Grassley Probe Concludes Garcetti Likely Knew of Adviser’s Misconduct, Misled Senate on It

Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti speaks in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 29, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti likely knew or should have known about sexual misconduct by a senior aide, even though he claimed he did not, according to a report issued on May 10 by investigators working for Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).

Garcetti, who is President Joe Biden’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to India, told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in December that he was unaware of numerous serious sexual harassment allegations against Rick Jacobs, his former deputy chief of staff.

“I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, the behavior that’s been alleged. ... If it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that,” Garcetti told the panel during its Dec. 14, 2021, confirmation hearing on his nomination.

The ambassadorship to India is among the most important diplomatic posts in the U.S. government, owing to that country’s growing economic clout, its possession of nuclear weapons, and a historic rivalry with China, a rivalry that most recently saw soldiers on both sides killed in a Galwan Valley border confrontation with Chinese units.

The nomination stalled when Grassley put a hold on it in March 2022 and directed his staff investigators to look into the issue after whistleblowers approached the Iowa Republican with evidence indicating Garcetti knew and may have even witnessed situations in which Jacobs sexually harassed members of the Mayor’s staff and also used racist language.

After examining dozens of witnesses and documents, Grassley’s investigators concluded that “based on a preponderance of the evidence, we conclude that Mayor Garcetti likely knew or should have known that Rick Jacobs was sexually harassing multiple individuals and making racist comments towards others.”

The Grassley investigators’ report further concluded that:

“By all accounts, Mr. Jacobs’ behavior was widely known and talked about. It was pervasive, widespread, and notorious—to the point that Mr. Jacobs sexually harassed someone in front of the Mayor for a picture that would be memorialized for all time. Such overt conduct suggests at best that Mr. Jacobs had no fear of any repercussions.

“Additionally, the fact that so many senior staff were aware of the picture and did nothing about it further supports that this type of behavior was normalized and, even if known by the Mayor, would incur no consequences.

“Lastly, by all accounts, Mayor Garcetti is very involved in the day-to-day operation of his office. The testimony and documents reviewed by investigators, when considered alongside Mr. Jacobs’ own admissions, the mayor’s admission of his awareness of Mr. Jacobs’ habits to kiss and hug others, and the apparent frequency, notoriety, and widespread acknowledgment of Mr. Jacobs’ behavior by so many individuals both inside and outside City Hall who interacted with the Mayor’s office, weigh strongly against the notion that the Mayor had no knowledge of it. It is extremely unlikely that he would not have been aware of Mr. Jacobs’ behavior.”

The findings of the Grassley investigators directly contradict the conclusion of a report prepared by a law firm retained by the City of Los Angeles in 2020 in connection with a lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles Police Officer who claimed he was frequently sexually harassed by Jacobs while serving on the mayor’s security detail for seven years.

The law firm’s report—known as the “Ellis Report”—concluded there was no evidence of such harassment by Jacobs, and was criticized by the Grassley investigators for failing to interview numerous witnesses or account for sworn testimony taken under oath during depositions.

The Grassley investigators also pointed to evidence that the attorney who did the Ellis Report was compromised by virtue of working closely with Garcetti’s staff in the preparation and editing of the report and several subsequent revisions.

In addition, the Ellis Report focused only on the police officer’s allegations and ignored statements and other evidence available from other cases, including by other senior members of Garcetti’s staff.

“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,” Grassley told the Senate shortly after announcing his hold on the nomination.

At the center of the controversy over Jacobs’ actions and whether Garcetti was aware of them is a photo taken in 2017 during a U.S. Conference of Mayors event in Miami. Jacobs is seen in the photo appearing to place his hand over the genitals of the man standing between him and the mayor. Garcetti is giving two thumbs up in the photo.

Grassley, a former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is not a member of the foreign relations panel, but he has a long record in the Senate of acting to protect whistleblowers in government who often faced serious retaliatory consequences from superiors.

A spokesman for Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the foreign relations panel’s chairman, could not be reached for comment by press time.