{"id":1413658,"date":"2022-03-31T17:29:41","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T21:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1413658"},"modified":"2022-03-31T17:30:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T21:30:00","slug":"sen-blumenthal-expresses-concerns-about-la-mayors-connection-to-alleged-sexual-harasser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-blumenthal-expresses-concerns-about-la-mayors-connection-to-alleged-sexual-harasser\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Blumenthal Expresses Concerns About LA Mayor\u2019s Connection To Alleged Sexual Harasser"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsen-blumenthal-expresses-concerns-about-la-mayors-connection-to-alleged-sexual-harasser%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1413658&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal is the latest Democrat to express concerns about allegations that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti looked the other way as a top aide sexually harassed at least two people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have concerns because I\u2019ve seen and heard about the allegations,\u201d Blumenthal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/scoop-another-dem-senator-has-concerns-about-garcetti-8106bc02-3221-42f8-aee9-9655986df3b6.html\">told<\/a> Axios on Wednesday of reports that Garcetti\u2019s advisor Rick Jacobs sexually harassed a police officer and Garcetti\u2019s former communications director. Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/30\/politics\/eric-garcetti-ambassadorship-nomination-fight\/index.html\">Kirsten Gillibrand<\/a> of New York have also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2022-03-30\/garcetti-india-ambassador-nomination-growing-scrutiny-senators\">referenced<\/a> the allegations. Garcetti was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/07\/09\/president-biden-announces-his-intent-to-nominate-four-individuals-to-serve-as-ambassadors\/\">nominated<\/a> July 9 by President Joe Biden to serve as Ambassador to India, and was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2022-01-12\/senate-panel-confirms-garcetti-ambassador-nomination\">confirmed<\/a> by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to put them to rest, if that\u2019s possible, before I vote,\u201d Blumenthal added, according to Axios.<\/p>\n<p>Garcetti\u2019s nomination has since stalled, with Republican Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst placing <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/599511-ernst-becomes-second-senator-to-put-hold-over-garcettis-ambassadorial\/\">holds<\/a> to prevent Majority Leader Chuck Schumer from quickly holding a floor vote to confirm him. <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/12\/20\/senate-confirms-biden-nominees-judges-ambassadors-chuck-schumer\/\"><strong>(RELATED: Ahead Of Holiday, Senate Confirms Dozens Of Biden Nominees)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles police officer Matthew Garza filed a lawsuit against Jacobs in 2020, alleging that Garcetti\u2019s former deputy chief of staff began sexually harassing him 2014. According to the lawsuit, Jacobs <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/07\/15\/gay-deputy-la-mayor-allegedly-harassed-lapd-officer-me-too\/\">allegedly told<\/a> Garza that he enjoyed \u201crough sex\u201d and \u201cbig cocks,\u201d and would hug the police officer while describing him as \u201cso strong.\u201d In a deposition for the lawsuit, Garza reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2021-04-06\/lapd-officer-garza-harassment-allegation-rick-jacobs-garcetti\">testified<\/a> in a deposition that he waited more than seven years to make the complaints because he feared he would have been \u201costracized\u201d and \u201cretaliated against\u201d by Garcetti, who he described as \u201cextremely vindictive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garcetti has repeatedly denied knowledge of the alleged sexual harassment. A <a href=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/58\/7e\/c57092884848a83a72591fa184ed\/ellis-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report<\/a> commissioned by the Los Angeles city attorney\u2019s office and obtained by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March claimed that Garza\u2019s allegations \u201cgenerally lacked credibility\u201d and that \u201c<span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">evidence contradicted <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Ofc. Garza\u2019s complaint\u201d of sexually inappropriate remarks from Jacobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7401766\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7401766\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA \u2013 JANUARY 11: U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks to the media as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (R) looks on after touring the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on January 11, 2022 in Long Beach, California. Buttigieg toured the ports to highlight the work of President Biden\u2019s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force and the progress being made to reduce the backlog of container vessels off the coast. (Photo by Mario Tama\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>However, former Garcetti\u00a0communications director Naomi Seligman corroborated the allegations against Jacobs and filed a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging that Garcetti perjured himself in his Senate testimony.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to say unequivocally that I never witnessed, nor was it brought to my attention, that behavior that has been alleged,\u201d Garcetti <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/losangeles\/news\/former-spokeswoman-for-garcetti-calls-for-him-to-face-charges-over-rick-jacobs-scandal\/\">told<\/a> the Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing. \u201cAnd I also want to assure you that if it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Seligman, Garcetti presided over a hostile work environment at city hall, with several staffers subjected to sexual harassment from Jacobs. Seligman said that Jacobs kissed her on the lips in front of her entire staff, which she described as \u201chumiliating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI experienced it, I reported it, and nothing was done. So on top of the toxic environment that Rick created in and around city hall, people were forced to tolerate his harassment \u2014 to the point of pretending it wasn\u2019t happening at all. \u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2021\/12\/mayor-eric-garcetti-accused-of-protecting-rick-jacobs.html\">told<\/a> New York Magazine. \u201cOnce the lawsuit was filed, Mayor Garcetti chose to deny he\u2019d ever seen anything inappropriate \u2014 even though, as I had seen for myself, he\u2019d witnessed Jacobs crossing the line on countless occasions. To me, this was a shocking abdication of his responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The White House continues to support Garcetti\u2019s nomination, despite Senate Democrats\u2019 concerns about the allegations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe president has confidence in Mayor Garcetti and believes he\u2019ll be an excellent representative in India,\u201d White House spokesperson told Axios. \u201cHis nomination advanced unanimously with bipartisan support in committee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garcetti was one of Biden\u2019s top allies during the 2020 election, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/los-angeles-mayor-eric-garcetti-endorses-joe-biden\">endorsing<\/a> the then-former vice president ahead of the Iowa caucuses and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/biden-vice-presidential-search-committee\/\">serving<\/a> on his vice presidential vetting committee. Garcetti was reportedly considered for a cabinet position, likely Transportation Secretary, but was repeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/california\/story\/2020\/12\/17\/garcetti-wont-serve-in-biden-administration-1348439\">targeted<\/a> by Black Lives Matter protests at his home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal is the latest Democrat to express concerns about allegations that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti looked the other way as a top aide sexually harassed at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1413658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1413658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1413658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1413658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1413658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}