Garcetti's handling of sexual harassment case imperils his India envoy job

President Joe Biden’s nomination of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as ambassador to India is in peril with some Democrats as well as Republicans raising questions about his handling of a sexual harassment case in his office.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has blocked the nomination and said he won’t lift it until he gets a full report on allegations that Garcetti ignored complaints about sexual harassment in the mayor’s office. 

“I’m not holding it up because I’m against him,” Grassley said in an interview Tuesday. “I’m holding it up because sexual abuse and sexual harassment are very serious crimes. And we need to get to the bottom of it.”

Meanwhile, several Democrats, including Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Mark Kelly of Arizona, are expressing reservations. Their support would be key for Garcetti’s confirmation in the 50-50 Senate if Republicans oppose him.

Kelly said Tuesday he’s “got some issues” with Garcetti’s nomination, including but not limited to the mayor’s handling of claims against a top aide who was accused of sexually harassing a Los Angeles police officer on the mayor’s security detail.

“I’m looking at it,” Kelly said in an interview. “I’ve been reviewing some information on his nomination.”

When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held its hearing on the nomination in December, the issue was raised only briefly. In response to a question by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Garcetti said he never witnessed any harassment and the matter was never brought to his attention.

An emailed statement from his office on Tuesday said that Garcetti “stands by his testimony unequivocally: he absolutely did not witness nor was he informed of any of the behavior being alleged. The mayor has spent the better part of his life advocating aggressively on this issue, and had he been aware of any such behavior, he absolutely would have acted to stop it.”

The post of ambassador to India has been open at a time when relations between India and the U.S. are showing strains over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite the two nations cooperating more in the Quad bloc with Australia and Japan. India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons, and has sought to buy discounted Russian oil as fuel prices surge.

The White House has continued to stand by the nomination of Garcetti, 51, who served as co-chair of Biden’s presidential campaign.

Naomi Seligman, former Garcetti communications director-turned-whistleblower, said in a statement Tuesday that she’s “grateful to senators who have taken the time to review the evidence and take our experiences seriously.”

“A man who has enabled and supported an abuser, laughed at the abuse and then lied about it does not belong in public office,” she said.

Axios reported last week that an aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told other Democratic staff members that Garcetti doesn’t yet have 50 votes in the party caucus and that the nomination won’t be put to the full Senate anytime soon.

Garcetti’s nomination easily cleared the Foreign Relations Committee. The panel’s chair, Robert Menendez, and member Cory Booker, both New Jersey Democrats, said they have not heard from Schumer or his office. Menendez said some senators “are doing their due diligence” on Garcetti’s actions in the sexual harassment case.

“I have no concerns with it,” Booker said. “There’s been an independent investigation that came up with no improprieties on his part. I trust the independent investigators.”

Iowa Republican Joni Ernst, who also has a hold on Garcetti’s nomination, said the issue isn’t settled for her.

“What I’ve seen this far is, according to claims from whistleblowers, that he knew about this and did nothing about it,” Ernst said. “That’s an issue to me.”