Did a Big Law Attorney Act Unethically to Sabotage Trump's Travel 'Ban'?

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At oral argument, the government was represented by career lawyer August Flentje. As Paul Mirengoff at Powerline says, Flentje “did not argue effectively” -- an understatement, according to my sources.

But why was Flentje arguing the case in the first place instead of Acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco, an exceptional lawyer who has argued numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and who filed an outstanding brief in the case?

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Because on the day before oral argument, Francisco recused himself from the case.

He did so because an attorney from the New York office of Francisco’s former law firm, Jones Day, filed an amicus brief on behalf of several law professors in the Ninth Circuit. That brief questioned the constitutionality and “rationality of the Executive Order” as well as its alleged “discriminatory impact.”

The filing of an amicus brief is not unusual. But the circumstances surrounding this particular brief are unusual and raise ethical questions that have not been answered.

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