Zohran Mamdani Considers Controversial Lawyer for Top City Hall Role

• Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is considering Ramzi Kassem for a senior City Hall position.

• Kassem previously helped defend Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda member convicted over the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker off Yemen.

• He also defended Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born pro-Palestinian activist linked to the Columbia University encampment who was detained by ICE and later released by a judge.

• Kassem is a CUNY law professor and a member of Mamdani’s transition team, and is the leading candidate for corporation counsel.