electoralism

Mamdani lied to you. He made this one of his promises, knowing full well it was nothing but hot air, so now you're grateful, which is fascinating. Anywhere you look around this guy, you find Zionists & generally shady shit. But you're not looking. The only thing that could shake you would be explicit transphobia, homophobia, & outright Klan racism. Not upholding the structure of racism & imperialism at every turn, which disproportionately affects marginalized people outside the core anyways, & uses those who think they can benefit for PR. Like you're doing right now. Which very well might be heard by them & encourage them to rinse more DSA people with these tactics.

Anyways here are his lawyer's Raytheon & oil company investments. Don't bother responding. You're welcome.

[2026-07-21] Politico –A look inside the stock portfolio of a top Mamdani lawyer

TAKING STOCK: Like his boss, Ramzi Kassem is a longtime critic of Israel.

So it might come as a surprise that Kassem, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s chief counsel at City Hall, holds direct ownership of stock in RTX, a multinational defense contractor that supplies Israel’s military with weapons.

Making matters more awkward for Kassem: He’s dating Darializa Avila Chevalier, the democratic socialist who defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat in June’s congressional primary — after making her Israel animus a cornerstone of campaigning.

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Kassem’s holdings in RTX — formerly known as Raytheon Technologies — were detailed in his annual financial disclosure, which was provided to Playbook by the city Conflicts of Interest Board. The form, which only offers value ranges instead of exact dollar figures, shows Kassem has at least $180,000 in directly-owned stock in various other major corporations, including fossil fuel companies and entities with city government business — the sort of investments that might not mesh with serving in a democratic socialist’s administration. Kassem’s form is 42 pages long and his expansive stock holdings are worth anywhere between $181,000 and $1.56 million in total, according to the ranges provided in his disclosure.

Asked about Kassem’s disclosure, Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec said today that the chief counsel “was unaware that his financial advisor had made investments in RTX and did not know about the company’s activities.”

“Upon learning and verifying this information, he will be divesting from that stock,” Pekec told Playbook. She wouldn’t say whether Kassem is planning to divest from any other stocks.

It isn’t illegal for public officials to own or trade stocks. But Rachael Fauss, a senior policy adviser at Reinvent Albany, a government watchdog, noted some public officials put their investments in blind trusts or mutual funds while in municipal government to avoid conflicts of interest or bad optics.

Since Kassem hasn’t done so, Fauss contends it’s crucial for him to recuse himself from government affairs that may involve companies he holds stock in.

“Given his role, it is important to ensure that there are recusals in place because you touch on everything in the city government when you’re in that role,” said Fauss, noting that the City Hall chief counsel is typically involved in advising the mayor on all major policy decisions. “Because of the broadness and the power of the position, it’s good practice and you don’t want there to be any bad optics on this.”

In response to such concerns, Pekec only said: “As it pertains to any companies with active city business, recusal is evaluated by the chief counsel on a case by case basis, as appropriate.”

Kassem, a law professor and White House adviser in the Biden administration before joining Mamdani’s team, didn’t return a request for comment. A spokesperson for Avila Chevalier didn’t comment, either.

One of the most politically problematic holdings is Kassem’s RTX investment. According to his disclosure, he holds between $1,000 and $4,999.99 in direct stock in the company. It ranks as one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers. For years, RTX has supplied Israel’s military with both offensive and defensive weapons, including inking a $1.25 billion deal in November 2025 to provide surface-to-air missiles for the country’s Iron Dome system.

Being an investor doesn’t jibe well with Kassem’s history of criticizing Israel’s military.

While a Columbia Law School student, Kassem wrote in a 2002 Columbia Daily Spectator column that Israel had acted with “ineffable barbarism” in the West Bank and Gaza during the Second Intifada, which involved more than 100 suicide bombings by Palestinian militants and ended in about 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis dead.

Israel, Kassem wrote at the time, “only wields military might in civilian areas, uses civilians as human shields, routinely destroys homes, and is so consumed by its zeal to disrupt Palestinian life as to uproot olive groves.”

Kassem’s other stock holdings also raise eyebrows.

His disclosure shows he holds at least $11,000 — but potentially as much as $114,999.97 — in stocks with ExxonMobil and Chevron, two fossil fuel giants that are among the world’s 20 largest greenhouse gas emitters, according to the Corporate Governance Institute. And he has at least $11,000 invested in British American Tobacco and Philip Morris, two of the world’s largest producers of cigarettes and other nicotine products.

Kassem’s investments in companies with municipal business interests are substantial as well.

He has at least $5,000 in stock with National Grid, the utility supplier, at least $1,000 invested in Verizon Communications and another $1,000, at least, in Microsoft.

All three of those corporations have active city government contracts. Verizon, the telecommunications giant, has the largest contract of the bunch: A $280 million deal to provide city government agencies with “telecommunication services.” That contract, which is overseen by the city Office of Information Technology, is up for renewal at the end of 2026, procurement records show.

In addition to his direct stock holdings, Kassem has at least another $1.76 million in retirement, annuity, deferred compensation and mutual funds, on top of his annual $290,000 chief counsel salary, according to his disclosures. — Chris Sommerfeldt

Free the Maduros.

& don't tell me about how mommy & daddy's index funds are just like this.