No surprise
Mamdani's Pick for Top NYC Lawyer is Al-Qaeda Attorney
Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani has already drawn fire for his choices for the transition team and the City Hall leadership for his term. Today's choice, a lawyer who defended Al-Qaeda terrorists and campus rioters, adds to the backlash.
Mayor elect Zohran Mamdani is facing growing backlash after it emerged he is considering a deeply controversial attorney for one of the most powerful positions in City Hall.
According to sources close to the transition, Ramzi Kassem, a CUNY law professor and member of Mamdani’s legal transition team, is the leading candidate to become Chief Counsel, the mayor’s top legal advisor and a role with sweeping influence over city policy and litigation.
Kassem’s record is already drawing sharp criticism. He was part of the legal team that defended Mahmoud Khalil, a radical anti-Israel campus leader at Columbia University who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement before judges ordered his release. More troubling, Kassem also helped defend Ahmed al Darbi, an al Qaeda terrorist convicted in 2017 for orchestrating the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker Limburg off Yemen, an attack that killed a crew member.
Critics say the possible appointment sends a dangerous signal.
“Kassem’s appointment would not sit well with the Jewish community,” said Democratic strategist Ken Frydman, stressing that while everyone has a right to legal representation, Kassem repeatedly chose to represent figures tied to extremism and anti Israel activism.
Kassem’s political record adds to the controversy. While at Columbia Law School, he published columns accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing, claiming Jews came to the Middle East to conquer land, and dismissing a two state solution as neither viable nor desirable. He was also active in anti-Israel protests on campus.
In 2009, Kassem founded the CLEAR legal clinic at CUNY, which has received millions of dollars from progressive donors, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and MacKenzie Scott. In 2022, the Biden administration named him a senior immigration policy advisor.
Supporters argue Kassem would “refresh” the city’s legal leadership. Critics see something else entirely: an activist lawyer with a record of defending terrorists and delegitimizing Israel being elevated to the most senior legal post in New York City.
Mamdani’s team did not respond to requests for comment.