Effort to boost the embattled judicial nominee also highlights his radical ties
Senate Democrats are touting letters of support from dozens of liberal groups in a last-ditch effort to save Adeel Mangi’s nomination to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. But some of the organizations share the radical positions that imperiled Mangi’s nomination from the outset.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) touted a letter from 125 activist groups backing Mangi, who the groups say has been the victim of “baseless and bigoted attacks” because he is Muslim. The groups, which claim to “represent the breadth and depth of the civil and human rights community,” include the Center for Constitutional Rights, 1Hood Power, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The Center for Constitutional Rights has hailed convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal as a “political prisoner,” while 1Hood Power has called to “free” Abu-Jamal from prison, where he is serving a life sentence for murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. CAIR has recently come under fire after its executive director said he was “happy to see” Hamas attack Israel on Oct. 7.
While Democrats see the groups’ letter as helpful to Mangi, it could undercut his nomination by serving as a reminder of his ties to radical organizations that defend cop-killers and provide platforms to terrorists. And Mangi cannot afford to lose any more votes after three Democratic senators—Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), and Joe Manchin (W.Va.)—said they will vote against him over his left-wing affiliations.
Mangi serves on the advisory board of the Alliance of Families for Justice, an anti-prison group that hailed Abu-Jamal and five other cop-killers as “freedom fighters.” Mangi serves on the board alongside Susan Rosenberg, a former member of the domestic terrorist groups Weather Underground and the May 19th Communist Organization, which bombed the U.S. Senate offices in 1983, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The late Kathy Boudin, a Weather Underground member who was convicted for her involvement in the murder of two police officers, was a founding board member of the alliance.
Mangi served until last year on the advisory board of the Rutgers Center for Race, Security, and Rights, an anti-Israel think tank that hosted convicted terrorist financier Sami al-Arian at a 9/11 anniversary event in 2021. He has also represented CAIR in pro bono litigation and spoke at a 2022 conference sponsored by the anti-Israel group. CAIR was named in a 2009 terrorism investigation as an unindicted coconspirator of a Hamas front group.
Mangi, who works on commercial litigation at the law firm Patterson Belknap, has said he denounces terrorists and opposes the release of cop-killers. But he has not commented directly on the cases of Abu-Jamal, the cop-killer, or al-Arian, the terrorism financier. Nor has he responded to requests for comment about Rosenberg and Boudin, his compatriots at the Alliance of Families for Justice.
Mainstream liberal groups also backed Mangi in the letter of support, though many may recoil at Mangi’s lucrative legal career. Mangi, who earned $4.4 million last year, has represented pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Labs against lawsuits that accuse the companies of fixing prices for arthritis drugs and insulin test kits.
Labor unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, which is supporting Mangi, were part of the lawsuits against Mangi’s clients, the Free Beacon reported.
