How Many More Radical Associations Must Adeel Mangi Have For Democrats To Finally Shelve His Nomination?

Research | The Leader Board | THE NEWSROOM | Republican LeaderSkip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELL×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELLxxsearchxMENUFacebookTwitterInstagramFacebookTwitterInstagramVisit Senator McConnell's site here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELLxxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMThe Leader Board05.01.24How Many More Radical Associations Must Adeel Mangi Have For Democrats To Finally Shelve His Nomination?New Reporting Reveals That President Biden’s Nominee For The 3rd Circuit Court Of Appeals, Adeel Mangi, Was More Directly Involved With Rutgers Law’s Controversial Center for Security, Race And Rights Than He Told The Judiciary Committee And Donated To Radical Democrat Candidates In New York With Ties To Anti-Israel Activists And Groups SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “The hateful ideas pouring out of campus encampments are not new to America’s universities. The world’s oldest form of hate has been alive and well in higher education for quite some time now. From the vile ‘boycott, divest, and sanction’ movement that began over a decade ago to the establishment of outfits like the Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights, the forces of bigotry have been on the move. And these forces have powerful friends: President Biden’s nominee for the Third Circuit, Adeel Mangi, has long been a patron of the Rutgers center. In fact, as new evidence indicates, he’s played a much more active and enthusiastic role than he described to our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee. Apparently, every progressive organization in the country is furious that my colleagues and I have dared to call attention to these disqualifying facts. So let’s get it straight: Radicalism has no place in higher education or on the federal bench.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 5/01/2024)·         LEADER McCONNELL: “Unfortunately, the President doesn’t seem to agree. While he defends Mr. Mangi and his radical associations, he refuses to render an unqualified rejection of campus anti-Semitism. … Luckily some reasonable observers are getting mugged by reality. Just as a growing number of Democrats are rejecting Mr. Mangi’s nomination, a growing number of prominent Ivy League alumni are rejecting the surging radicalism of their alma maters. But that will only go so far. Leaders must lead. Administrators must take charge of their institutions. The basic objectives here couldn’t be clearer: On campus, protect Jewish community members. Clear the encampments. Let students go to class and take their exams. And allow graduations to proceed. Here in Washington, withdraw radical nominees.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 5/01/2024)·         LEADER McCONNELL: “[T]he situation for this nomination has become so dire that Mr. Mangi took the almost unprecedented step of writing to the Junior Senator from New Jersey to disclaim any real knowledge of an organization on whose advisory board he sits. Mr. Mangi tried to justify his association with cop-killing domestic terrorists by claiming ignorance of the full extent of AFJ’s radicalism. It’s the same see-no-evil excuse he attempted for his moral and financial support for the anti-Semitic center at Rutgers. Is this the defense of an aspiring appellate judge? That he was ignorant and careless? … There are only two explanations: 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.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 4/09/2024)SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE RANKING MEMBER LINDSAY GRAHAM (R-SC): “At his nomination hearing, Mr. Mangi sought to downplay his role with the [Rutgers] Center and his knowledge of its work. Now we know he misled the committee… President Biden should immediately withdraw this nomination.” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024) New Emails Show Adeel Mangi Was More Directly Involved With Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race And Rights Than He Has Admitted“During his confirmation hearing, embattled Biden judicial nominee Adeel Mangi told senators that he left the board of an anti-Israel think tank because it was not sufficiently ‘productive.’” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024)“But in his resignation email, Mangi said he was leaving the board because he had too many other commitments, praised the think tank’s ‘excellent work,’ and pledged his ‘ongoing financial support.’ ‘I will really enjoy watching you continue to build the organization in the years ahead,’ Mangi wrote to Sahar Aziz, the director of the Rutgers Center for Race, Security and Rights, on June 15, 2023. ‘I don’t like to stay on any board for more than a couple of years or so as I think fresh blood and exposure to new areas is very important on all sides.’” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024)“The letter is one of several emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, which cast doubt on Mangi’s statements about his involvement with the Rutgers Center. Mangi, the nominee for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, told senators that his role as an advisory board member was ‘limited to participating in four meetings’ regarding the center’s ‘academic research.’” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024)·         “But emails show Mangi did far more than that, helping Aziz recruit new members to the board, singing the group’s praises to colleagues, and bringing the Rutgers Center onto a diversity initiative spearheaded by his law firm.” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024)·         “In February 2021, Mangi contacted a potential board member after Aziz sought his help in recruiting more African-American Muslims to the advisory board. In June 2020, Mangi solicited another colleague to join the board…. Mangi helped the center ‘push’ a diversity initiative sponsored by his law firm, Patterson Belknap. In March 2021, he told Aziz that he was cutting through ‘red tape’ with his firm on the unspecified initiative, but that he had received ‘approval from our diversity group to push it.’” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024)“Mangi, who has donated $6,500 to the Rutgers Center, has already been accused of misleading lawmakers about his activities with the think tank. He failed to disclose to senators that he moderated a panel with Aziz on ‘Islamophobia’ in 2022 at a conference sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations …” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024)·         “Mangi has denied knowing that Aziz signed an open letter in May 29, 2021, that stated she was ‘in awe of the Palestinian struggle to resist violent occupation, removal, erasure, and the expansion of Israeli settler colonialism.’” (“Adeel Mangi Downplayed His Involvement With Anti-Israel Think Tank, Emails Show,” Washington Free Beacon, 4/29/2024) REMINDER: Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race And Rights Hosted Events And Speakers Expressing Solidarity With Terrorist Groups“Republicans do not appear willing to provide any votes for Mangi at the moment, with many criticizing him for his role as an adviser to the director of Rutgers University’s Center for Security, Race and Rights, which GOP critics said brought antisemitic speakers to campus.” (“Judicial Nominee's Chances Take A Hit As Senate Dem Announces Opposition,” Politico, 3/19/2024)·         “Mangi’s recent advisory board role for Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race and Rights, an anti-Israel research office that has platformed a convicted terrorist fundraiser, has become a flashpoint in the Senate Judiciary Committee and prompted at least one GOP-led investigation.” (“Pressure Mounts Over Biden Judicial Pick’s Role At Anti-Israel Group Propping Up Terrorism,” Washington Examiner, 2/13/2024)A Founding Director Of The Center ‘Signed An Open Letter From Rutgers Faculty Members That Stated: “We Are In Awe Of The Palestinian Struggle To Resist Violent Occupation, Removal, Erasure, And The Expansion Of Israeli Settler Colonialism.”’“Rutgers law professor Sahar Aziz is the founding director of the Center. Mangi acknowledges that it was Aziz who invited him to join the Center’s advisory board.” (“Third Circuit Nominee Refuses to Repudiate Rhetoric of ‘Israeli Settler Colonialism,’” National Review, 1/13/2024)·         “In 2021, Aziz signed an open letter from Rutgers faculty members that stated: ‘We are in awe of the Palestinian struggle to resist violent occupation, removal, erasure, and the expansion of Israeli settler colonialism.’” (“Third Circuit Nominee Refuses to Repudiate Rhetoric of ‘Israeli Settler Colonialism,’” National Review, 1/13/2024)·         “At his confirmation hearing and in post-hearing written questions, senators repeatedly asked Mangi whether he repudiated the concept of ‘Israeli settler colonialism’ that Aziz embraced. Mangi repeatedly declined to do so (as this exchange with Senator Hawley illustrates). Such matter, he said, is beyond his expertise.” (“Third Circuit Nominee Refuses to Repudiate