>>> TODAY MARK TODAY WITH NO MAJOR DESISTANCE FROM THE SUPREME COURT, WHILE WE AWAIT SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT RULINGS FROM DONALD TRUMP'S CLAIMS THAT HE IS IMMUNE FROM PROSECUTION TO THE AVAILABILITY OF MEDICATION FOR ABORTIONS. ALL THAT, VERY MUCH HANGS IN THE AIR. AFTER THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO, AFTER IT WAS REPORTED THAT THE FLAGS ASSOCIATED WITH THE JANUARY 6th INSURRECTION, TWO OF THOSE FLAGS WERE RAISED OVER THESE TWO OF ALITO'S HOMES. THE JUSTICE BLAMED HIS WIFE FOR FLYING ONE OF THOSE FLAGS, SAYING IT CAME AFTER A VERY NASTY NEIGHBORHOOD DISPUTE. BUT IT WAS LATER DISCOVERED THAT THE ALITO'S WERE FLYING THAT FLAG NEARLY A MONTH BEFORE THE FIGHT WITH THEIR NEIGHBOR. AND NOW THAT NEIGHBOR IS SPEAKING OUT. >> AT BEST, HE IS MISTAKEN. BUT AT WORST, HE IS JUST OUTRIGHT LYING. AND THAT INTERACTION, SHE APPROACHED US, STARTED SCREAMING AT US, USED ALL OF OUR FULL NAMES, WHICH, TO ME, FELT LIKE A THREAT BECAUSE YOU ARE A STRANGER, WE DON'T KNOW YOU. YOU DON'T KNOW US, HOW DO YOU KNOW OUR FULL NAMES? AND I JUST, I STARTED YELLING, HOW DARE YOU, BECAUSE THEY BOTH WERE THERE AT THE SAME TIME. I SAID HOW DARE YOU, YOU ARE ON THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND, YOU REPRESENT THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, YOU ARE BEHAVING THIS WAY, YOU'RE YELLING AT A NEIGHBOR AND HARASSING US. HOW DARE YOU? SHAME ON YOU. >> JOINING US MARKET JOSEPH STERN. MARK, I WAS VERY INTERESTED IN WHAT THIS NEIGHBOR HAD TO SAY. FIRST OF ALL, BECAUSE HER ACCOUNT DIFFERS FROM THAT OF THE JUSTICE, WHICH SEEMS SIGNIFICANT. BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT HIM RECUSING HIMSELF IN TODAY, JUSTICE ALITO DID RECUSE HIMSELF ON A MINOR CASE RELATING TO CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE SORT OF, THE DISSONANCE THERE BETWEEN HIS DESIRE TO RECUSE HIM FROM ONE CASE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A MAJOR, MAJOR SCANDAL THAT SURROUNDS HIM RIGHT NOW. >> YEAH, SO JUSTICE ALITO IS ONE OF A FEW JUSTICES WHO OWNS INDIVIDUAL STOCKS AND STILL TRADES THOSE STOCKS, AS WELL. DISCOVERED WHEN CHRIS GARDNER, REPORTED THAT HE SOLD A STOCK AND BUD LIGHT DURING A CONTROVERSY WHEN BUD LIGHT HAD A TRANSGENDER SPOKESWOMAN. AND HE RECUSED HIMSELF FROM A DECISION TODAY, ALMOST CERTAINLY BECAUSE OF HIS OWNERSHIP OF SOME INDIVIDUAL STOCK, PROBABLY, ABOUT A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS. ALMOST AS IF TO SAY, YEAH, I CAN DO THIS WHEN I WANT TO AND TO REMIND US THAT HE IS NOT DOING IT WHEN HE DOESN'T WANT TO, WHICH IS IN SOME OF THE MAJOR CASES TO COME BEFORE THE COURT, INCLUDING, AS WE SHOULD KEEP SAYING OVER AND OVER AGAIN, DONALD TRUMP'S PROSECUTION FOR CRIMES RELATING TO JANUARY 6th, WHICH HE SEEMS HOPELESSLY INFLICTED ON IN THE LEGAL SENSE THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE SITTING ON THIS CASE. YOU KNOW, THE INTERVIEW WITH THE NEIGHBOR CONFIRMS SOME INFORMATION THAT THE WASHINGTON POST AND NEW YORK TIMES HAVE PREVIOUSLY REPORTED, WHICH IS, AS YOU SAID, THAT FLAG WAS FLYING BEFORE THE CONFLICT REACHED A BOILING POINT. IT REALLY SEEMS INDISPUTABLE THAT MARTHA AND ALITO WAS SUPPORTING STOP THE STEEL. WHEN JUSTICE ALITO DENIED THAT IN HIS LETTER TO CONGRESS, HE WASN'T JUST SPINNING THE FACT, HE WAS POTENTIALLY COMMITTING PERJURY IN A LETTER TO CONGRESS, WHICH IS ITSELF A VERY SERIOUS FEDERAL OFFENSE. >> DOES ANYBODY HOLD HIM TO TASK FOR THAT? OR CAN CONGRESS? >> IT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE