New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has named Ramzi Kassem as his chief counsel, placing the civil liberties attorney and City University of New York (CUNY) law professor in one of the most powerful unelected positions at City Hall.
Kassem, who served on Mamdani’s transition team and previously advised the Biden administration from 2022 to 2024, will serve as the mayor’s top legal strategist, guiding the administration through high-stakes legal and policy battles.
The appointment is already drawing sharp criticism. Critics point to Kassem’s past legal work, including his role as lead counsel for Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda member who pleaded guilty to involvement in a terrorist bombing of a French oil tanker near Yemen.
As Fox News’ Peter Pinedo reports:
Kassem served as lead counsel in al-Darbi’s defense. In 2014, al-Darbi pled guilty before a U.S. military commission to conspiracy in connection with an al Qaeda terrorist plot to bomb the French oil tanker MV Limburg off the coast of Yemen. One civilian was killed in the attack and several others were injured. He was convicted of the crime in 2017 and was transferred by the Trump administration in 2018 to Saudi Arabia’s custody.
“While it may not make him whole, my hope is that repatriation at least marks the end of injustice for Ahmed,” Kassem said at the time of the transfer, adding he had “16 long and painful years in captivity.”
Kassem has also represented pro-Palestinian protest leaders and clients in other politically charged immigration and civil rights cases, as Pinedo notes — a record that opponents say raises serious questions about the Big Apple’s direction under Mamdani:
In 2025, Kassem represented anti-Israel activist and Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil who was arrested by ICE for his alleged role in leading antisemitic demonstrations on campus. Khalil has since been released, though his legal case is ongoing.
Announcing the appointment, Mamdani said, “I will turn to Ramzi for his remarkable experience and his commitment to defending those too often abandoned by our legal system.”
Supporters argue that the criticism misunderstands the role of defense attorneys, emphasizing that Kassem’s work reflects the constitutional guarantee of legal representation and a commitment to protecting civil liberties.
Mamdani expressed confidence that his presence as New York City’s chief counsel would strengthen City Hall, saying he would be a forceful voice in the effort to create a more prosperous New York that benefits all residents.
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Liberties acknowledged in the constitution are exclusively for US citizens. Non Americans are not recipients of those Liberties.
Anyone who helps terrorists is an accomplice in the crimes of the terrorist.
Those who adhere to sharia and islam cannot be allowed to enter or live in our Republic as their ideology denies that our Constitution is superior to their ideology, specifically sharia. That makes them all enemies of the State.
Any politician who disagrees has violated their sacred oath to defend the Constitution and must be removed from office and prosecuted as being an accomplice to attempting to overthrow our government and our Republic.