Senate Committee OK’s Garcetti Nomination to Become India Ambassador

LOS ANGELES—The Senate Foreign Relations Committee March 8 approved former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to India, sending the issue to the full Senate.

It was unclear when—or if—the full Senate will consider the nomination, which has been stalled over the past year due to lingering allegations that Garcetti ignored accusations of assault and sexual harassment against a former top aide.

According to reports out of Washington, the nomination was advanced by the committee on a 13–8 vote, with two Republicans joining Democrats voting in favor.

In January last year Garcetti was nominated by the committee. However, it encountered problems with harassment claims against Rick Jacobs (an ex-Garcetti senior advisor).

Garcetti was originally appointed by President Joe Biden on July 9, 2021. Biden then renominated Garcetti in January, after it had stalled.

Last year, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R.Iowa), requested an investigation. The results were “more probable than not” Jacobs “sexually harassed multiple individuals and made racist comments towards others.” It found it also. “extremely unlikely” Garcetti denied that the behaviour was his. “by all accounts, Mayor Garcetti is very involved in the day-to-day operation of his office.”

The White House condemned the report and issued a statement. “This partisan report was a hit job from the beginning, and many of the claims have already been conclusively debunked by more serious independent reports. The president has confidence in Mayor Garcetti and believes he will be an excellent representative in India at a critical moment and calls for the Senate to swiftly confirm him.”

Garcetti denied knowing about Jacobs’ harassing behavior. He stated in a statement following the release of the report that he knew nothing about Jacobs’ harassing behavior. “strongly” Its conclusions were not supported by me.

Dae Levine was his chief communications officer. “No new facts were uncovered in this report, and Mayor Garcetti strongly reaffirms the simple truth that he never witnessed or was made aware of sexual harassment. The opinion reached in the report does not reflect the truth about the experiences of so many people who have testified under oath and spoken candidly to the senator’s office. It is based solely on false, repackaged allegations that have been proven false by multiple unbiased investigations and reviews.”

Jacobs was also accused of harassing Matthew Garza (Los Angeles Police Department Officer), in a lawsuit filed against Jacobs. Garza claimed that Garcetti saw the misconduct, but turned a blindeye to it.

Naomi Seligman (Garcetti’s ex-communications director), also claims she was forced to kiss Jacobs, and that Garcetti knew of Jacobs’s harassment alleged patterns.