CONGRESS ISN'T GOING TO OR ISN'T EVEN GOING TO TRY. THE SINCE I AM GETTING, AND I'VE BEEN PRESSING SENATE DEMOCRATS ON THIS, TO SAY WHAT IS YOUR PLAN HERE? THEY ARE THROWING UP THEIR HANDS AND SAY LOOK, THE ELECTION IS GETTING CLOSER. WE ARE TRYING TO CONFIRM JUDGES. THAT IS THE MESSAGE THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SEND TO THE BASE. MAYBE WE AREN'T HOLDING ALITO TO ACCOUNTABILITY BUT AT LEAST WE ARE GETTING SOME RATE JUDGES THROUGH. >>, TO BE CLEAR, THE JUDGE IS BEING APPOINTED BY JOE BIDEN ARE WONDERFUL. BUT THEY CANNOT UNDO THE CORRUPTION AND THE ILL GAINS THAT ARE BEING SECURED BY A SUPREME COURT THAT INCLUDES SAM ALITO AND CLARENCE THOMAS, SITTING ON CASES THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS SITTING ON. SO I DO SEE THIS EXTRAORDINARY DISSONANCE, NOT JUST WITH ALITO'S WHOLE STORY BUT WITH HOW DEMOCRATS ARE APPROACHING IT. AS THOUGH THEY CAN MAKE UP FOR THEIR HANDS-OFF ATTITUDE TO THE SUPREME COURT BY APPOINTING PEOPLE TO THE LOWER COURT. YOU KNOW, THOSE GOOD PEOPLE IN THE LOWER COURTS WILL BE REVERSED EVERY TIME BY ALITO AND THOMAS AND THEIR ILK UNLESS DEMOCRATS TRY TO TACKLE THIS AND IMPOSE REAL PENALTIES ON JUSTICES WHO BREAK THE RULES THAT THEY THEMSELVES HAVE CLAIMED TO FOLLOW. >> ESPECIALLY AS THE COURT IS PACKING FOUR OR FIVE TERMS WORTH OF WHAT BUSTER CASES INTO ONE TERM WE'RE TALKING, RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE 29 PENDING DECISIONS THAT WE ARE WAITING FOR FROM THIS COURT. I THINK 16 OF WHICH ARE MAJOR CASES. THE FACT THAT WE HAVEN'T HEARD BOO ABOUT THE MARK. HOW DO YOU READ THE COURT'S SILENCE RIGHT NOW? THE FACT THAT THEY ARE GOING TO EFFECTIVELY JAM THESE DECISIONS INTO THE LAST REMAINING WEEKS OF JUNE. THE COURT IS OUT AS OF JULY 1st, RIGHT? >> THE SUPREME COURT SETS ITS OWN DEADLINE. USUALLY ARBITRARY FOR WHEN THEY WILL FINISH EATING OUT OPINIONS. IT IS TYPICALLY THE END OF JUNE, AT THE LATEST, EARLY JULY. THEY ARE GOING TO PACK IN SOME THE BLOCKBUSTERS INTO THE NEXT THREE OR FOUR WEEKS OF NEWS CYCLES IN THE HOPES, I AM CERTAIN, OF HAVING THEM GET LOST TO THE PUBLIC, AS WE APPROACH JULY 4th, ESPECIALLY PEER PEOPLE START TUNING OUT. AND THIS IS THE GRAND STRATEGY OF THIS COURT. THE CONSERVATIVE JUSTICES ARE GREEDY FOR THESE CASES. I WANT TO BE CLEAR THAT THEY HAD TAKEN UP A BUNCH OF ISSUES. THEY DID NOT NEED TO RESOLVE. THEY HAVE PREMATURELY WAITED INTO MAJOR CASES BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO USE THEM AS VEHICLES TO SHIFT THE LAW TO THE RIGHT. THEY ARE PACKING AND ALL OF THESE BARN BURNERS INTO A SINGLE TERM AND NOW THEY ARE POISED TO DUMP THEM ALL ON THE PUBLIC IN RAPIDFIRE SUCCESSION SO THAT WE CAN BARELY PROCESS ONE BEFORE THE NEXT DROPS. AND I THINK WHAT THAT MEANS, IT IS THE FRIDAY NEWS DUMP FROM FOR THE NEXT THREE OR FOUR WEEKS, WE ARE JUST GOING TO KEEP GETTING THESE MAJOR DECISIONS, AND HAVE A LIMITED ABILITY TO RESPOND TO THEM, THE POLITICAL BRANCHES WILL HAVE A LIMITED ABILITY TO PUSH BACK IN WAYS THAT THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO. BECAUSE BEFORE THEY KNOW IT, THE NEXT ONE WILL DROP. GUNS, ABORTION, IMMUNITY, THE ENVIRONMENT. IT IS ALL GOING TO COME LETTING THE ZONE AND WE ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE TO REALLY KIND OF PROCESS IT ALL. AND THEN THE JUSTICES WILL FULLY FOR THE SUMMER AND HOPE THAT THE NEW CYCLE JUST FIZZLED OUT. >> THAT IS SUCH A CYNICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE TIMING HERE. I AM NOT TRYING TO