Biden’s judicial nominee Adeel Mangi ‘subjected to hostile questions’

Senators and several organisations have taken aim at three Republican senators for asking President Joe Biden's historic judicial nominee, Adeel Mangi, unpleasant questions during his confirmation hearing.

In terms of nominations to the federal appellate court, he is the first Muslim-American.

Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Tom Cotton grilled Adeel Mangi about his opinions on the October 7 attack in Israel, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, and the conflict between Tel Aviv and Palestine during the Senate judiciary body's hearing on Wednesday, according to HuffPost.

He will become the third Muslim-American federal judge and the first Muslim-American judge on an appeals court if confirmed. Mangi was nominated by the US president to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which is located in Philadelphia.

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell condemned the senators “for subjecting Mr Mangi to irrelevant, hostile questions about Israel and Palestine”.

He said: “Singling out a Muslim judicial nominee and forcing him to answer ‘gotcha questions’ about the Middle East simply because of faith or because of his tangential connections to Muslims who comment on the Middle East is Islamophobic and un-American. So is raising the hateful trope that presumptively assumes that Muslims are antisemitic.”

The CAIR deputy director asked all senators “to reject this nonsense and start assessing Muslim American judicial nominees based on their expertise and qualifications, like all other nominees”.

To a query, Adeel Mangi replied, “Any act of antisemitism or any bigotry including anti-Muslim bigotry on college campuses is abhorred. My children will be going to universities. I want them to feel safe and I want the children of my Jewish friends and colleagues to feel safe.”

Cruz constantly tried to press Mangi to express if he felt any justification for the Hamas attack on Israel, to which the latter repeatedly condemned terrorism.

Cruz constantly tried to press Mangi to express if he felt any justification for the Hamas attack on Israel, to which the latter repeatedly condemned terrorism.

“I have no patience ― none ― for any attempts to justify or defend those events,” Mangi said of the October 7 attacks.

At one moment, the senator’s grilling became so hostile that Senator Dick Durbin, the committee chair, had to intervene.

Hawley asked the Muslim nominee if in his opinion Israel was a colonial state. Mangi said neither the question was relevant to his confirmation for the position nor he was an expert on the issue. “I have no basis as a judicial nominee to cast a view on the Middle East,” Mangi said.

Dick Durbin, the committee chair, apologised to Mangi for his ill-treatment by the senators and mentioned that his nomination was supported by the National Council of Jewish Women.

Senator Cory Booker, also on the committee, said it was shameful to watch the three senators’ behaviour. He recommended the Muslim-American’s nomination to the White House.

“I do know that Muslim Americans who have strong views of condemning antisemitism, condemning terrorism, are often forced to answer questions like that over and over again,” Booker said. “That, in itself, for so many Muslim Americans is insulting and unfortunate.”

On the other hand, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Maya Wiley weighed in on the importance of diversity in the judiciary and lauded Mangi’s potential confirmation as a landmark achievement.

Wiley said, “Mr Mangi is an excellent choice for this position, and we strongly urge the Senate to confirm him to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

“Public trust in our judiciary is vital to its function, and when our courts better represent the many communities they serve, this trust is strengthened. This diversity of personal and professional experiences also helps to improve judicial decision-making. The confirmation of Mr. Mangi would be a meaningful step towards ensuring that our federal courts reflect and represent the diversity of our nation.”