If stock ownership triggered the recusals, why not say exactly that in a brief contemporaneous statement announcing the recusal -- especially since the ownership or sale of the stock would eventually be revealed in the justices' annual financial disclosure statements?
In his 1972 statement, Justice Rehnquist said recusal involved a delicate balance.
Well, for starters, his statement evades the issue of recusal.
In a handwritten note six days later, Justice Stewart was ambivalent about the wisdom of issuing a statement explaining the decision on recusal, though he called the idea "basically healthy".
Ms. Strmensky issued a statement late today saying that Ms. Miranda's recusal was "in accordance with New Jersey's strict ethical guidelines," and that it was "well established by governmental ethics agencies that a recusal cures a conflict".
Stephen Gillers, a New York University School of Law professor specializing in legal ethics, said Sessions "reneged on his recusal promise to the Senate," pointing to Sessions' statement from March: "I have decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the United States".
"I urge people to compare the statement that the attorney general made with respect to recusal to the events of the last day or so, with the president of the United States specifically mentioning in connection with those letters, the investigation of Russia.
You can't hold back and see how the judge will vote and then seek recusal, or first start your research on the judge's statements, if you lose".
It is extremely unusual, however, for a recusal to be sought or granted on the basis of a public statement of opinion on the legal issue before the court.
Saturday's statement is the first the AFC has said of Salman's recusal.
