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Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday filed an appeal to the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, citing widespread concerns about Biden.・We requested that the nomination of Mr. A. Mangi be withdrawn. A candidate who is not “just among Senate Republicans.”
The White House condemned efforts to derail Mangi’s nomination and said Biden would continue to support Mangi.
Mr. Mangi, who has lived the American dream and proven his integrity, is the target of a vicious smear campaign simply because he makes history as the first Muslim to serve as a federal appellate judge. ” White House press secretary Andrew Bates said Wednesday. “Senate Democrats should stand for the qualities that make America exceptional that Mr. Mangi embodies, not the hateful forces that seek to push America back into the past.”
Republicans and conservative groups such as the Judicial Crisis Network have accused Mangi of being anti-Semitic, and Republicans and some Democrats have said he is anti-police. Republicans also accused Mangi of sharing views espoused by panelists who spoke at an event hosted by Rutgers Law School’s Center on Safety, Race and Rights. Mr. Mangi is an experienced litigator and partner at a New York law firm and previously served on the Center’s advisory board.
In 2021, marking the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2021, terrorist attacks, the Center hosted a roundtable discussion featuring several controversial speakers. Republicans criticized that event and a recent lecture the center hosted about life under “violent occupation and settler colonial violence in Palestine.” October 7, days after a deadly Hamas attack on a community in southern Israel.
Mangi time During his December 13 nomination hearing, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked a Harvard- and Oxford-trained lawyer about his views on the Hamas attacks and why they were justified. I asked him if he believed it.
“The events of October 7th were horrific. It’s horrible,” Mangi said, adding that his membership on the advisory board means he shares his views with all those who work and speak at the center. He pointed out that this was not the case. “The attacks on civilians were abhorrent and went against everything I stand for. I have no patience for any attempt to justify or defend attacks on civilians.”
The uproar over Mangi’s nomination comes at a time of heightened political sensitivity following a cross-border attack that killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials. . retaliatory military operation. At least 31,819 people have been killed and 73,934 injured in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Federal officials say threats against Arab, Jewish and Muslim Americans are also on the rise.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called Mangi an “excellent candidate with incredible qualifications” in remarks on the Senate floor earlier this month. He called him “a person who has undergone scrutiny that I have never seen before.” ”
But some Democratic Party members too expressed concern about Mangi’s nomination, citing his membership on the advisory board of a criminal justice organization that advocates on behalf of incarcerated individuals and their families. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada on Tuesday became the first Democratic senator to say she opposes Mangi’s nomination.
“It is extremely disturbing that Mr. Mangi is affiliated with Families Alliance for Justice,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “This organization has sponsored groups in the name of Kathy Boudin, a member of the domestic terrorist organization Weather Underground, and has advocated for the release of individuals convicted of killing police officers. I cannot support it.”
If all Republican senators and Cortez Masto oppose his confirmation, the beleaguered lawyer would need the support of the remaining 50 senators. Democrats and independents will be confirmed.Judicial Crisis Network launches anti-Mangi campaign Advertising and targeting in Montana, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania). Additionally, outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-Virginia) told Politico that he won’t vote for judicial nominees that don’t have at least some bipartisan support.
Mangi has been criticized by more than a dozen law enforcement agencies, including the New York Police Council, according to Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, including other groups, He is also supported by the Coalition of Underrepresented Law Enforcement Groups and the National Organization of Black Women in Law Enforcement, as well as the AFL-CIO, Anti-Defamation League, and American Jewish Committee.
“Mr. Mangi was grilled under flimsy pretexts about his views on Israel, terrorism, and anti-Semitism, and these serious issues were used as tools for partisan attacks,” the AJC said in a statement. “Elected officials should take a leadership role in alleviating fear and terror against America’s religious minorities, such as Jews and Muslims, rather than inciting it.”
Other Republicans have expressed concerns about Mangi’s work as a partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, according to an internal memo prepared for Senate Republicans and shared with The Washington Post. There, Mr. Mangi represents major pharmaceutical companies and litigates union pension plans.
Mangi did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Biden has made diversifying the nation’s federal judiciary a key priority, nominating Zahid N. Quraishi as the first Muslim federal district judge at the beginning of his term.
Of the 187 Biden judicial nominees confirmed to the Senate so far, nearly two-thirds are women, including Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, according to the American Constitution Society.Biden’s choice He was more racially diverse than his predecessors.Approximately 35 percent of confirmed According to the association’s data, judges are white, 28% black, 15% Latino and 13% Asian American. under president donald President Trump: Fewer than 4 percent of the judges confirmed to be on the court are black.
split on Tuesday The Senate has confirmed Nicole Varner. He is the first openly gay judge and first labor attorney on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which serves Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
“MS. Mr. Varner will bring much-needed professional and personal diversity to the court and ensure the satisfaction of all.” Americans deserve representation in our judiciary,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said before the vote. “These are judges who are outside the box, including people of color, women, and judges from diverse professional backgrounds, creating courts that better reflect the people they serve.”
“Senate Democrats will continue to work with President Biden in the coming months to confirm more judges and improve balance on the court,” Schumer said.
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