Alito spoke to Trump shortly before the lawsuit was filed with the Supreme Court

Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. spoke to President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, not long before Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to postpone his sentencing following his conviction in New York in a hush-money case.

Judge Alito said the call was a routine work reference for a former court clerk whom Mr. Trump was considering for a government position.

But it was not clear why Mr. Trump would call to check references, a task generally left to lower-level employees.

Gabe Roth, the executive director of Fix the Court, an advocacy group that advocates for more openness on the Supreme Court, said the call was extremely problematic given the ethical controversies surrounding the court in general and Justice Alito in particular.

“The call was simply an excuse for Trump to speak to one of the nine people who will decide the fate of his hush money conviction in the coming days and who will discuss many other Trump-related issues over the next four years,” Mr. Roth said.

“Typically,” he added, “Trump and Alito are better at hiding their ethical problems, at least for a few months or sometimes longer.” But since the Supreme Court last year approved near-absolute immunity for the president and Congress refuses to adopt enforceable ethics rules for judges, there seems to be no reason to even try.”

In a statement Wednesday, Justice Alito said the call was an extraordinary endorsement of a talented clerk.

“William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications for a government position,” Judge Alito said. “I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon.”

Judges often serve as references for their law clerks, but potential employers are rarely confident that they will do business in court. Even regardless of his own criminal case, Mr. Trump is expected to lead an administration that will undoubtedly be a party to dozens of cases in court.

Judge Alito said he had not discussed the hush money case or any other litigation involving Mr. Trump.

“We have not discussed the emergency motion he filed today, and in fact, at the time of our conversation, I was not even aware that such a motion would be filed,” the judge said. “We also did not discuss other matters that are pending or may be pending before the Supreme Court in the future, or previous Supreme Court decisions involving the president-elect.”

The call, previously reported by ABC News, added questions about ethical practices at the court, including questions about gifts and luxury trips accepted and only partially disclosed by Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas.

In 2023, ProPublica reported that Judge Alito had failed to disclose a private jet flight paid for by a conservative billionaire who later argued cases in court. In an opinion column in the Wall Street Journal, the judge wrote that he was not required to disclose the trip.

In 2024, The New York Times reported on an upside-down American flag flying outside the judge’s residence in the weeks following the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which was worn on January 6th rioters and a symbol of a more Christian-minded government, displayed at the Justice Beach House in the summer of 2023.

In Mr. Trump’s emergency motion, his lawyers asked the justices to stay his sentencing, scheduled for Friday, 10 days before the president’s inauguration. The filing came after a New York appeals court on Tuesday rejected the same request and sharply questioned the validity of his efforts to overturn the conviction.

“This court should order an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York court,” the motion states, “to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government.”

The Supreme Court ordered prosecutors to respond to the request by Thursday morning and possibly rule on the request later in the day.