New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani acknowledged Monday that he does not yet hold federal security clearance, clarifying remarks he made a day earlier that implied he had been formally briefed on the U.S. operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The clarification came during a press conference, where reporters questioned the mayor about how he obtained information related to the high-profile military action. Mamdani confirmed that, despite being recently sworn in, he has not received federal clearance and has not completed the vetting process required to access classified briefings.

“You don’t have federal security clearance yet, and has anyone from a federal agency reached out to you or members of your team to begin the vetting to get federal security clearance?” a reporter asked.

“That briefing, yes, was conducted by my team,” Mamdani responded. “And the question of federal security clearance is one that’s on and on.”

When pressed further, the mayor conceded the point.

“So you do have it?” the reporter asked.

“No, not as yet,” the mayor admitted.

The exchange followed criticism of a social media post Mamdani published shortly after news broke of Maduro’s capture. In that message, he suggested he had received direct information about the operation, prompting skepticism and mockery online.

“I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City,” Mamdani wrote on X after news of Maduro’s capture broke.

Although Mamdani went on in that post to criticize the decision by President Donald Trump, users on social media quickly questioned whether a newly inaugurated mayor would have been included in any classified federal briefings tied to a foreign military operation.

“Called it,” wrote one user whose post on the topic received over 140,000 “likes.”

{Matzav.com}

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