[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 53 (Thursday, March 24, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1769-S1770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF ERIC M. GARCETTI

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, I introduced a statement 
into the Record which indicated my intent to object to any unanimous 
consent request relating to the nomination of Mayor Eric Garcetti to be 
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India. I did so because I had 
received multiple whistleblower complaints that Mayor Garcetti 
witnessed and was aware that his deputy chief of staff, Rick Jacobs, 
sexually harassed city employees. In my statement, which I have copied 
below, I made clear that I needed to investigate the allegations being 
made by whistleblowers and that I needed to review the investigation 
that the city of Los Angeles had commissioned which supposedly cleared 
Mayor Garcetti of any wrongdoing.
  At the time, I instructed my staff to complete this investigation in 
no more than 2 weeks, since it is not my intent to drag this out. My 
staff spoke with additional whistleblowers and subsequently made three 
separate requests to representatives of the mayor to send us the city's 
investigative report--on March 11, 18, and 21. The mayor's staff 
provided me with a copy of the report on March 21. However, we were 
just notified last night, March 23, that there was also an updated 
report, along with a summary that was completed several months after 
the original report that my office received on March 21.
  While I am still reviewing this report, my staff informs me that the 
report is focused exclusively on allegations made that Mr. Jacobs 
sexually harassed an LAPD officer. It does not address other 
allegations made, including allegations that Mr. Jacobs had sexually 
harassed the mayor's senior staff and made racist comments toward staff 
in front of the mayor.
  Due to the extremely narrow scope of this report, the fact that many 
of the allegations brought to my office were not investigated in that 
report, and the fact that we only received the updated report last 
night, I have instructed my staff to continue investigating these 
allegations.
  As I said earlier, it is not my intent to drag this out and I 
anticipate that my investigation will be concluded in the near future.

       [Prior Statement]
       Mr. President, I intend to object to any unanimous consent 
     request at the present time relating to the nomination of 
     Mayor Eric Garcetti, of California, to be the U.S. Ambassador 
     to the Republic of India.
       I will object because I have received numerous credible 
     allegations from multiple whistleblowers alleging that Mr. 
     Garcetti, while Mayor of Los Angeles, 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 allegations involving the 
     mayor's office have been the subject of public reporting and 
     a purportedly independent investigation. However, serious 
     questions remain regarding the alleged misconduct, as well as 
     the mayor's knowledge of that misconduct.
       First, whistleblowers who have spoken with my office have 
     not previously spoken to the Foreign Relations Committee, and 
     are presenting new allegations that must be fully 
     investigated.
       Second, the investigation of the Los Angeles mayor's office 
     reportedly found no wrongdoing by the mayor or his staff. 
     However, information provided by multiple whistleblowers 
     strongly suggests that this investigation was incomplete at 
     best. The extent to which the investigation was truly 
     independent is also not clear, and the report has not been 
     made public.
       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. Mayor Garcetti may very well be fully 
     qualified, but at this time, the Senate needs to look into 
     these allegations further.
       So until my staff and I have conducted a thorough 
     investigation and are able to speak with everyone involved I 
     cannot vote to confirm Mr. Garcetti.

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