Justice Alito's call with Trump  'highly unusual' despite his downplay: expert

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said a phone conversation he had with Donald Trump on Tuesday was nothing more than an innocent job referral for a former law clerk – but the rare call between a sitting justice and an incoming president with legal stakes before the court is still raising eyebrows with court watchers.

"William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position," Alito confirmed to ABC News. "I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon."

The call came Tuesday hours before Trump asked the Supreme Court to block his criminal sentencing in the New York hush money case on the grounds that he is protected by the high court’s blockbuster presidential immunity ruling last summer.

But Alito – who has faced a plethora of ethical questions as well as concerns of impartiality over his rulings involving Trump – told ABC News that the incoming president made no mention of the emergency request his attorneys filed with the court Wednesday morning.

ALSO READ: Trump intel advisor Devin Nunes still dismisses Russian election meddling as a 'hoax'

"We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed," Alito told ABC News on Wednesday. "We also did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the President-elect."

Trump is currently scheduled for sentencing Friday on 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and the Supreme Court has given prosecutors until Thursday morning to respond to his request to block criminal proceedings in the case, NBC News reported.

Law professor Kate Shaw, an ABC News contributor, told the network that while it is not rare for a sitting justice to provide a reference for a former clerk, it is “highly unusual” in this case “especially when the president-elect is engaged in multiple legal actions with the potential to go before the Supreme Court.”

Levi, who clerked for Justice Alito from 2011-2012, is under consideration for a variety of legal jobs in Trump’s next administration, including general counsel of the Department of Defense, sources told ABC News. Levi is no stranger to the Trump administration – he previously served as chief of staff to then-Attorney General Bill Barr.