WASHINGTON—Casting blame on his wife for the controversial flag that flew outside his home, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told reporters Thursday that he tried to take it down, but Martha-Ann Alito, 70, hit him, and she hits him “every night.” “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but she said, ‘You know you’re not supposed to speak without permission,’ and whipped off her belt,” said the conservative justice who teared up as he described how he was “totally helpless” to prevent the “Stop The Steal” symbol from flying over his home in the days following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, visibly wincing every time he mentioned his wife of nearly 40 years. “She’s a monster. Trust me, I wanted to hang a pro-democracy flag. I even tried sneaking out in the middle of the night to take it down, but she caught me and clocked me right in the face. She told me she’d hang me from that pole.” At press time, Alito added that he would recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases if he could, but he was worried his wife would throw him out a window again.