I’m not a lawyer but here’s my take on this. Whether or not Judge Sullivan should have recused himself from the case, or be disqualified from the case is irrelevant to the appeal of the writ of mandamus. The writ of mandamus was an order to the lower court to dismiss the case. I think that the appeals court is going to rule that the extraordinary relief of the writ of mandamus is unwarranted when a lesser remedy is available, that remedy being the recusal or disqualification of Judge Sullivan. I suspect that the appeals court will overturn the writ of mandamus and send the case back to Judge Sullivans court with instructions for the defense to file a motion for one of the lesser remedies. They’re just playing games to keep this tied up in court longer.
The other remedy was for the DOJ to withdraw the complaint, which it did.
Asking for relief though an extraordinary writ is only because Sullivan refused to sign an order dismissing the case as agreed to by the DOJ and Flynn; and as directed by the three-judge panel.