After the Third Circuit in July denied NJ Senator Robert Menendez’s effort to toss the criminal prosecution against him, it was hardly a surprise that Menendez would file a petition for certiorari.

But the tone of the petition the Senator filed this week (h/t How Appealing) is an eyebrow-raiser. It describes the Third Circuit’s reasoning as “nonsensical,” “an affront,” “[u]nsurprisingly … in conflict with this Court’s precedents,” “mak[ing] no sense,” “completely illogical,” “utterly perverse,” containing a “fundamental flaw” that is “all the more obvious,” “misguided,” and, finally, “inexcusable.”

Now, the petition was filed by top-caliber advocates — Abbe Lowell is counsel of record, Paul Clement and Viet Dinh also signed. And maybe cert will be granted.

But I’m mighty skeptical that dumping this avalanche of contemptuous adjectives and adverbs on the Third Circuit was the best way to go.