Since the barbaric attack on innocent Israeli civilians on October 7, there has been a dramatic rise in antisemitism in the United States. Despite this, President Joe Biden has nominated a radical anti-Israel and anti-police activist to be a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Adeel Abdullah Mangi’s record is so appalling that even several Senators from Biden’s own party have come out against him.
If appointed, Mangi would be the first Muslim American to hold a federal appeals judgeship. Perhaps that is what excites the White House about him, but Mangi’s long and disconcerting record of supporting terrorists and cop-killers disqualifies him as a suitable judge, whatever his religion.
Originally from Pakistan, Mangi is, by all accounts, an example of the American dream fulfilled. A graduate of both Oxford and Harvard law schools, he is currently a partner at a prestigious New York City law firm. Unfortunately, he uses the tremendous opportunities America has given him to prop up those who hate this nation.
During his tenure on the Board of Advisors for Rutgers University Law School’s Center for Security, Race, and Rights, Mangi oversaw several campus events that painted Jews as the enemy, as colonizers, and America as their evil enabler. One such event egregiously took place on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The featured speaker was none other than Sami Al-Arian, a scholar who was convicted in 2003 for providing material support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Sunni Islamist militant group that is committed to the destruction of Israel. Another guest was Dr. Rabab Abudlhadi, who once tried to host a webinar with a Palestinian plane hijacker as a guest speaker.
Directly after the October 7 attack, the Center hosted an event that featured Professor Rashid Khalid of Columbia University, who wrote a book titled The Hundred Years War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonization and Resistance. The book’s thesis is that Zionists, and their American and British supporters, are responsible for terrorism in the Middle East – not radical jihadists.
Other events that the Center has put on for students had titles such as “Mobilizing International Law and Social Movements in the Palestinian Struggle for Justice,” “Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists,” and “White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America.” The Center’s purported mission is to combat racism, but they seem more interested in fomenting it against Jewish and white Americans.
Mangi, when asked, claimed to be unaware of these events. And yet both he and his law firm have donated thousands of dollars to the Center over the years. Most people do not give away those kinds of funds without knowing how they will be used.
Another organization supported by Mangi is Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), a group that champions abortion and pushes radical gender ideology. From 2018 to 2020, Mangi served on their Board of Directors. Despite claiming to be a religious organization, MPV wrote an amicus brief in the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision. They argued against the right to religious freedom, that baker Jack Philips should be forced to violate his religious beliefs and create wedding cakes for LGBT couples. MPV also supports a radical pro-abortion agenda, participating in briefs to protect abortion access in Texas as well as the distribution of mifepristone, the most common chemical abortion drug, through the mail. The group also submitted a brief in the Dobbs case, urging the Supreme Court to protect the nationwide access to abortion.
While these associations should be enough to disqualify Mangi, a third one is what has gotten him in trouble with Democrat Senators, potentially sinking his nomination. Mangi currently serves on the advisory board of Alliance of Families for Justice (AFJ), an organization founded in part by a convicted cop killer, Kathy Boudin. In 2021, the organization held an event that advocated for the release of six other cop killers, calling them “freedom fighters.” Nineteen different law enforcement agencies have declared their opposition to Mangi, and both of Nevada’s Democrat Senators, Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, have publicly stated that they will vote against Mangi because of this particular association.
Though he has never said so publicly, Mangi is well-aware of the inexcusable radicalism of each of these groups. On the questionnaire that he submitted to Congress for his federal appeals nomination, Mangi failed to mention his association with the Rutgers Center, despite serving on the Board of Advisors for so many years. He also claimed to be unaware of the AFJ’s radicalism, despite its founder being a nationally recognized terrorist. As Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) pointed out, “Either Mr. Mangi is so careless that he repeatedly neglected to conduct the simplest due diligence before joining advisory boards of radical groups, or he joined these groups intentionally. Either one makes him unfit for this lifetime appointment.”
Despite the bipartisan opposition to Mangi, the Biden Administration has still not pulled his nomination. This is likely out of fear of angering the vocal antisemitic voting factions. But political games should not take priority over nominating judges who are fit to serve. Mangi’s long list of radical associations indicates that if appointed, he will not be an impartial arbiter of the law.
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