WASHINGTON (CN) — A group of House Republicans on Friday became the latest lawmakers to urge President Joe Biden to withdraw a nominee for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to tie the prospective jurist to what they called “antisemitic speech” and “terrorist propaganda.”
Adeel Mangi, nominated to the federal bench in November, has for months been under the GOP’s microscope for time he spent on the board of the Center for Security, Race and Rights at Rutgers University. Mangi worked as an adviser to the center — which bills itself as addressing “the underlying structural and systemic causes of Islamophobia and xenophobia against people of Arab, African and South Asian descent" — from 2019 to 2023.
Republicans grilled the nominee on his work for the center during a December confirmation hearing, demanding he answer for anti-Israel statements from the program’s leadership and explain events held by the organization.
Despite GOP table-pounding about Mangi, however, the Democrat-led Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nominee on a tight party line vote last week, sending his appointment on to the full chamber for confirmation.
Before that can happen, 10 House Republicans are demanding that President Biden immediately withdraw Mangi’s nomination, arguing in a letter dated Friday that anyone associated with the Rutgers center has “no place in the federal judiciary.”
The group of lawmakers included members whose districts are covered under Third Circuit Jurisdiction, such as Pennsylvania Representatives Guy Reschenthaler and Scott Perry, as well as New Jersey Representative Jeff Van Drew.
“During his tenure as a board member, the center supported efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel by pushing for the boycott, divestment and sanction movement,” the letter read, “and calling for resistance in Palestine.”
Echoing the complaints of their Senate colleagues, the cadre of House Republicans pointed to a 2021 event held by the center. Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the program featured a panel discussion with Sami Al-Arian, an academic scholar who pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges of racketeering for a U.S.-designated terrorist group known as Palestine Islamic Jihad.
The lawmakers argued that Mangi had refused to denounce the center or its “radical ideology.”
“Mr. Mangi was given ample opportunity to denounce examples of antisemitic rhetoric espoused by the center,” they told President Biden. “He failed to do so in his written responses and oral testimony to the committee every single time.”
At his December confirmation hearing, Mangi explained that his work on the Rutgers board was merely in an advisory capacity, and that he met with its other members just once annually. When they did convene, the nominee said, the board discussed areas of academic focus for the race and civil rights program.
Despite that, Mangi added he “unequivocally would condemn terrorism or people associated with it.”
The House Republicans, however, are adamant that the White House walk back its support for Mangi.
“Given the rise of antisemitism across our nation, we have grave concerns regarding his nomination and impartiality,” they wrote.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Courthouse News in a statement Friday that President Biden "is deeply proud to have nominated Adeel Abdullah Mangi, an indisputably qualified and experienced attorney who has lived the American dream and is devoted to our Constitution and the rule of law."
Bates called the GOP attacks on the nominee "vile, unconscionable smears" and argued they had been discredited by Jewish advocacy organizations including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee.
Adding that the Constitution "forbids religious litmus tests," the White House spokesperson said that lawmakers spreading "these hateful and undignified attacks" including Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, "should take note of that fact."
Democrats have also defended Mangi’s record, arguing the nominee should not be held accountable for the statements or actions of others.
At last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee vote, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker cited Mangi’s previous denouncement of Hamas and its Oct. 7 attack on Israel and accused Republicans of seeking “guilt by association” for the nominee.
Committee Chair Dick Durbin accused GOP lawmakers of “a new low” in their opposition to White House judicial nominees, arguing that their accusations of antisemitism and supporting terrorism were motivated by Mangi’s Muslim-American background.
That charge was met with reproach from Judiciary Committee Republicans, including Cruz, who said Durbin was “screaming Islamophobia” instead of addressing GOP criticisms of the nominee.
“Mr. Mangi deliberately associated with a consistently antisemitic organization,” the Texas Republican said, “and yet Democrats are perfectly happy for him to be a federal judge.”
During Mangi’s December confirmation hearing, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar pointed out that some of her colleagues would not want to be judged by the same metric they were using on the nominee.
“I keep thinking about all of us having gone to schools, or served on committees or doing other things where we are not the decisionmakers,” she said. “If we were all held responsible for that, I don't think any of us would be up here.”
Follow @BenjaminSWeiss
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Jan. 6 sentences April 19, 2024 -
