Mamdani's Team Left Key Vet to Fall by the Wayside in Rush to Staff Up
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office just weeks ago, was keen on assembling a qualified and diverse team to drive his ambitious agenda. In an effort to move quickly, his top transition officials opted for a "sloppy" vetting process that allowed his director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, to join the administration without being fully screened.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Da Costa had completed only an initial search of public records but failed to turn up any controversy. Her social media history was not thoroughly reviewed as part of her vetting due to issues with identifying her Twitter handle.
Da Costa's tweets from over a decade ago featured derogatory language towards Jews and were eventually unearthed by the Anti-Defamation League, prompting Mamdani to quickly distance himself from her.
While officials say they would have caught Da Costa's social media posts had she been fully vetted, insiders describe the decision as "rushed" and an example of how much pressure was on the transition team.
Sources indicate that key members of Mamdani’s inner circle signed off on allowing him to introduce Da Costa at a press conference without completing her vetting.
Dora Pekec, spokesperson for Mamdani, denied any wrongdoing in his vetting process but acknowledged changes were made after concerns arose from the ADL.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office just weeks ago, was keen on assembling a qualified and diverse team to drive his ambitious agenda. In an effort to move quickly, his top transition officials opted for a "sloppy" vetting process that allowed his director of appointments, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, to join the administration without being fully screened.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Da Costa had completed only an initial search of public records but failed to turn up any controversy. Her social media history was not thoroughly reviewed as part of her vetting due to issues with identifying her Twitter handle.
Da Costa's tweets from over a decade ago featured derogatory language towards Jews and were eventually unearthed by the Anti-Defamation League, prompting Mamdani to quickly distance himself from her.
While officials say they would have caught Da Costa's social media posts had she been fully vetted, insiders describe the decision as "rushed" and an example of how much pressure was on the transition team.
Sources indicate that key members of Mamdani’s inner circle signed off on allowing him to introduce Da Costa at a press conference without completing her vetting.
Dora Pekec, spokesperson for Mamdani, denied any wrongdoing in his vetting process but acknowledged changes were made after concerns arose from the ADL.
this is exactly what I'm worried about when new leaders come in and want to shake things up fast... I remember when we had that same energy with Obama's transition team, they were all so excited to make a change but somehow they still managed to bring on people like Anita Dunn, who got caught saying some pretty anti-Semitic stuff 
. Anyway, I guess it's good that Da Costa got canned in the end, but man... what if she had been vetted properly? 
. I mean, come on, checkin' social media history? That's not exactly rocket science 
. And now Da Costa's just kinda disappearin' from public view - weird move if u ask me 
. Maybe Mamdani's team should just take a deep breath & go thru the motions instead of rushin' 2 fill seats 
.
. It seems like they rushed into things without doing their due diligence and now we're paying the price. I mean, who lets someone with hate speech tweets from over 10 years ago join the administration? 
And now we're seeing the consequences of their hasty decision.
.
And what's up with the "initial search of public records" thing? Sounds like just a fancy way of saying "we didn't really do any actual vetting". 
. And what really gets me is that the press conference thing was just a sloppy move - I wouldn't want someone on my team making decisions like that without properly screening them first 
. We need leaders who are responsible and transparent in their hiring decisions, not ones who are prone to mistakes 
.