A prominent Republican senator research in allegations surrounding Mayor Eric Garcetti and his former top aide found it “extremely unlikely” that Garcetti was unaware of the aide’s alleged inappropriate behavior.
The 23-page report released Tuesday by Iowa Sen. Charles E. Grassley concluded that Garcetti “probably knew or should have known that Rick Jacobs was sexually harassing multiple people and making racist comments toward others.”
Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, ordered the report earlier this year after whistleblowers approached his office with allegations about Garcetti and Jacobs, a top aide who helped jumpstart the mayor’s political career. Garcetti was nominated in July by President Biden to become ambassador to India.
Both Jacobs and Garcetti declined to be interviewed by Grassley investigators. Garcetti’s spokesman, Harrison Wollman, said earlier this month that the mayor offered to meet with Grassley, but that meeting has yet to take place.
It was not immediately clear what impact the investigation would have on Garcetti’s nomination.
The White House issued a strong statement Tuesday afternoon, dismissing the investigation as biased and incomplete and saying Biden strongly endorses Garcetti.
“This partisan report was a success from the start, and many of the claims have already been conclusively debunked by more serious independent reports,” the statement read in part. “The president has confidence in Mayor Garcetti and he believes that he will be an excellent representative in India at a critical time and asks the Senate to confirm him quickly.”
The Senate confirmation process dragged on for months as Grassley and other senators expressed doubts about Garcetti’s nomination. His second and final term as mayor ends in December and multiple candidates are vying to succeed him in the June 7 primary.
The allegations surrounding the mayor’s office became public in 2020, when a Los Angeles police officer who worked as Garcetti’s bodyguard sued the city, alleging that Jacobs sexually harassed him and that the mayor witnessed the behavior but did not. intervened.
Jacobs has denied harassing anyone, but said in his testimony that he may have hugged the officer. He has also said that he may have made sexual jokes in front of the mayor’s security team.
Other city staffers have said in depositions or in interviews with The Times that it was widely discussed in the mayor’s office that Jacobs sexually harassed people.
Garcetti’s nomination was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January. A month earlier, Garcetti told the panel that he never witnessed the police officer’s alleged misconduct. He has also said that he never witnessed any inappropriate behavior from his assistant.
Email correspondence reviewed by The Times through public records shows that Grassley investigators contacted several senior officials in Garcetti’s office, including counsel Ana Guerrero, in recent weeks to interview them for their report. .
Grassley investigators interviewed 15 witnesses and read 26 statements taken in LAPD officer Garza’s civil lawsuit. Eleven other people who work for or are close to the mayor declined to meet with investigators, according to the report.
The report largely includes evidence that has already been made public. However, one of the new allegations is from a witness who described an incident in which Jacobs allegedly massaged and rubbed his groin against another person at the 2015 US-China Climate Summit in Los Angeles.
Additionally, another person told investigators that Garcetti said he couldn’t believe the city wasn’t sued during Jacobs’ time on City Hall.
Former Obama administration official Jeremy Bernard gave testimony in which he said he heard Garcetti make such a comment. The mayor has denied saying any such thing.
Grassley’s report follows a report ordered by the city attorney’s office to help its defense of Garza’s case that concluded Garza was not sexually harassed by Jacobs and that Garcetti did nothing wrong. Jacobs was interviewed for a second version of the report.
Grassley investigators wrote that “new evidence against Mr. Jacobs and Mayor Garcetti has emerged” since the city’s report was released earlier this year.
Investigators also wrote that they “learned that the mayor’s office or the State Department previously withheld the updated version” of the city report, which included the interview with Jacobs from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The report concluded that “it is more likely than not that Mr. Jacobs sexually harassed multiple people and made racist comments towards other people. According to witness testimony, this behavior was pervasive, widespread, and notorious.”
“Several individuals told investigators that Mayor Garcetti was aware of this behavior and, based on the reported frequency and conspicuous nature of the conduct, it is more likely that Mayor Garcetti either had personal knowledge of the sexual harassment or should have been. To the. that,” the report says.
The report notes that the investigation by Grassley’s team “is not a criminal or civil investigation, but rather an investigation intended to assist in the consent and counseling process required by the Senate Constitution.”
This article will be updated.
Reference-www.latimes.com