Rhetoric of ‘Israeli Settler Colonialism,’” National Review, 1/13/2024)The Center Hosted An Event With A Professor ‘Who Described A Sense Of “Jubilation And Awe”’ At Hamas’ Attack On Israel“On Dec. 4 of last year, the center hosted an event titled ‘The West, Israel and Settler Colonization of Palestine’ with Columbia University professor Joseph Massad, who described a sense of ‘jubilation and awe’ at witnessing ‘Palestinian fighters from Gaza breaking through Israel’s prison fence or gliding over it by air’ on Oct. 6. A student petition at Columbia to remove Massad based on his praise of Hamas has received more than 78,700 signatures, records show.” (“Biden Judicial Pick Hobnobbed With Anti-Israel Activists At Event Sponsored By Terrorism-Tied Group,” Washington Examiner, 3/7/2024)“A federal judicial nominee issued an apology over the weekend to senators for failing to disclose his participation at a conference with anti-Israel activists that was first reported on by the Washington Examiner.” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Apologizes To Senate For Not Disclosing Role At Event With Anti-Israel Activists,” Washington Examiner, 3/11/2024)·         “Adeel Mangi, who is President Joe Biden‘s pick for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote in a letter on Saturday to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he ‘inadvertently omitted one responsive item’ from his questionnaire in November 2023. The letter was addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) and the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Apologizes To Senate For Not Disclosing Role At Event With Anti-Israel Activists,” Washington Examiner, 3/11/2024)The Center Sponsored An Event That Featured A Professor Who Pled Guilty To Aiding A Palestinian Terrorist Organization“On September 11, 2021—the 20th anniversary of 9/11—the Center co-sponsored an event (‘Whose Narrative? 20 Years since September 11’) that featured ‘speakers with terrorist affiliations,’ including an individual who pled guilty to conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” (“Third Circuit Nominee Refuses to Repudiate Rhetoric of ‘Israeli Settler Colonialism,’” National Review, 1/13/2024)·         “Speakers with terrorist affiliations or those who have expressed support for terrorism will be featured at a 9/11 event sponsored by Rutgers University and San Francisco State University on Saturday [September 2021]. The panel, ‘Whose Narrative? 20 Years since September 11, 2001,’ will serve as a launching point for a semsester-long event that will explore, among other topics, challenging the ‘exceptionalization of 9/11/2001’ and ‘legitimization of “war on terror.”’ Speakers on Saturday will include Dr. Sami Al-Arian and Dr. Rabab Abulhadi, academics who have in the past courted controversy in their engagement with terrorists and terrorist organizations.” (“September 11 Event To Feature Speakers Affiliated With Terrorists,” The Jerusalem Post, 9/11/2021)·         “Al-Arian, the director of CIGA at the Istanbul Zaim University, was indicted and struck a plea deal in 2003 over his alleged affiliation with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).” (“September 11 Event To Feature Speakers Affiliated With Terrorists,” The Jerusalem Post, 9/11/2021)·         “According to the Tampa Bay Times, Al-Arian admitted to conspiracy to aid a relative with PIJ links to obtain immigration benefits. In 2006, Al-Arian refused to testify on his ties to a charity suspected of terrorism financing, the Washington Post reported at the time. Due to his civil contempt and the terms of his plea deal he was deported to Turkey in 2015.” (“September 11 Event To Feature Speakers Affiliated With Terrorists,” The Jerusalem Post, 9/11/2021)In The Past Week, The Wife Of Professor Al-Arian Showed Up At Columbia’s Anti-Israel Encampment“The wife of an ex-college professor convicted of terrorism-related charges was spotted hanging out at Columbia University’s encampment prior to the dramatic raid — as Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday blamed outside agitators for the campus chaos. Adams said the NYPD had already started to identify individuals who weren’t Columbia students before cops were given the green light late Tuesday to oust a pro-terror mob who had taken over an academic building on campus.” (“Wife Of Convicted Terrorist Sami Al-Arian Was Hanging Out At Columbia Encampment Before Dramatic Raid,” New York Post, 5/01/2024)·         “Sami al-Arian — who pleaded guilty in 2005 to fund-raising and other support for the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad — had earlier boasted on social media that his wife, Nahla, was among those who joined anti-Israel protesters at the Ivy League campus last week.” (“Wife Of Convicted Terrorist Sami Al-Arian Was Hanging Out At Columbia Encampment Before Dramatic Raid,” New York Post, 5/01/2024) Meanwhile, New Reporting Shows Mangi Also Donated Money To Radical Candidates With Ties To Anti-Israel Groups“An attorney nominated by President Joe Biden to a lifetime appointment on the federal judiciary donated to at least two Democratic state political candidates who led groups linked to Hamas, the Washington Examiner has found.” