Garcetti may not see much service as ambassador

Whistleblowers allege L.A. mayor lied under oath

The really astonishing thing about the apparent implosion of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's political career is that it was caused by something that wasn't in plain sight.

It wasn't the expanding crisis of homeless encampments on city streets, despite tax increases pushed by Garcetti to fund more housing construction and services. It wasn't the worsening crime problem, including the growing problem of criminal indictments in City Hall. The Department of Justice investigation into public corruption in Los Angeles has ensnared a number of individuals, among them Garcetti's former deputy mayor in charge of economic development, Raymond Chan, who has been charged with bribery, federal racketeering and lying to investigators.

It wasn't the corruption at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, where Garcetti's appointees approved insider contracts that now are the subject of criminal indictments.

No, it appears that what has ended the once-promising career of the Los Angeles mayor is the possibility that he lied under oath to the United States Senate during his confirmation hearing for the job of ambassador to India.

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in December, Garcetti was not asked about homelessness, crime or corruption. But he was asked a question about allegations that his former adviser, Rick Jacobs, had sexually harassed one of the mayor's police bodyguards, and that Garcetti had allegedly witnessed the behavior and laughed it off. The allegations are the subject of a lawsuit filed against Garcetti's administration.

“I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, the behavior that's been alleged,” Garcetti testified under oath.

On March 10, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, placed a hold on Garcetti's nomination. “I will object because I have received numerous credible allegations from multiple whistleblowers alleging that Mr. Garcetti, while mayor of Los Angeles, had knowledge of sexual harassment and assaults allegedly committed against multiple city employees and their associates by his close adviser, and that he ignored the misconduct,” Grassley said in a statement.

Grassley said whistleblowers who have not previously spoken to the committee have spoken with his office, “presenting new allegations that must be fully investigated.” In addition, Grassley noted that a “purportedly independent investigation” into the allegations may not have been “truly independent,” and that the report has not been made public.

Interviewed by Fox 11's

Elex Michaelson after Grassley's statement was released, Garcetti avoided the clear statement he had made to the Senate. “Repeating an untruth doesn't make it any less untrue,” he said, and “I'd have to be a fundamentally different person to witness behavior that is alleged and not done something.”

That's a clever word game. It sounds like he's saying, “It's not true and I didn't witness it,” but that's not what he actually said.

Grassley said this: “The United States owes it to the Republic of India to send them a qualified ambassador that will represent the values of the United States.”

That sounds like the senator is saying the Garcetti nomination is dead.

It has been a very rapid descent for Garcetti, who at one time was considered a potential candidate for president. He flirted with the idea of running in 2020, visiting the key states of Iowa and South Carolina before announcing in January 2019 that he had decided it wasn't the right time for a White House run.

Today it looks like Washington, D.C., has a message for the mayor: Don't hold your breath waiting for the call.