The DC Circuit just issued an order for the counsel in Flynn to be prepared to answer questions about mandatory recusal or removal conditions for judges... jonathanturley.org/2020/06/28/mak…
...The only potentially applicable part of 28 U.S.C. 455 includes mandatory recusal "where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding."
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28…
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28…
The order is interesting because the briefing already raises bias, but the order is preparing for argument on whether this was not just a case of judicial error but a matter for mandatory disqualification. It is the difference between judging wrong and the wrong judge in a case.
The en banc could ask why it should not send the case back for a hearing (reversing the dismissal order of the panel) but remove Sullivan as the judge. It then reaffirms the power of the trial court while reinforcing the need for judicial impartiality...
...such an order could also include instruction to bar Sullivan's highly irregular use of a third party to argument and note the clarity of the legal standard strongly favoring dismissal in such circumstances.
