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Just hours after railing against the Democratic Party establishment in his victory speech, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani hired an all-female transition team full of veterans from the former administrations of Michael Bloomberg, Eric Adams, Bill de Blasio and Joe Biden.
Among those transition team members is Lina Khan, the former Federal Trade Commission chairperson under Joe Biden. When Lina Khan was chair, the FTC faced accusations from Republicans of eroding agency independence and bipartisanship, collaborating with foreign regulators to undermine U.S. companies, politicizing antitrust enforcement, and unlawful rulemaking.
Among those accusations were claims that Khan was sidelining career staff in favor of fresh blood from a cadre of dark money nonprofits funded by liberal billionaires like George Soros and Pierre Omidyar, while simultaneously pushing a strong antitrust enforcement agenda supported by such groups.
Mamdani’s decision to tap Khan as one of four co-chairs of his transition team came just hours after he slammed unaccountable elected officials for being more concerned about enriching themselves than fostering the public’s trust. “For years, those in City Hall have only helped those who can help them,” he told supporters Tuesday night. “But on January 1st, we will usher in a city government that helps everyone.”
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However, Mamdani’s appointment of Khan puts that pledge under the spotlight, considering she has been accused of using her position to benefit allies, including those she used to work for.
During Khan’s FTC chairmanship, she tapped Sarah Miller as a “special adviser” before elevating Miller to her chief of staff soon thereafter. Miller previously led the antitrust advocacy group American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), which, according to tax documents and grant databases, has been given at least between $200,000 and $500,000 by Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Omidyar Network and the Ford Foundation.
Miller is married to former Bernie Sanders aide Faiz Shakir, the founder of another antitrust advocacy organization called More Perfect Union (MPU). MPU and its affiliated advocacy arm, More Perfect Union Action, have also received hundreds of thousands in backing from the Soros, Omidyar and Ford Foundation networks. When Miller moved to the FTC, her former group, AELP, made her husband Shakir its interim leader. Meanwhile, at the time, AELP also elevated former Omidyar Network consultant Nidhi Hedge to its managing director position, a press release on its website stated, underscoring the intimacy of the network.
Under Khan, the FTC quietly enlisted several employees from another Soros, Omidyar and Ford Foundation-funded nonprofit called the AI Now Institute. The FTC appointed AI Now founder Meredith Whittaker as a “senior adviser on artificial intelligence” in 2021, and at least four other AI Now staffers to advisory roles. At a certain point, AI Now’s entire organization had been called up at some time or another in recent years to advise the commission.
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Over time, the AI Now advisors on the trade commission were credited on multiple occasions with helping craft policy and messaging, according to the FTC’s website during Khan’s tenure. The FTC also appeared to adopt policy statements that coincided with opinions from AI Now analyses.
Another adviser brought on to assist the trade commission under Khan, who previously worked at the Omidyar-backed Democracy Fund, had his job description amended shortly after joining to include language about helping the commission on “enforcement efforts.” Law professor John Kwoka, also tapped as an advisor to the commission under Khan, previously advised the Open Markets Institute, where Khan herself was the director of legal policy. The Soros, Omidyar and Ford networks have all passed grants to the Open Markets Institute.
Among the critics of Khan at the time of her chairmanship was Christie Wilson, the lone Republican commissioner at the FTC who eventually resigned due to Khan’s leadership. Wilson accused Khan of flouting due process and the rule of law, while also confirming she sidelined career professionals at the FTC.
“Former FTC Chair Lina Khan became synonymous with her hostility toward businesses large and small during the Biden Administration and one of the ringleaders of Bidenomics,” said GOP strategist Colin Reed when asked about Mamdani’s transition team appointments. “Already the incoming mayor is breaking one of his core promises to shake up the status quo and usher in a new day.”
When Fox News Digital reached out to Khan about her tenure at FTC, she replied, “No comment.”
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Matt Gorman, a conservative political strategist in D.C., also slammed Mamdani for claiming to usher in a new era of politics in New York City, but then turning around and “picking from the same old political class of a failed Democratic administration.”
In addition to Khan, Mamdani’s all-female transition team also includes Democratic Party veterans tied to the former administrations of Bill de Blasio, Eric Adams, and Michael Bloomberg.
The other co-chairs include Maria Torres-Springer, a former top aide under former mayors de Blasio and Bloomberg, and soon-to-be former mayor Adams; Melanie Hartzog, a former New York City budget director who served as the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services under de Blasio; and Grace Bonilla, a former Bloomberg and de Blasio aide appointed to lead the former’s Task Force on Racial equity and Inclusion.
Elana Leopold, a former senior aide for de Blasio, was tapped to be the transition team’s executive director.
Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.
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