The Office of the Solicitor General found itself in the position of defending an Executive Order targeting a broad group of individuals whom, the president claimed, should be subject to broad restrictions in the interest of national security. As the office responsible for representing the United States before the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General argued that “[p]rompt and decisive action was necessary” because loyal individuals could not be separated from disloyal. Relying on that position — that the restrictions were justified based upon official military assessments — the Court accepted the government’s reasoning and ruled against the petitioners. Yet, it turns out, the government’s argument was demonstrably false; the Solicitor General knowingly misled the Supreme Court in order to obscure the fact that the Executive Order was based on racist ideas, rather than reasoned judgment.