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WASHINGTON – Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to recuse himself from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 defendants over controversial flags flying over his homes.

In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife was accountable for an upside-down flag flying over his house in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag flying over his New Jersey beach house last 12 months.

None of the incidents justified his rejection, he wrote.

“I am therefore obliged to deny your motion to dismiss,” he wrote.

The court is considering two necessary cases related to the attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. These include the costs against the rioters and the query of whether Trump enjoys immunity from prosecution on charges of election interference.

Alito has previously rejected calls from Democrats to abstain on other issues.

The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag was seen outside Alito's home in Alexandria, Virginia, lower than two weeks after the Capitol attack. The newspaper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside the judge's New Jersey beach house last summer. Both flags were carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021, echoing Trump's false claims of election fraud.

Alito said he didn’t know the upside-down flag was flying over his house until it was dropped at his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but she refused for several days,” he wrote in nearly an identical letters to Democrats within the House and Senate.

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Rep. Katherine Clark called on Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito to recuse himself from cases related to the Capitol revolt after an investigation found that flags carried by rioters on January 6, 2021, were flying at two of his properties.

“Judge Alito has flown flags on his homes that support insurrection against our government, promote religious nationalism, and attack free and fair elections,” Clark, a Democrat representing Massachusetts’ fifth Congressional District, wrote in a post X. Clark can be the House Minority Whip, the second-highest rating Democrat within the House of Representatives.

Judge Alito must recuse himself from all cases involving January 6, Donald Trump, and the safety of our elections.

My full statement: pic.twitter.com/UTcQcWqjKN

— Katherine Clark (@WhipKClark) May 23, 2024

Alito has come under increasing scrutiny after photos emerged last week showing an upside-down American flag flying at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, in January 2021, three days before President Joe Biden's inauguration. The photos were first reported until May sixteenth.

The upside-down U.S. flag became a logo of solidarity for supporters of former President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged. It was a standard sight on the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, which occurred just over per week before the flag was raised outside Alito's home.

Another controversial flag flew over Alito’s home in New Jersey, reports

On Wednesday, criticism of the judge grew when the reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, the identical one carried by rioters on Jan. 6, was flown at Alito's New Jersey vacation home last summer. The flag, originally used through the Revolutionary War, was adopted as an indication of support for Trump and is a logo of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, the newspaper reported.

In her statement Thursday, Clark called on Alito to recuse himself from cases involving “January 6, Donald Trump and the security of our elections.”

“This is not just another example of extremism overtaking conservatism,” Clark wrote. “This is a threat to the rule of law and a serious violation of Justice Alito's ethics, integrity, and oath of office.”

When the upside-down flag was raised, the Supreme Court was deciding whether to listen to the 2020 election case, the newspaper reported. Now the court is poised to make a choice in late June on whether Trump will be prosecuted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Although Alito didn’t reply to a request for comment on the Appeal to Heaven flag, the judge said the upside-down U.S. flag was flown by his wife.

“I was not involved in any way in the raising of the flag,” Alito told . “Ms. Alito had raised it briefly in response to a neighbor's use of offensive and personally abusive language on his yard signs.”

Other Massachusetts lawmakers have spoken out against Alito

On Tuesday, greater than three dozen members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Alito, asking him to recuse himself from cases involving January 6 or the 2020 election, citing reporting. Among the signatories was Representative Ayanna Pressley.

Senator Ed Markey also called on Alito to post on X-Thursday.

“Judge Alito must recuse himself from all matters related to the January 6 insurrection, and we must expand the Court to ensure that the seats stolen by Donald Trump do not destroy our democracy,” Markey wrote.

Judge Alito must recuse himself from all appointments related to the January 6 revolt, and we must expand the Court to make sure that the seats stolen by Donald Trump don’t destroy our democracy.

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) May 23, 2024

Critics have said the flags flying at Alito's homes are an indication of bias and a violation of the court's ethics guidelines. Code of Conduct states that judges must “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety” and recuse themselves when “impartiality could reasonably be called into question”.