'Breach of ethics': Jamie Raskin pushes Alito to recuse over 'startling' Trump phone call

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) demanded that Justice Samuel Alito recuse himself from a case involving Donald Trump after a "startling ex parte private phone call" with the president-elect.

Just hours before Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay his sentencing, the president-elect spoke with Alito about a former law clerk seeking a job in the new administration.

Alito later suggested the call had not been improper because they "did not discuss the emergency application he filed today."

Raskin, however, argued that the "mere" appearance of bias was enough to force the justice to recuse himself. Trump has asked the high court to delay sentencing in his New York fraud trial.

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"Yesterday, we learned that President-elect Trump spoke to Justice Alito just hours before Trump asked the Supreme Court to halt his criminal sentencing in New York," Raskin told CBS News. "Justice Alito brushed off this startling ex parte private phone call and breach of judicial ethics by asserting that this perfectly timed conversation actually regarded his recommendation of a former clerk for an administration job. Especially when paired with his troubling past partisan ideological activity in favor of Trump."

"The mere act of having a personal telephone conversation with the president-elect, while he has active interests in matters currently pending before the court, is plainly sufficient to trigger a situation in which the Justice's impartiality might reasonably be questioned," he added.