Who is Lauren Windsor? The filmmaker who recorded Supreme Court Justice Alito
The Supreme Court’s impartiality got another blackeye after liberal documentary filmmaker Lauren Windsor secretly recorded Justice Alito and his wife.
The impartiality of some of those sitting Supreme Court has been called into question lately as it decides on landmark cases. Bombshell reporting has forced Justices to admit that they accepted large gifts and did not disclose them at the time. In particular the millions that were accepted by Justice Clarence Thomas from billionaire GOP-donor Harlan Crow.
As well, controversy erupted recently when it was reported that flags supporting the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement were seen flying at the properties of Justice Samuel Alito when former President Trump was attempting to illegitimately remain in office. He blamed his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, for the inappropriate display of politically-coded flags.
Now, liberal documentary filmmaker Lauren Windsor has released excerpts of recordings that she made secretly of Justice Alito and his wife as well as Chief Justice Roberts. The conversations took place at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner on June 3 and were published in Rolling Stone.
Windsor, who says she is a dues-paying member and purchased a ticket to the gala, posed as a religious conservative to get candid responses. Justice Alito was recorded saying that there could be no compromise on fundamental issues and the “one side or the other is going to win.”
He then agreed with her when Windsor put forth the idea that “the solution really is like winning the moral argument. Like, people in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that, to return our country to a place of godliness.”
Chief Justice Roberts for his part rejected a similar argument that the court should lead the nation on a moral Christian path. He said that he knows people of other faiths that wouldn’t believe that is what the institution he leads should be doing. “It’s our job to decide cases as best we can,” Roberts told Windsor.
Mrs. Alito expressed her wish to fly a flag of her own creation with “yellow and orange flames” and the word “vergogna,” shame in Italian, in the center because her neighbors across the lagoon would be flying an LGBTQ+ flag for Pride month. She said that her husband has asked her not to.
Who is Lauren Windsor? The filmmaker who recorded Supreme Court Justice Alito
This is not the first time that Windsor has used such tactics to get candid statements from high-profile conservative figures. The self-described “progressive pugilist swamp-slayer” got her start in journalism following the 2008 financial crisis documenting the Occupy Wall Street movement in Los Angeles and across the country.
In 2012, she launched The Undercurrent, a web show that reported from the field, with The Young Turks network. She covered donor events held by the Koch brothers, efforts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election results and the operations of Project Veritas and its founder James O’Keefe.
She has also set up Project Veritas Exposed and is its executive producer along with The Undercurrent. She has been accused of using similar tactics as those of Project Veritas. However, she says she does not use embedded moles as that now defunct organization is alleged to have done.
Lauren Windsor defends secret recordings of Justice Alito
In defending her most recent undercover operation, she said that “there’s nothing illegal” about it. Windsor explained that in DC because of ‘one-party consent’, a person can record another as long as one person is party to the conversation. Furthermore, the recordings did not take place inside the Supreme Court chamber itself, where recordings are not typically allowed.
“For people that want to pearl clutch about this, please tell me how we’re going to get answers when the Supreme Court has been shrouded in secrecy. And really just refusing any degree of accountability whatsoever,” she told CNN justifying the subterfuge to get the recordings.
“I understand that there is a certain amount of decorum around the Supreme Court. But this country right now is at a crossroads where we’re trying to decide,” Windsor said.
“Much of this is being led by the Supreme Court but it’s, you know, are we going to continue our tradition of secular democracy? Or are we going to be led to Christian theocracy by this Supreme Court?” she added.