But it was not a problem when Scalia went hunting with Cheney when Cheney had a case pending before the Supreme Court?
Scalia hunting previously with Cheney was not an ex parte issue:
Scalia refused, however, to recuse himself in the case of Cheney v. United States District Court for the District of Columbia, a case dealing with the right of the Vice-President to keep secret the membership of an advisory task force on energy policy. Scalia was asked to recuse because he had previously gone on a hunting trip with various persons including Cheney; Scalia refused, and took the relatively uncommon step of defending his refusal to recuse himself from the case with a public memorandum, focusing on the distinction between official capacity and personal capacity suits, and concluding that because Vice President Cheney was sued in his official capacity, any personal relationship that existed between the two men was irrelevant to Scalia’s ability to render an impartial judgment. “I do not believe my impartiality can reasonably be questioned,” concluded Scalia.[60][not in citation given] Scalia, concurring with the majority, supported Cheney’s position in the case.
Leni