Biden judicial nominee Adeel Mangi, who came under fire over his links to anti-Israel and anti-police groups, lashed out at "dark money" forces and some Senate Democrats on Monday, his first remarks following the collapse of his nomination to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a letter to President Joe Biden, Mangi portrayed himself as the victim of an "Islamophobic" smear campaign. Mangi, who would have served a lifetime position on the influential appellate court, also predicted an "incoming tsunami of bigotry, hatred, and discrimination" under the Trump administration.
Mangi’s path to confirmation closed last month when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) struck a deal with Republicans to pull votes for Mangi and three other appeals court nominees in exchange for holding floor votes for dozens of district court nominees. While Mangi did not formally withdraw his nomination in his letter to Biden, he conceded he has "no pathway to confirmation."
"But before I go, I have a few things to say," Mangi wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Mangi’s nomination had been on the rocks since March, when Democratic senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D., Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D., Nev.), and Joe Manchin (I., W.Va.) came out against the corporate lawyer because of his ties to anti-police and anti-Israel groups.
Mangi, whom Biden nominated on Nov. 15, 2023, served on the advisory board of a Rutgers think tank that has embraced anti-Semitic views and hosted a convicted terrorist at a 9/11 anniversary event. And he served on the board of an anti-police nonprofit, Alliance of Families for Justice, that has referred to convicted cop killers as "freedom fighters." Fellow board members included convicted domestic terrorists Kathy Boudin and Susan Rosenberg, the Free Beacon reported last year.
In his letter, Mangi lamented a "smear campaign fueled by dark money" that highlighted his ties to the groups. But he had especially harsh words for the Democrats who opposed his nomination, accusing them of a "preening abandonment of morality."
"Two allied Senators from a state far from the Third Circuit announced their opposition ostensibly based on the attacks claiming I am against law enforcement," Mangi wrote. "I will not assume the worst possible motivation for their embrace of their attack. But to me, that leaves two possibilities: that these Senators lack the wisdom to discern the truth, which exposes a catastrophic lack of judgment; or they used my nomination to court conservative voters in an election year, which exposes a catastrophic lack of principle."
"To fetishize bipartisanship amidst an outrageous attack campaign is not a virtue—it is a preening abandonment of morality."
It marks an embarrassing defeat for the White House, which touted Mangi as the first Muslim nominee for the federal appellate bench. Now, President-elect Trump will have the authority to fill the Third Circuit seat, which oversees Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The White House, which often accused Mangi’s critics of Islamophobia, did not respond to a request for comment.
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