Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles mayor and candidate for ambassadorial office, thought that he was over all hurdles to becoming an ambassador to India. But then someone else intervened.
It’s a huge one.
In a letter made available by Politico Thursday, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, “I will object (to Garcetti’s nomination) because I have received numerous credible allegations from multiple whistleblowers alleging that Mr. Garcetti, while mayor of L.A., had knowledge of sexual harassment and assaults allegedly committed against multiple city employees and their associates by his close advisor, and that he ignored the misconduct.”
The POLITICO article alleges that Sen. Grassley is actually digging deeper into the allegations made by Garcetti’s former communications director Nicole Seligman against Garcetti, through a whistleblower complaint.
Investigators in Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) office are probing what Garcetti knew of longtime political adviser and City Hall confidant Rick Jacobs’ inappropriate behavior toward women and men in and around City Hall. The matter has also been discussed with whistleblowers. And according to a document obtained by POLITICO, they have asked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to try and halt the nomination until their investigation is concluded.
“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,” Grassley said in the documents sent to McConnell on Thursday to notify the Senate about the hold. “Mayor Garcetti may very well be fully qualified, but at this time, the Senate needs to look into these allegations further.”
RedState reported on the sexual harassment allegations lodged against Garcetti’s former advisor Rick Jacobs, the additional allegations by Seligman that Garcetti ignored the harassment and charged his staff to do the same, and Seligman’s complaint and letter submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by Whistleblower Aid. Since the lawsuit against Jacobs and Garcetti’s subsequent deposition testimony, Garcetti has been on shaky ground, and not because he lives in California.
It is a good thing to know someone is listening in the Senate. Even though these accusations were made, Garcetti was given a rubber stamp from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The most amazing thing about the Democrats being lifted by their petard is that it is so delicious. California Senator Diane Feinstein, D-Decrepit was the one who made sexual claims to derail Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination and embarrass Grassley. While Grassley doesn’t seem the sort to seek payback, this is certainly the Democrats being beaten by the cudgel that they used during the Kavanaugh hearings.
I’m loving it.
Grassley, however, is diplomatic and polite, even in his letters. We all know Garcetti is just as qualified in this administration as any Biden official.
This is yet another example of the power and reach that the powerful have. Garcetti had been riding high after a rubber-stamp election and was testing the waters for his 2020 run for president. Now he’s having trouble getting a national appointment.
The Bible says, “be sure, your sins will find you out.” If this is Garcetti’s reckoning, he is getting exactly what he deserves.
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