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Tags: scotus | livestream | toilet | flushing

Toilet Heard Being Flushed During Supreme Court Arguments

laptop showing on screen a photo of john roberts speaking during a court hearing
Chief Justice John Roberts speaks during oral arguments before the Supreme Court in a case as it is livestreamed on a laptop, on May 4, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) 

By    |   Thursday, 07 May 2020 10:24 AM EDT

People listening Wednesday to an audio feed of the Supreme Court's oral arguments, being held remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic, heard something that wasn't part of the official testimony: the sound of a toilet flushing. 

The sound of someone's apparent bathroom break was heard while attorney Roman Martinez, who is representing political groups challenging the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's prohibition concerning unwanted robocalls, was arguing his case, reports CNN.

The attorney didn't publicly acknowledge the interruption, and C-SPAN Social Media Senior Specialist Jeremy Art, who posted the sound clip on Twitter, later posted a clarification saying that even "though he is pictured in this clip because he was talking at the time, the flushing sound was not from Roman Martinez."

The court has provided live audio feed to Fox News, the Associated Press and C-SPAN, and CNN.com has been livestreaming the unusual sessions, which are being held by teleconference for the first time in the court's history. 

Attorneys arguing cases have been told that once a lawyer completes his or her arguments, that person's phone line would be muted and the line for the next lawyer speaking would be unmuted. 

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, responding to the C-SPAN post, was quick to point out that the sound wasn't a commentary on Martinez's testimony, considering the flush happened just after the lawyer had said the words "what the FCC has said."

"To be clear, the FCC does not construe the flushing of a toilet immediately after counsel said 'what the FCC has said' to reflect a substantive judgment of the Supreme Court, or of any Justice thereof, regarding an agency determination," Pai tweeted.

Sandy Fitzgerald

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


US
People listening Wednesday to an audio feed of the Supreme Court's oral arguments, being held remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic, heard something that wasn't part of the official testimony: the sound of a toilet flushing. The sound of someone's apparent...
scotus, livestream, toilet, flushing
276
2020-24-07
Thursday, 07 May 2020 10:24 AM
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