Garcetti’s nomination as US Ambassador to India in limbo
LOS ANGELES Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination by Joe Biden’s administration to be US Ambassador to India is in limbo after a Senate report released recently suggested that he had ignored a pattern of sexual harassment allegedly carried out by one of his top aides.
The 23-page report details the findings of an investigation led by Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican lawmaker from Iowa, who in March asked to delay Garcetti’s confirmation.
He cited ‘numerous credible allegations from multiple whistle-blowers’ of misconduct by Rick Jacobs, a close adviser to Garcetti and his former deputy chief of staff.
Garcetti’s office has repeatedly denied that the mayor saw or heard about sexual harassment, and said that the report contained only ‘false, repackaged allegations that have been proven false by multiple unbiased investigations and reviews,’ according to a statement from Dae Levine, a spokeswoman for the mayor.
According to the report, ‘the scope of this investigation is limited to determining whether Mayor Garcetti was aware that Jacobs sexually harassed or made racist comments towards others.’
‘To conduct this investigation, we interviewed 15 witnesses, read 26 depositions taken during a civil suit against Jacobs, and reviewed an investigative report and a supplemental report commissioned by the City of Los Angeles,’ the report added.
As per the report, Jacobs has known
Garcetti since approximately 2003-2004. Soon after Garcetti became Mayor of Los Angeles in July 2013, he hired Jacobs as his deputy chief of staff. Jacobs remained at City Hall until February 2017 when he left to join the board of the Mayor’s Fund, which is a privately funded initiative to support the Mayor’s agenda, stated the report.
In November 2013, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Matthew Garza joined the Mayor’s security detail which required close contact with Garcetti, and by extension, Jacobs.
Officer Garza alleged that he was subjected to constant sexual harassment by Jacobs which the Mayor often observed, but never intervened, the Senate report said.
Officer Garza eventually left the detail in 2020 and filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles in July.
Later, an investigation by Leslie Ellis of Ellis & Makus LLP cleared Jacobs of any wrongdoing.