New Delhi: An ex-aide has accused Eric Garcetti, former Los Angeles mayor, of being “unfit” to become the next US ambassador to India after he deliberately ignored allegations of sexual harassment within his team during his time in office.
“He is unfit to become an ambassador or really to hold public office anywhere in this country or this world,” Naomi Seligman, a former communication director for Garcetti, told CNN in an interview.
The White House has yet to comment on Seligman’s interview.
Washington has not appointed an ambassador to India since January 2021, creating an over two-year diplomatic void at this position, the longest within the India-US bilateral relationship.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “It would be in the interests of both of our people to have a confirmed Ambassador in place. We hope that the mayor and soon-to-be Ambassador Eric Garcetti is able to take up that post before long.”
Price added that no other country would put itself in US’ position to have a vacancy open in a “strategically important and valuable place” like India for over two years.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) cleared Garcetti’s nomination by President Joe Biden last week for a second time, by a vote of 13-8, with Republicans Todd Young and Bill Hagerty joining Democrats in favour.
Biden had to renominate Garcetti, a Democrat, for the position in January this year after his confirmation was stalled in the last Congress due to the same allegations made by Seligman, that he had ignored sexual harassment allegations against a close aide.
Seligman said she briefed nearly a third of the Senate on the alleged misconduct in the former LA mayor’s office and called it “devastating” to see the Democratic party support his nomination.
“Unfortunately, the White House has put undue pressure on Democrats to vote for Eric Garcetti because he has been a very, very loyal person to President Biden, and that’s unfortunate,” she stated in the interview.
“These senators that purport to support me, too, cannot just do it when it’s politically expedient. They have to do it when it matters, even if it’s your own political party.”
Since the allegations first came to light in 2020, Garcetti has insisted that he was unaware of the allegations against his mayoral advisor Rick Jacobs, who was allegedly accused of giving unwanted hugs, massages and crude sex banter. His stance remained the same even after Republican Senator Charles E. Grassley, in collaboration with a non-profit Whistleblower Aid, released a 23-page report finding it “extremely unlikely” that Garcetti was unaware of his aide’s alleged inappropriate behaviour.
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