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)“Adeel Mangi, who faces an uphill battle to confirmation in the Senate due to lawmakers raising concerns over his ties to an anti-Israel think tank and other left-wing groups, contributed to the since-failed campaigns of Tahanie Aboushi, who ran in 2021 for Manhattan district attorney, and Zead Ramadan, a 2013 New York City Council hopeful. The donations have not been previously reported and are public in New York state campaign finance records.” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)Tahanie Aboushi ‘Came Under Fire In 2021 From Jewish News Syndicate For Having ‘A History Of Consorting With Extremists And Antisemites’’“Aboushi is a civil rights lawyer who received support on the campaign trail from anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour and who used to be president of the New York chapter of Palestine Children’s Relief Fund [PCRF], a group scrutinized for partnerships with Hamas-affiliated entities.” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)·         “She has called Sarsour, who backed her candidacy and supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel, ‘a fearless sister.’ On Oct. 14, 2023, just days after the Hamas-led terrorist attack against Israel that left roughly 1,200 dead in the Jewish state, Aboushi posted a graphic on her Facebook profile that read, ‘I stand with Palestine.’” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)“Aboushi, the Democratic ex-candidate in New York that Mangi backed, came under fire in 2021 from Jewish News Syndicate for having ‘a history of consorting with extremists and antisemites.’” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)·         JEWISH NEWS SYNDICATE, JUNE 2021: “[O]ne of the most important, heavily financed races in 2021 could result in the election of an Islamist lawyer with a history of consorting with extremists and anti-Semites.” (“Islamist Connections Revealed In Nation’s Most Consequential District Attorney Race,” Jewish News Syndicate, 6/07/2021)·         “Prior to running for office, Palestinian American attorney Tahanie Aboushi worked behind-the-scenes in pursuit of an anti-Israel agenda. ‘We’re not activists that need to be in the limelight,’ Aboushi told The New York Times of her family, whose members have fundraised on behalf of Islamist politicians and collaborated with an organization committed to the destruction of Israel. ‘We do what we need to get done, and we do it well,’ she boasted.” (“Islamist Connections Revealed In Nation’s Most Consequential District Attorney Race,” Jewish News Syndicate, 6/07/2021)“Aboushi served as president of Palestine Children’s Relief Fund [PCRF] in New York in 2015 and 2014, as well as vice president of PCRF in 2013 and 2012, documents show. She has appeared to tout collaborating with the Islamic Circle of North America, which shares leadership with Jamaat-e-Islami, an international Islamist group said to be responsible for genocide and other war crimes during the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence. In 2004, the New York Times reported the Hamas-tied Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development attempted to route $50,000 to PCRF.” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)·         “On its 2022 annual report, PCRF lists a partnership with Islamic Relief Palestine, an affiliate of Islamic Relief Worldwide. The State Department in 2020 accused Islamic Relief Worldwide of being antisemitic, citing its leadership’s prior praise for Hamas as ‘the purest resistance movement in modern history’ that is full of ‘great men’ answering the ‘divine and holy call of the Muslim Brotherhood.’” