Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is “duty-bound” to reject calls to recuse himself from court cases involving former President Donald Trump and January 6, he wrote in a letter to his Senate detractors on Wednesday.

Alito’s statement came in response to a letter drafted last week by Senators Richard Durbin and (D., Ill.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) that claimed “two incidents involving the flying of flags created an appearance of impropriety.”

“As I have stated publicly, I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag. I was not even aware of the upside- down flag until it was called to my attention,” Alito wrote of the first incident, in which an upside-down American flag hung in front of his Virginia residence. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused. My wife and I own our Virginia home jointly. She therefore has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit, and there were no additional steps that I could have taken to have the flag taken down more promptly.”

“I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal. I am therefore required to reject your request,” he added.

Alito also said that he had no involvement in the second incident, in which an “An Appeal to Heaven” flag flew in the backyard of the family’s vacation home during the summer of 2023.

“I recall that my wife did fly that flag for some period of time, but I do not remember how long it flew. And what is most relevant here, I had no involvement in the decision to fly that flag,” he wrote.