is constitutional, overturning a lower court’s decision that had ruled it unconstitutional as a racial gerrymander.

Backstory on the case: Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) district was redrawn in a way that could help Republicans keep the seat. Opponents argued that the district’s redesign shifts roughly 30,000 Black Charleston-area voters to another district. Republicans in the state argue that the boundaries were shifted because of politics, not race. (The Hill)

“The Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation on Thursday, accusing the ticketing companies of blocking competition in the live entertainment industry,” reports The Hill’s Julia Shapero.

The case: “The DOJ, which filed the antitrust lawsuit alongside 30 state and district attorneys general, alleges that Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s anti-competitive behavior deprives U.S. music fans of ticketing innovation and forces them to pay more than fans in other countries.” (The Hill)

After the 2020 presidential election, some supporters of former President Trump displayed an upside-down American flag as a symbol for their baseless claim that President Biden had stolen the election.

A few weeks ago, The New York Times reported that one of those upside-down American flags was displayed outside the Alexandria, Va., home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Jan. 16, 2021.

Timing of the flag being displayed: That was 11 days after the pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol and three days before Biden’s inauguration. The Times pointed out that while that flag was displayed, the Supreme Court was still deciding “whether to hear a 2020 election case, with Justice Alito on the losing end of that decision.”

📸 Photo of the inverted flag flying outside Alito’s home in 2021

Justice Alito’s reaction to the Times report: “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito told the Times. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

The story doesn’t end there: The New York Times reported on Wednesday that another controversial flag was flown at Alito’s Long Beach Island vacation home in New Jersey *last summer.* This was the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which dates back to the Revolutionary War and was carried by Jan. 6 rioters in 2021. It’s become a symbol for the “Stop the Steal” movement and a desire for a more Christian-minded government.

📸 Photo of the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag flown at Alito’s vacation home in 2023

Why this raises huge (and timely!) questions: “In coming weeks, the justices will rule on two climactic cases involving the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, including whether [Trump] has immunity for his actions. Their decisions will shape how accountable he can be held for trying to overturn the last presidential election and his chances for re-election in the upcoming one.” (The New York Times)

Is this a conflict of interest?: At least 45 House Democrats seem to think so. They signed a letter calling for Alito to recuse himself from the two big cases related to Jan. 6 and Trump’s immunity. Read the letter. Plus, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called on Senate Democrats to investigate.

On the other side of the argument: Former national security adviser John Bolton defended Alito. “I think it is outrageous, outrageous and unacceptable, for people to take a flag from the American Revolution and say that because some Jan. 6 protesters flew it, that it’s now unacceptable to fly that flag, and I’d like to hear a Democratic Party politician say that expressly,” Bolton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

Former President Trump is holding a campaign rally today in an unexpected place: In the south Bronx, a deep blue region in the heart of New York City.

Why this is a notable choice: The Hill’s Brett Samuels pointed out that President Biden won the state of New York by roughly 2 million votes in 2020, including winning 84 percent of the vote in the Bronx.

This isn’t Trump’s first stop like this: The presumptive GOP nominee had recent campaign stops in New Jersey and Minnesota, both blue states.

💡 Why this matters: This gives us some insight into the Trump campaign’s strategy. It shows that Trump thinks he can compete in these traditionally blue, liberal states. For example, Trump had a remarkably strong showing at his New Jersey event earlier this month. That was a flex and may spook the Biden campaign.

Campaign rally details: Trump is speaking at Crotona Park in the south Bronx at 6 p.m. 💻 C-SPAN livestream

Don’t you think New York City’s Plaza Hotel lobby would have been a festive venue? Oh well.

Trump outraised Biden in April. The Hill’s Alex Gangitano reports that Democrats are on alert about the recent fundraising numbers.

🍬 Celebrate: Today is National Taffy Day!

🍦💸 What’s all over my social media feed: A young British girl went on a viral rant about the price of ice cream. It is incredible. Does anyone else think the other girl in the video looks JUST like Hermione Granger? 📹 Watch the clip

🌪️ * Reads intently while taking copious notes despite not living in tornado alley*: Nexstar’s Addy Bink explains that if you’re in a car during a tornado, do *not* hide under an overpass even though that may feel logical. This was one of our most read stories on The Hill this morning. The full explainer: ‘What can happen if you park under an overpass during a tornado’

🏈 I would have lost in the first 20 seconds: The Pittsburgh Steelers posted a video of current players trying to make former Steelers linebacker James Harrison, nicknamed “Deebo,” laugh. If they were successful, they could have seen the 2024 schedule early. 📹 Watch

• 12:30 p.m.: Biden holds a joint press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto. 💻 Livestream
• 1:20 p.m.: First and last House votes. 📆 Today’s agenda
• 2 p.m.: The Senate votes. 📆 Today’s agenda
• 6 p.m.: Former President Trump campaigns in the Bronx, N.Y. 💻 Livestream
• 6:30 p.m.: The Bidens greet the Rutos at the White House and host them for a state dinner.
• 7 p.m.: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) delivers remarks on Israel independence. 💻 Livestream

Have you ever wondered what a horse might look like while eating a Fruit Roll-Up? Wonder no more!

This video has more than 2.8 million likes and tbh, I get it.