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)During Her Campaign For Manhattan DA, Aboushi Garnered Endorsements From The Far Left For Pledging Not To Prosecute A Whole List Of Crimes“Several candidates, including Aboushi, are running significantly to [Former Manhattan DA Cyrus] Vance’s left. Aboushi recently won endorsements from Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman and the Working Families Party.” (“Tahanie Aboushi wants to be Manhattan DA after her own family was prosecuted,” New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, 4/23/2021)·         “Ms. Aboushi has said she would cut the district attorney’s office in half and decline to prosecute a number of low-level crimes. Along with the Working Families Party, she has been endorsed by well-known local progressives including Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams, as well as Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.” (“No Prosecutorial Experience? These D.A. Candidates Say That’s an Asset.,” The New York Times, 6/15/2021)“Aboushi, on the other hand, has the longest and most specific list of offenses—over 40—that she will decline to prosecute …” (“Meet the Woman Who Would Transform the Nation’s Most Powerful DA’s Office,” The Nation, 5/18/2021)·         “Fox News … observed dolefully that Aboushi had pledged ‘not to prosecute [a] long list of crimes.’ In a video posted to her campaign’s Twitter account, Aboushi shrugged and said, ‘Where’s the lie, though?’” (“Tahanie Aboushi wants to be Manhattan DA after her own family was prosecuted,” New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, 4/23/2021)“She’s also running one of the most progressive campaigns in the race, promising to reduce incarceration and fundamentally change the direction of the office. ‘She’s the most left-leaning,’ said former gubernatorial candidate and actress Cynthia Nixon, who endorsed Aboushi early in the race. Nixon said she was particularly impressed by Aboushi’s platform …” (“Meet the Woman Who Would Transform the Nation’s Most Powerful DA’s Office,” The Nation, 5/18/2021)Zead Ramadan Was A Board Member Of The New York Chapter Of The Council On American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), An Organization Whose Leaders ‘Often Traffic In Antisemitic And Anti-Zionist Rhetoric’2013: “The chairman of the board for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Zead Ramadan, has opened up a campaign committee to run for the New York City Council.” (“Zead Ramadan, President Of CAIR-NY, Braces For A City Council Run,” Politico, 1/02/2013)·         “Meanwhile, Ramadan is on the board of New York’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which reportedly counted him as the president in 2013.” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)“One of the top executives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said he was ‘happy’ to witness the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. Nihad Awad, executive director and co-founder of CAIR, expressed his feelings on the terrorist attack at the 16th Annual Convention for Palestine in the U.S. on Nov. 24. ‘The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on Oct. 7,’ said Awad. ‘And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their land that they were not free to walk in.’ He continued, ‘And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense — have the right to defend themselves. And yes, Israel as an occupying power does not have that right to self-defense.’” (“CAIR Director Says He Was ‘Happy’ On Oct. 7, Israel ‘Does Not Have Right To Self-Defense,’” Fox News, 12/07/2023)“CAIR was named by federal prosecutors as an ‘unindicted co-conspirator’ of Hamas in a 2009 terrorism financing case involving the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a defunct charity shuttered by the U.S. government for providing material support to Hamas.” (“Biden Judicial Nominee Funded Candidates Who Led Hamas-Tied Groups,” Washington Examiner, 5/01/2024)ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE (ADL): “While ostensibly focused on responding to the proliferation of anti-Muslim incidents and sentiment nationwide, key CAIR leaders often traffic in antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric. … Some CAIR executives have expressed support for violence against Israel and a refusal to accept Israel’s existence.” (“The Council On American Islamic Relations (CAIR),” Anti-Defamation League, Updated 7/18/2023)·         ADL: “CAIR was founded by several leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a radical anti-Israel organization that was once described by the U.S. government as part of the ‘propaganda apparatus’ of Hamas…” (“The Council On American Islamic Relations (CAIR),” Anti-Defamation League, Updated 7/18/2023) ###SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER Related Issues: Judicial Nominations, NominationsPrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER McCONNELLFacebookTwitterInstagram