When association, optics and judgment become the mayor’s own standard.

This is Part III of a four-part series examining Zohran Mamdani’s political formation, record and first months governing New York City.

Part II ended with a simple proposition:

So let’s keep watching.

If I only show you the dots that support the picture forming in my head, I’m not investigating anything.

I’m decorating my conclusion.

Rabbi Jonathan Leener gave us the standard:

“Ultimately, I will judge him and his administration by their actions.”

And what I found next isn’t about rhetoric or associations.

And this time, I don’t have to invent the standard.

Mamdani gave it to us himself.

And that changes the entire calculation.

JUDGMENT IS A DOT TOO

In July, Mamdani was questioned about the composition of his Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.

Specifically, why there wasn’t a Jewish member on it.

And one name came up.

A retired New York judge.

Why wasn’t he selected?

Mamdani answered that himself.

And I really want you to read his answer for yourself because what comes next is not my standard.

Leventhal had represented Ghislaine Maxwell on appeal.

He was a lawyer doing legal work for a client.

And apparently that was enough.

Mamdani explained that his administration wanted to avoid “any association” between a committee involved in selecting judges and what he called “the Epstein world.”

Put those words on the board.

Mamdani wasn’t accusing Leventhal of participating in Maxwell’s or Epstein’s crimes.

And still the representation mattered.

Apparently optics mattered.

Apparently associations mattered.

I can understand that standard.

But then I kept reading.

Mamdani chose Kassem as Chief Counsel to the Mayor and City Hall.

AndKassem’s office supervises the activities of the very Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary for which Leventhal was considered unsuitable.

One of those details that made me go back and make sure I had read it correctly.

So naturally, I looked into Kassem too.

And this is where my brain stopped cooperating.

Kassem represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda member, for years.

Not according to somebody’s Facebook post.

Not through six degrees of separation.

Kassem himself said it before a United States military commission:

“I have represented Ahmed al Darbi since 2008.”

Al-Darbi pleaded guilty in the military-commission system and accepted responsibility for terrorism offenses connected to al-Qaeda maritime plots, including the attack on the French oil tanker MV Limburg.

And al-Darbi was the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar.

One of the nineteen hijackers on September 11.

I know what someone is already preparing to tell me.

Everyone deserves a lawyer.

That isn’t the question.

I am not saying Kassem........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)