Grassley: Mayor Garcetti is Unfit for Office

 

Last Congress, I spoke of my strong opposition to the nomination of Eric Garcetti to be Ambassador to the Republic of India. I opposed the nomination due to the serious and credible allegations that he enabled sexual harassment and racism to run rampant in the Los Angeles mayor’s office. When the nomination expired, I had hoped President Biden would recognize his egregious mistake, believe the victims, and change course.

 

President Biden failed to do so.

 

Indefensibly, at the same time the Biden administration decries sexual harassment and racism, it’s now twice nominated an individual to represent our country abroad who has enabled those very same disgusting acts. Accordingly, I continue to oppose Garcetti’s nomination and ask this question: what will it take for the Biden administration to believe the victims? That same question should be posed to every member in the Senate that’s considering voting for him.

 

During my career, I’ve prioritized protecting victims of sexual harassment and abuse. In 2005, I cosponsored the Violence Against Women Act. That bill provides vital aid to the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women and to law enforcement to protect victims of sexual harassment and abuse. Last Congress, I cosponsored bills introduced by Senator Gillibrand to protect and defend victims of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. I cosponsored resolutions introduced by Senator Feinstein to raise awareness of sexual assault. These include the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act of 2021, the Speak Out Act, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, and a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

 

This Congress, I’ve sent several bipartisan letters to the Department of Justice seeking information regarding sexual misconduct by Bureau of Prisons personnel and inmates against staff. With Senators Durbin and Padilla, I met with the Bureau of Prisons Director to further investigate sexual misconduct and discuss reforms to enhance prevention, reporting, investigation, prosecution, and discipline of these matters.

 

With respect to Mayor Garcetti, I’ve made clear to my colleagues and the American people that credible whistleblowers approached my office about concerning allegations that he was aware of and enabled his deputy chief of staff, Rick Jacobs, to sexually harass several employees within the mayor’s office. These men and women alleged that Rick Jacobs engaged in inappropriate and degrading physical contact without their consent. They alleged that Rick Jacobs made crude sexual remarks and gestures towards staff and others. They alleged that he made blatantly racist remarks towards Asians and other minorities. 

 

These allegations have also been publicly reported by many news outlets. Text messages made public by the Los Angeles Times indicate that these incidents were common knowledge among Garcetti’s staff. A now infamous picture shows Jacobs inappropriately touching an individual next to him. In the picture, Mayor Garcetti is standing on the other side of Jacobs.

 

Mayor Garcetti said under oath during his nomination that “I want to say unequivocally that I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, the behavior that’s been alleged, and I also want to assure you if it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that.”

 

How can that statement be true when there’s a photo with Jacobs inappropriately touching an individual next to Garcetti? How can that statement be true when text messages exist from his own staff discussing the toxic work environment within the mayor’s office?

 

In total, my office identified over 19 individuals who’ve either witnessed Jacobs’ behavior or were the victims of it. So, who are these brave and courageous individuals who made these allegations? Are they Republican operatives? No. They’re his former Communications Director, senior staffers, junior staffers, businessmen, civic leaders, and a Los Angeles Police Department officer assigned to protect him.

 

This isn’t a political hit job. This is a bipartisan endeavor to stop an inadequate nominee.

 

To defend himself, Mayor Garcetti has pointed to a report, which inconceivably purports to clear Jacobs of any wrongdoing. The report was conducted by a law firm hired and paid for by the city of Los Angeles. Mayor Garcetti and the city of Los Angeles would be liable if the report concluded sexual harassment occurred. The report was also delivered to the city of Los Angeles under Attorney Client privilege, apparently in the hope that no one outside the city would ever see it.

 

The report failed to interview multiple firsthand witnesses. The interviews weren’t taken under penalty of perjury. The report focused exclusively on allegations of sexual harassment made by the Los Angeles Police Department officer and failed to give due weight to other witnesses. For example, the report includes an interview with Jacobs in which he admits to using racist language, kissing, hugging, and squeezing people’s shoulders. The report also identifies the individual in the lewd photo I mentioned earlier. The report says that the individual stated that Jacob’s actions weren’t funny and embarrassed that person.

 

That makes it clear nonconsensual physical contact occurred. It’s evidence that sexual harassment occurred. And it literally occurred right next to Mayor Garcetti.

 

The last time I spoke about this matter was right after President Biden signed the Speak Out Act into law. I co-sponsored that bill which Senator Gillibrand led. The law enables survivors to speak out about workplace sexual assault and harassment.

 

So, on the one hand, the Biden administration says it supports victims. Yet, on the other hand, the Biden administration supports a nominee who enables misconduct that creates more victims.

 

The Biden administration’s positions are irreconcilable. They’re the very definition of tone deafness. The Biden Administration and all those who support this nomination have sent a message that victims will only be believed when politically convenient. The Biden administration has no credibility when it comes to protecting victims of sexual harassment.

 

To my Senate colleagues, do you support victims of sexual harassment and racism or a man who enabled it for years, leaving many victims in his wake? You can’t support both.

 

Mayor Garcetti’s own staff have spoken out to stop this nomination at a risk to their careers. One of them is Naomi Seligman, who was Mayor Garcetti’s former communications director and one of the many whistleblowers who worked with my office regarding this nomination. She said that Garcetti’s vote out of the Foreign Relations Committee “on International Women’s Day no less, shows a real disconnect between the rhetoric we hear from elected leaders who claim to support victims of workplace sexual harassment and the pass they give to party loyalists in the next breath. It’s disheartening to say the least.”

 

I agree. Mayor Garcetti is incompatible with the office that he seeks. 

 

I, again, strongly encourage my colleagues—Democrats and Republicans alike—to review the evidence found in my investigative report, as well as in the press. Most importantly, listen to the victims. The facts and the evidence compel me to vote no, and my colleagues must join me in doing the same.

 

 

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