Jackson Purchase News

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding judicial nominations, specifically focusing on Adeel Mangi, President Biden’s nominee for the Third Circuit. McConnell has previously spoken about Mangi's associations with anti-Semites and anti-police radicals.

McConnell stated that Mangi misled the Senate about these associations. He further highlighted a recent revelation where Mangi introduced an anti-police associate to the head of the Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights for a collaborative project.

According to McConnell, Democrats have not been able to counter these allegations due to their factual nature. Instead, they have launched a campaign to garner left-wing support for Mangi and pressure Democratic colleagues into supporting his nomination.

The Republican leader expressed concern over this development, stating it has led the Senate from questioning Mangi's judgment to his ethics. After police unions opposed his nomination, Mangi wrote a letter complaining that opposing groups had not consulted him about his position or views.

McConnell questioned what these parties would have learned about Mangi's views if they had asked. He noted that Democrats have been presenting Mangi to liberal interest groups in order to secure endorsements.

A group of left-leaning law enforcement organizations met with Mangi and praised his commitment to 'help ensure equity' in law enforcement. McConnell questioned what this meant and whether these were truly Mangi's views.

He pointed out that such questions could have been posed by colleagues on the Judiciary Committee but these meetings took place after his hearing. Furthermore, 125 progressive organizations sent a letter supporting Mr. Mangi without disclosing how many of them he had met with or what views he discussed with them.

McConnell criticized this lack of transparency, stating nominees are required to disclose any promises made during their confirmation process as well as any meetings and coordination with left-wing dark money groups.

However, according to McConnell, if such commitments are made after the Committee process, as Mangi allegedly did with certain law enforcement groups, nothing needs to be disclosed. McConnell found this particularly troubling considering these groups are primarily based in Democratic New Jersey counties like Middlesex and Hudson.

He questioned whether local political figures were supporting Mangi and what they expected in return. McConnell contrasted this behavior with Judge Quraishi, the nation’s first Muslim district judge, whom he supported and who recently made headlines by striking down New Jersey’s primary balloting system.

McConnell concluded his remarks by stating that it is the Senate's role to provide advice and consent, ask nominees questions, evaluate their answers, and judge them on their public record. He argued that Mangi's closed-door meetings with interest groups undermine this process and call into question his potential fairness as a judge. This was presented as another reason why the Senate should not confirm Mr. Mangi.