QUESTION YOU ON THAT. BUT HAVE WE SEEN, IS THERE ANYTHING COMPARABLE IN RECENT SUPREME COURT HISTORY IN TERMS OF BASICALLY, WAITING TO DO AN END RUN AROUND THE PUBLIC AND THE MEDIA WHEN YOU'RE ISSUING A REALLY CONTROVERSIAL RULING WITH LANDMARK IMPORTANCE? >> NO, THIS IS NEW. AS RECENTLY AS LIKE FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO, THE SUPREME COURT STILL HAD ONLY A HANDFUL OF WHAT BUSTERS EACH TERM. . STRATEGY, AND PART OF IT IS, THAT CONSERVATIVES DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THEY WILL HAVE THE SUPER MAJORITY. IT COULD END AT ANY TIME. HEALTH COULD GET IN THE WAY, WHATEVER. A SCANDAL COULD GET IN THE WAY. ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS LIKE -- [ LAUGHTER ] >> I LIKE THE SCANDAL HAS ALREADY GOTTEN IN THE WAY, MARK. >> SOMETHING COULD CHANGE THE WAY THE COURT IS CONSTITUTED AND THEY WANT TO GET IT ALL DONE NOW. THEY HAVE LEARNED THE LESSONS WHEN, THEY HAD TO PUT A BUNCH OF THOSE CASES ON HOLD AND SET THOSE ISSUES ASIDE FOR A FEW YEARS BECAUSE THEY LOST THEIR VOTES THEY DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN AGAIN. THAT IS ANOTHER PART OF THIS TACTIC IS JUST GETTING THIS ALL DONE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE WHILE THEY HAVE GOT THE VOTES. THEY GOT THEM RIGHT NOW, WHO KNOWS HOW LONG IT WILL LAST BUT THEY WILL GET IT DONE. >> SPEAKING OF SUPREME COURT JUSTICES ENMESHED IN SCANDAL, CLARIS THOMPSON THOMAS, TOMORROW IS THE RELEASE OF THE JUSTICES FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE RECORD REPORTS. I KNOW BECAUSE YOU TWEETED THIS OUT, FIX THE COURT, RELEASE A LIST OF GIFTS THAT JUSTICES HAVE RECEIVED IN THE LAST TWO DECADES. AND WOW, THE REPORTED GIFTS FOR JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU AT HOME CAN SEE THESE NUMBERS HERE. HE IS BY FAR AND AWAY THE PERSON WHO HAS RECEIVED THE MOST GIFTS. AN ESTIMATED $2.4 MILLION IN REPORTED GIFTS AND ESTIMATES HE RECEIVED UP TO $4 MILLION IN GIFT SF. MARK, IS THERE NO, WE JUST MOVE ON? IS THAT OKAY HERE? >> RATHER THAN REITERATE HOW UTTERLY BROKEN THAT OUR SYSTEM IS. THERE IS SEEMINGLY NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR JUSTICE WHO TAKES MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN GIFT SF, I WANT TO POINT OUT SOME OF THE OTHER NUMBERS AT THAT CHART. LOOK AT SOME OF THE LIBERAL JUSTICES AND MODERATE JUSTICES. THEY ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE SAME RACKET. SOME OF THESE JUSTICES LIKE SOUTER, EVEN CAVANAUGH, THEY ONLY HAVE A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS WORTH OF GIFTS THAT THEY HAVE SEEN. THEY ARE TRYING, TO SOME DEGREE, SO PLAY BY THE RULES. AND THE POINT I WANT TO MAKE IS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO SERVE AS AN ETHICAL JUSTICE. IT IS POSSIBLE TO SAY THESE ARE THE GUIDELINES THAT BOTH CONGRESS AND THE JUDICIARY HAVE SAID AND I'M GOING TO WORK WITH IN THEM. CLARENCE THOMAS HAS DECIDED HE IS ABOVE THOSE RULES. AND QUITE LITERALLY, ABOVE THE LAW. AND THAT ALITO SET HIM APART. I THINK EVEN FROM SOMEONE LIKE SAM ALITO WHO COMES IN SECOND, DISTANT SECOND, HAVING ACCEPTED MANY GIFTS FROM BILLIONAIRES. BUT IT IS STILL NOT ON THE SCALE OF THOMAS. WHAT THIS SHOWS THAT THOMAS IS IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN. >> YEAH, I WOULD SAY. CLARIS THOMPSON AND SAM ALITO, MUTUAL LEAGUES OF THEIR OWN IN DIFFERENT WAYS. DIFFERENT JUSTICES, SAME COURT. MARK JOSEPH STERN, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR TIME. AND INCANDESCENT RAGE ABOUT
