Chuck DarwinThe first Muslim American to be nominated for a federal appellate court judgeship
lashed out at senators and the judicial confirmation process
in a letter to President Biden on Monday,
saying he had been the victim of a bigoted smear campaign.
#Adeel #Mangi, picked by Biden for a spot on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,
wrote the letter after Democratic senators cut a deal that in effect left him and other Biden appeals court nominees with no path to confirmation.
“This unfortunate fact remains: We have a fundamentally broken process for choosing federal judges,”
Mr. Mangi wrote.
“This is no longer a system for evaluating fitness for judicial office.
It is now a channel for the raising of money based on performative McCarthyism before video cameras,
and for the dissemination of dark-money-funded attacks that especially target minorities.”
The nomination of the Pakistani-born Mr. Mangi stalled under withering assault from Republicans
who grilled him over his position on Israel,
whether he supported Hamas
and his view of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack by Al Qaeda.
But the insurmountable obstacle was the refusal of at least three Democrats to support him,
leaving him short of the votes needed for confirmation.
Senate Democrats recently agreed to a year-end deal to drop attempts to push through his nomination and those of three other circuit court picks whose support was in doubt.
In exchange, Republicans agreed to limit procedural roadblocks to confirming remaining district court nominees.
That would pave the way for the Senate this week to confirm the 235th judge of Mr. Biden’s tenure,
surpassing the total placed on the bench during Donald Trump’s first term
and hitting a benchmark Democrats have long had in their sights.
In his powerfully worded letter, Mr. Mangi acknowledged that there was “no pathway” for his confirmation
and he assailed the politically driven attacks to which he was subjected,
which he attributed to his Muslim faith.
He noted that when he appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in November 2023,
he faced no scrutiny about his legal qualifications or ideology.
“Instead, I was asked questions about Israel, whether I supported Hamas, and whether I celebrated the anniversary of 9-11,”
he said in the letter.
“Even more revealing, however, was the tone.
The underlying premise appeared to be that because I am Muslim,
surely I support terrorism and celebrate 9-11.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/12/16/us/aam-letter-to-president-biden.html
Incognitim
Deborah Sampson
aggynomadi 
