A US Senate panel on Thursday nominated Adeel Mangy to become the nation’s first Muslim American federal appeals court judge after Democrats. accused Republican senators subjected him to “blatantly Islamophobic questions and insinuations.”
Mangi, who is running for a seat on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, was one of 19 nominees nominated by President Joe Biden for life in the federal seat that the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to move to an all-Democrat-led election. ward for consideration.
Among those candidates, there were three more candidates of the Court of Appeal. Set Aframenomination to the US Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit; Nicole Berner, nominated to the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit; and Joshua Kolar, nominated to the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
But Thursday’s discussion focused mostly on Mangi, a New Jersey resident and partner at the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. He was prodded by Senate Republicans in a December 13 hearing about the Israel-Hamas war and the events of September 11, 2001. Attack on the World Trade Center.
The panel voted 11-10 to nominate him after the committee’s Democratic chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin, criticized Republicans for what he called a “new low” of attacks on a candidate motivated by religious bias.
“What is it about Adeel Mangi that attracts such criticism? We know what the starting point is: He will be the first Muslim American appointed to serve on the circuit bench,” Durbin said.
In a statement, White House spokesman Andrew Bates called Mangini an “incredibly qualified and experienced attorney” who had been subjected to “vile, dishonest smears” and “hateful and unworthy attacks” by a group of Republican senators.
The questions and criticism Mangy faced both in December and Thursday largely stemmed from events hosted by Rutgers Law School’s Center on Security, Race and Rights. Mangi served on the center’s advisory board from 1999-2023.
On Thursday, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas protested the center’s “anti-Israel, anti-Semitic” stance and, given Mangin’s role there, said he was “disturbed by this candidate’s views on a number of issues, including terrorism and anti-Semitism.”
In a December hearing, Senate Republicans questioned him about statements made by the center’s director, Sahar Aziz, in support of the Palestinians and describing Israel as a “settler-colonial state,” as well as a 2021 event the center hosted on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. featuring controversial speakers.
At a Dec. 13 hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, pressed Mangi on whether there was “any justification for these atrocities” after he condemned the October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war and killed nearly 1,200 Israelis. .
Mangi replied that he was not aware of the center’s activities and condemned the attacks.
Mangi replied: “The events of October 7 were a horror that resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians. He said he “has no patience for attempts to justify or defend these events.”
But Cruz highlighted a nearly $20,000 donation to the center from Mangi and his firm on Thursday as evidence of his support for “radical political programs.”
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