As Heads of State Convene in New York, Mamdani Lacks Security Clearance

Nearly nine months into his term, Mayor Zohran Mamdani still lacks a federal security clearance, as heads of state gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.The mayor downplayed the issue in response to a reporter’s questions earlier this week, saying that a review of his application is “ongoing” and “moving within the typical timeline” and that a number of city officials in his administration have been cleared. “The NYPD also regularly briefs me on intelligence investigations that do not involve federally classified information, and we will continue to move forward,” the mayor said.That timeline usually takes between 45 and 60 days for “Secret”-level clearance or up to 9 months for “Top Secret” clearance, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which traditionally handles the mayor’s national security vetting. Mr. Mamdani is approaching the upper limit of that range. He told reporters he had started the process after taking office in January.Mayor Bill de Blasio, who occupied Gracie Mansion until the end of 2021, called the clearance “vitally important for a mayor” in remarks to Gothamist. It’s a lesson he likely learned the hard way, after waiting until he was more than nine months into his first term to apply. It took Mr. De Blasio, who honeymooned in Cuba in 1991 despite America’s economic embargo on the Communist nation, and who spent much of the 1980s and 90s volunteering and fundraising for Nicaragua’s Marxist Sandinista government, over a year to obtain his clearance. Hours after Mr. Mamdani acknowledged that he was still barred from being read in on national security matters, Laura Loomer, a controversial confidante of President Donald Trump took credit for delay, posting on social media that she was “thrilled.”“Before Mamdani even got inaugurated, I did everything I could to gather as much evidence as possible to make the case for why he should be denied a federal security clearance. Then I gave it to the FBI & the White House in 2025,” she wrote on X in a post that also referenced the mayor’s 2025 meeting with President Gustavo Petro of Colombia. The Trump administration sanctioned Mr. Petro in October for allowing cartels to “flourish” under his “disastrous and ineffective” drug policy.Ms. Loomer was not alone. In November, eight Republican members of Congress, including a former chairman of the influential Freedom Caucus, addressed a letter to then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem calling to block Mr. Mamdani from receiving clearance.“Giving Mamdani clearance is likely to empower agitators, escalate threats, and put more of these brave agents’ lives in danger,” the lawmakers said. They cited Mr. Mamdani’s past activism against Israel, his 2021 arrest for disorderly conduct at a rally in support of hunger striking taxi drivers, and his past calls to defund the New York Police Department.Security issues will be top of mind for New York City officials in the coming week as heads of state arrive for the UN’s General High-Level Debate, which begins Tuesday. Notable among the expected attendees is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Long-running antipathy between the two men flared this summer. Mr. Mamdani declared Mr. Netanyahu “not welcome in New York” in a video message walking back a campaign promise to facilitate the Israeli leader’s arrest under a war crimes warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. In the same video, Mr. Mamdani reminded New Yorkers of their right to protest, a choice that police and pro-Israel groups characterized as a call to action likely to turbo-charge demonstrations.On his own home turf, Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party has paid for a campaign billboard in Tel Aviv that portrays Mr. Mamdani alongside Iranian and Hezbollah leaders that reads in Hebrew: “They want Netanyahu to lose… Don’t let them win.” As the fraught geopolitical climate homes in on New York, sensitive national security intelligence will have to go through City Hall officials who do hold security clearances. According to the mayor’s office, they include Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, and Ramzi Kassem, the mayor’s chief counsel, who famously sued the NYPD over surveillance of Muslim communities and represented Guantanamo Bay detainees including confessed al Qaida member Ahmed al-Darbi.

As Heads of State Convene in New York, Mamdani Lacks Security Clearance

As Heads of State Convene in New York, Mamdani Lacks Security Clearance

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