By Michael Katz | Monday, December 15, 2025
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is expected to appoint Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at The City University of New York and member of his transition team for legal affairs, to the chief counsel position—the most senior advisory role in the mayor’s office.
Kassem, 47, represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaida terrorist convicted in 2017 for his involvement in the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker off Yemen. He was also among the attorneys who defended Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born leader of a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and facing deportation proceedings.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, described as the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights group, honored Kassem with an award in September for his work representing Khalil.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have each designated CAIR a “foreign terrorist organization” under state authority, though the group is not listed by federal authorities and has contested the designations in court.
Ken Frydman, a Democrat political operative, stated that Kassem’s potential appointment would not be well-received by New York’s Jewish community—the nation’s largest—adding: “Everyone’s entitled to legal representation … even Mahmoud Khalil. But that doesn’t mean Ramzi Kassem had to represent him.”
Kassem has participated in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, where he attended law school on a fellowship funded by members of the Soros family.
In 1999, Kassem wrote in a letter to the editor of the Columbia Spectator student newspaper that naming a sandwich an “Israeli wrap” was offensive to Muslims and Arabs. In separate 1998 columns, he described Israel’s actions as “a clear case of ethnic cleansing,” claimed Jews arrived in the Middle East with the intention of conquering it, and stated that a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine “is not viable, nor is it desirable.”
Other sources indicated Kassem would be a strong candidate for chief counsel. Lawyer Ron Kuby noted: “It is past time that the Corp Counsel’s office be given an upgrade and refresh.” He added, “I have no giant objection to the way Corp Counsel has been functioning, but so many people at the top have just been there for too long.”
In 2009, Kassem founded a legal clinic at The City University of New York providing free legal representation to Muslims and other communities.
The nonprofit Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility (CLEAR), which he helped establish, has received more than $3 million from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and at least $1 million from MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
In 2022, Kassem was named a senior policy adviser on immigration issues by the Biden administration.
Neither Kassem nor Mamdani’s campaign has responded to requests for comment.
