Lawmakers Criticize Mamdani For Retaining Staff Member Who Made Anti

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 28, 2025, 1:42 PM

lawmakers criticize mamdani for retaining staff member who made anti

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team is riddled with antisemitic, anti-Zionist or anti-Israel activity from members, including one who said “resistance is justified” following the Hamas terror attack on Israel in 2023, the Anti-Defamation League... Representatives from the ADL, which has been monitoring Mamdani’s 400-member transition team since his victory on Nov. 4, said they found “many examples” of individuals who have engaged in this kind of offensive rhetoric or action outlined in the Dec. 22 report. The ADL shared with amNewYork a social media post by Kazi Fouzia, who is on the mayor-elect’s worker justice committee, that reads “Resistance are [sic] justified when people are occupied,” less than a day... 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel.

According to the report, which is the second ADL update on Mamdani’s progression into mayoral office, the post includes video footage from an anti-Israel protest happening in Manhattan a day after the attack. But Fouzia is not the only team member who raised a red flag for the ADL. Per the report, at least 12 transition appointees expressed support for anti-Israel campus protests that rocked the city in 2024. A lawyer serving on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team has a track record of praising and associating with Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader infamous for his bigoted rhetoric about Jews and others,... The details about Jacques Léandre, a local election lawyer who serves on the Mamdani transition’s Committee on Legal Affairs, were contained in a report set to be released Monday by the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL, which focuses on fighting antisemitism, has been screening Mamdani transition advisers for comments seen as hateful against Jewish people.

Last week, the ADL disclosed it had discovered Mamdani’s incoming City Hall appointments director, Cat Almonte Da Costa, made offensive social media posts about Jews when she was a teenager, prompting her to apologize... The revelations touch on a sensitive issue for Mamdani. The mayor-elect’s stances on Israel, such as his support for divesting from the country in response to its treatment of Palestinians, have sparked criticism that his positions promote antisemitism, a charge he vehemently denies. The latest ADL report, a copy of which was shared with the Daily News ahead of its publication, alleges roughly 20% of Mamdani’s 400 transition team members have a record of what the ADL... New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani responded this week to a devastating report on allegations of widespread anti-Semitism among the 400 members of his newly appointed transition committees. The Anti-Defamation League published a report on Monday digging into the past social media history of some of Mamdani’s appointees and found that at least 20% showed anti-Zionist sentiments and some who dabbled in...

The ADL found a member of Mamdani’s transition team repeatedly praised anti-Semitic Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan. Others wrote things like “resistance” is justified in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s horrific Oct. 7 attack on civilian communities in southern Israel. The ADL report came just days after Mamdani’s Director of Appointments Catherine Almonte Da Costa resigned over past antisemitic tweets. Mamdani was asked about the report during a Monday press conference, “We all saw that Da Costa stepped down, and if you might be aware, the ADL just released a report on the more... Among that report, they identified Ms.

Ansari, who posted a cartoon depicting Israel as a dog. There was another person on the Committee on Worker Justice, Kazi Fouzia, who said resistance is justified hours after October 7. Someone else saying Zionism is racism from the Committee on Legal Affairs, someone from the Committee on Worker Justice who shared a post that said Zionists are worse than the Inquisition and the Nazis. Will the policy of your administration be to reject candidates who are actually hired to your administration when they express anti-Semitic positions or have anti-Semitic statements in the past? Are you going to automatically reject them from your administration? Were any of these statements or these people that I identified, or that were identified in the report, were these already flagged or identified by your transition team?”

Fox News contributor Paul Mauro joined Fox & Friends First to discuss Zohran Mamdanis stance on keeping NYPD police commissioner Jessica Tisch, his decision to tap an anti-police transition member and more. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing heat from two New York lawmakers who spoke to Fox News Digital after a report showing a member of his transition team espoused vitriolic anti-Israel sentiments... Hassaan Chaudhary, according to a New York Post report on Sunday, has a social media presence littered with anti-Israel posts, including calling the country "barbaric," using the term "Jew" as a slur, and praising... Chaudhary, who listed himself as a political director for Mamdani’s transition team, apologized for the remarks, saying the decade-old posts don’t represent his current views and that he looks back on them with "regret." However, two lawmakers who spoke to Fox News Digital blasted Mamdani’s association with Chaudhary and warned that it shows the socialist mayor-elect is not being serious when he pledges to combat antisemitism in New... Among the appointees, Kazi Fouzia called Oct.

7 justified and Mohammed Karim Chowdhury said Zionists are worse than Nazis New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani celebrates during an election night event at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York on November 4, 2025. A new report by the Anti-Defamation League highlights several members of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team who have used antisemitic tropes and justified Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, among other issues the group flags as “deeply troubling” and that raise further questions about his vetting process. The document, published on Monday, comes days after the ADL uncovered antisemitic comments by a top transition appointee, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who had denigrated Jews in a series of past social media posts. Da Costa resigned shortly after the posts were publicized amid backlash from critics.

Mamdani said last week that he was unaware of those comments and would hire an outside legal team to assist with the vetting process as he staffs his administration — noting “clear changes that... Mamdani’s latest Jewish commissioner pick rejected the allegations of antisemitism. This piece first ran as part of the New York Jewish Week’s daily newsletter, rounding up the latest on politics, culture, food and what’s new with Jews in the city. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. The Anti-Defamation League accused Mamdani of packing his transition team with people linked to “antisemitic, anti-Zionist, or anti-Israel activities” in a report on Monday, sparking backlash from some liberal Jewish groups. The second update to the ADL’s “Mamdani monitor” charged that 20% of the 400 people on Mamdani’s transition team have ties to groups that “openly promote terror and harass Jewish people.” As examples of...

The ADL also singled out members for participating in anti-Israel campus encampments. It noted individuals who made a range of statements, including that “resistance” was justified after the 2023 Hamas attack and that “Zionists are never Jews.”

Lawmakers Criticize Mamdani For Retaining Staff Member Who Made Anti

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