Dozens Of Pro Bono Attorneys Back Biden's Beleaguered Court Pick Adeel Mangi

WASHINGTON ― Dozens of pro bono partners, legal counselors and chairs at top law firms and national organizations are backing President Joe Biden’s court pick Adeel Mangi — and warning that senators are damaging the legal profession itself with their poor treatment of Mangi in his confirmation process.

“We are gravely concerned about the attacks on Mr. Mangi,” reads a letter delivered Friday to Senate party leaders, signed by 49 pro bono attorneys from around the country. “However, our main concern is that while these attacks are on Mr. Mangi, they have wide-ranging impact: they serve to demonize, vilify, and ultimately discourage pro bono service by the legal profession.”

Biden last year tapped Mangi, a veteran civil litigator in New Jersey, for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He checks all the boxes for a solid judicial candidate. He was unanimously rated as well qualified by the American Bar Association. He’s been hailed for his legal and pro bono work by groups ranging from the AFL-CIO to the Coalition of the Underrepresented Law Enforcement Associations to more than a dozen Jewish groups.

Mangi also happens to be Muslim and, if confirmed, he would be the first Muslim U.S. appeals court judge in the country. His confirmation would also tip the ideological balance of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, giving it an even mix of Democrat- and GOP-appointed judges.

Chalk it up to plain old Islamophobia or a willingness by the GOP to do whatever it takes to prevent Democrats from balancing out that court, but Mangi has become the target of one of the ugliest smear campaigns against a federal judicial nominee in recent history.

Republican senators and dark money groups spent months baselessly trying