Washington, Mar 7 (PTI) An influential Republican senator urged the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday to vote against the nomination of Eric Garcetti as the US ambassador to India as it comes up before them for confirmation later this week.
“The facts and the evidence compel me to oppose the Garcetti nomination and I hope my colleagues will join me in doing the same,” Senator Chuck Grassley, 88, the Republican senator from Iowa, said referring to the allegations of sexual misconduct by one of the key staff of Garcetti when he was the mayor of Los Angeles.
In the previous Congress, Grassley was primarily responsible for Garcetti’s nomination not passing through the Senate floor as he placed a hold on it and then carried out his own investigations into the allegations.
“The evidence is clear that Jacobs (Garcetti’s deputy chief of staff) engaged in blatant sexual misconduct and racist behaviour for years. The evidence is clear that Mayor Garcetti either had direct knowledge of it or chose willful ignorance as a defence,” Grassley reiterated in a tweet.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a vote on Garcetti’s nomination for March 8.
Last week, Senator Marco Rubio had placed a hold on Garcetti’s nomination. President Joe Biden renominated Garcetti to the same position in January.
“One of these nominees has ignored credible sexual assault accusations in his prior office. I will not turn a blind eye to these absurd nominations, which will hasten America’s decline,” said Rubio, who is the vice-chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The White House, however, continues to have full confidence in Garcetti. Last week it told reporters that Garcetti is qualified to serve as the US ambassador to India.
“Eric Garcetti was voted out in a bipartisan way out of (the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). So clearly, he has had bipartisan support, which is very important in this process. We encourage and look forward to the Senate moving forward with his nomination on the floor,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference. PTI LKJ RC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.