Mamdani staffers ignored his ban on using Signal for work, used it for 200-strong 'influencer' army: report

Staff socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration disregarded a direct instruction against using the encrypted messaging platform Signal while coordinating with a network of close to 200 "influencers" to generate flattering social media content about the mayor, according to a report from the New York Post.

In January, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's communications team received direct orders barring them from using Signal or WhatsApp for official business. Signal has been of particular interest since Signal messages from a conversation in the Trump administration were leaked in “Signalgate."

The Post reported that the Mamdani administration went further in early March, and hosted a training session to explain the rules to employees.

Despite this, Emilia Rowland, who leads Mamdani's New Media and Cultural Communications office, along with members of her team, were communicating with influencers over Signal to push the message of Mamdani’s administration. The communications effort was aimed at mobilizing supporters who had backed Mamdani during his campaign.

"You should not use WhatsApp, Signal, or any other communications app or platform for work," the memo from Mamdani’s Chief Counsel, Ramzi Kassem, read. "If you have questions about the use of other platforms, please contact the Office of the Chief Counsel."

However, once reports surfaced about the encrypted group chat and the influencer network, Kassem changed the message. "There is no City policy against using Signal," he said in a statement. "The conversation is not inaccessible to the public because the settings were set to auto-delete until reporters started reaching out about it."

At a Tuesday hearing, City Council members were set to grill Mamdani’s staff about the Signal chats. Instead, the mayor’s office sent only two officials: Tascha Van Auken, who heads the mayor's office of mass engagement, and records commissioner Shawnta Smith-Cruz. They, however, were not involved in the chats.

When Mamdani was asked about the discrepancy between the memo and Kassem's public remarks on Tuesday, the mayor directed the question to the counsel's office.

"To quote the chief counsel, there are trainings and there are re-trainings, and that will continue because for us, being in accordance with the record-keeping laws of the city is of paramount importance. I will defer to chief counsel to answer more specifically to your question,” he said.

The scandal comes over a year after what has been dubbed “Signalgate” in the Trump administration, where then-National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to a Signal group chat where top officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed upcoming military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.