White House ramps up defense of embattled Muslim American judicial nominee

WASHINGTON — Facing a potentially devastating Democratic defection in the Senate, the White House is ramping up its fight to confirm an embattled judicial nominee who would be the first Muslim American ever to serve as a U.S. federal appeals court judge.

The White House is touting a wave of new law enforcement endorsements for Adeel Mangi to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, building on seven similar organizations that have already backed Mangi, in an attempt to counter what they describe as a Republican-led smear campaign predicated on his religion.

“Some Senate Republicans and their extreme allies are relentlessly smearing Adeel Mangi with baseless accusations that he is anti-police,” White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said in a statement to NBC News. “That could not be further from the truth, and the close-to-a-dozen law enforcement organizations that have endorsed him agree.”

On Wednesday, a third Democrat came out against Mangi's nomination: Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who joined her home state colleague, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in opposing him. The move puts Mangi's nomination in greater peril in the chamber, where Democrats hold a 51 to 49 majority.

Behind the scenes, Zients and other top White House officials have been pushing lawmakers to confirm Mangi “without further delay,” a White House official said. In addition to Zients, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Shuwanza Goff, Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs Ali Nouri, White House counsel Ed Siskel and White House senior counsel in charge of nominations Phil Brest have all been in regular touch with senators, the official added.

Mangi’s embattled nomination presents a political conundrum