The first Muslim to serve as a judge in a federal appellate court was narrowly voted in on Thursday, amid outrage over his ties to a group accused of being “basically a mouthpiece for Hamas” by one senator.
Adeel Mangi, a New Jersey Lawyer nominated by President Biden, was approved to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the Third District, a lifetime appointment, by an 11-10 vote divided along party lines in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
During the fiery Senate hearing Senators sparred over Mangi’s former seat on the advisory board of the controversial Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR) at Rutgers Law, which during his tenure hosted a panel on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 featuring guests who had pleaded guilty to terrorist association, and had known ties to terror groups.
While being grilled by conservatives including Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and John Kennedy in December, Mangi insisted he’d never heard of the event until the hearing, and said his role on the advisory board had no involvement in CSRR’s programming.
Conservatives did not think Mangi’s position absolved him of responsibility for an organization he was a part of from 2018 to 2023, and personally donated $6,500 to.
“How can you sit on an organization that would invite these terrorists, these convicted terrorists, and you didn’t resign?” asked Sen. Kennedy, before Sen. Cruz repeatedly pressed Mangi to condemn the CSRR.
“I will condemn without equivocation any terrorism, any terrorists, or any act of terrorism, or any defense of any act of terrorism,” Mangi stated. “I don’t know anything about this event or who these people are, I never heard of any of them. If someone on there is a terrorist, I condemn them.”
CSRR did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
During Thursday’s confirmation vote, committee chair Sen. Dick Durbin took time to read a personal statement in which he called the line of questioning Mangi faced “a new low in this committee.”
“What is it about Adeel Mangi that attracts such criticism? We know what the starting point is. He would be the first Muslim American to be appointed to serve on the circuit bench… And we know because of that he is a target,” Durbin charged.
Sen. Hawley called Durbin’s accusation of Islamophobia “absolutely outrageous,” and his conservative colleagues pointed out the committee overwhelmingly voted to appoint Zahid Quraishi, a Muslim American, to a lower federal court in 2021.
“I resent the insinuation that those of us who asked him questions are somehow anti-Muslim or prejudiced in some way. I think it’s outrageous,” Hawley said.
“I don’t care what his religion is or if he has a religion, I don’t care. But I do care that he was the director of a center that was basically a mouthpiece for Hamas.
“He said over and over all his concerns were academic. My question is, did he not have concerns about Jewish students?”
The conservative senator misstated Mangi’s role with the CSRR, but the center’s programming, which includes titles like “Palestine Teach in Series: Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories,” and “Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine,” has raised eyebrows among some Jewish advocacy groups.
“We are not confident he can impartially execute his judicial duties, and should be removed from consideration immediately,” StopAntisemitism director Liora Rez said in a statement, citing concerns over Mangi’s association with CSRR.
Other Jewish groups disagreed, including the Anti Defamation League (ADL), which called the December hearing “inappropriate and prejudicial.”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates called concerns over Mangi “vile, unconscionable smears” in a statement to The Post.
“The Constitution, which every Senator has sworn to uphold — and which Mr. Mangi will uphold as the first Muslim to serve on an appellate court in American history — forbids religious litmus tests,” the White House said.
Additional reporting by Steve Nelson.