Eric Garcetti Perjury: He lied About #MeToo Allegations to Save His Career

“Mom, can I have ten bucks to go the movies?”

“And where did your allowance go?”

“Um, well, you know…”

“Mom, can I have $100,000 to be ambassador to India?”

“And where did your moral compass go?”

“Um, well, you know…”

It is a rare thing when the California Globe compliments NPR – a very rare thing.

But credit where credit is due as NPR  just took a deep dive into the circumstances surrounding former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s desperate, almost certainly perjury-filled, effort to deny the existence of the very nasty City Hall sexual harassment and bullying scandal involving his longtime political fixer Rick Jacobs.

NPR looked at hours of video taped depositions involving the legal matters that swirled around the allegations, allegations that resulted in a $1.8 million settlement payout of one of Jacobs’ primary targets 

Now, one typically does not have to file public records requests to confirm that 2 + 2 = 4 and news that Garcetti lied under oath does not come as a surprise – at all.

But the story – from one of the most reliably leftist media organizations on the planet – does carry with it a sense of vindication for those who stood up and told the truth (the whistleblowers and, for that matter, the Globe) during Garcetti’s seemingly endless, definitely torturous Senate confirmation process.

“NPR’s in-depth investigation erases any remaining doubt that Eric Garcetti enabled a culture of sexual harassment and intimidation at Los Angeles City Hall and twice lied about it under oath,” said Naomi Seligman, Garcetti’s former communications director and a leading whistleblower.  “He should not have been confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to India and is unfit to hold any future public office.”

Jacobs – the man behind Garcetti and still – amazingly – a force to reckoned with in LA politics – was – for years – credibly accused by a number of other former Garcetti staffers of aggressive fondling, unwanted kissing, and racist comments (for a deeper dive into the details, see here.)

Garcetti denied having any knowledge of Jacob’s outlandish behavior – move over Mad Men – and repeatedly claimed he was absolutely unaware of Jacob’s proclivities.

Though he did admit “(I)n an interview with city investigators, Garcetti said the contact he witnessed was appropriate, because Jacobs is gay and Jewish and, as Garcetti put it, Jews are an affectionate ‘hugging kind of people.’” 

“I only ever saw Rick kiss others during the normal course of social greetings, and I never witnessed any inappropriate behavior,” Garcetti said.  “I’ve given this testimony consistently.”

The dozen or so city staffers who complained about Jacobs all must be lying when they said that “Jacobs was “mean spirited and condescending,” was “very disrespectful and very demeaning” and “created a hostile work environment,” testified one senior adviser to Garcetti. He was “dismissive of women in general” and was “generally disliked among women at City Hall,” said a fundraiser for Garcetti. “He was belittling, demeaning, at times, cruel,” said a former press secretary for Garcetti. He was “short-tempered, very snappy and snide,” testified one former administration official. He was “controlling” and “made my life more difficult,” said another former official.”

In addition to Garcetti’s appalling behavior in relation to the Jacobs issue, he presided over one of the most corrupt City Hall’s in decades, and he has also taken vast sums of money from groups with possible ties to the Chinese intelligence services, a particular potential disqualifier from being ambassador to India as China and India have a very frosty relationship.

Despite all of this being known at the time, President Joe Biden nominated Garcetti to be Ambassador to India, though he did, reportedly, pass him over for other administration spots.

Garcetti testified to a Senate committee that he was unaware of even the allegations against – let alone the actions – of Jacobs.  That testimony was met with significant skepticism and, along with new information presented by the whistleblowers during the confirmation process, sparked an investigation by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R).  The investigation found that Garcetti’s testimony before the committee was almost certainly false.

It took 614 days – and the assistance of seven Republicans –  for the administration to finally push Garcetti through the Senate.

A group that helped those whistleblowers navigate DC, Whistleblower Aid, was pleased by the NPR report.

“NPR’s investigation leaves no doubt that Eric Garcetti knowingly and willfully protected a sexual predator in his office at the expense of his staff,” Whistleblower Aid CEO Libby Liu said. “This new reporting closes the already tiny window of plausible deniability that the Biden Administration and many senators relied on to push through Garcetti’s nomination as ambassador. If they had believed the first-hand accounts of victims and whistleblowers, and acted on Whistleblower Aid’s legal disclosure showing that Garcetti had committed perjury, we would have an ambassador in India worthy of the honor.”

NPR did turn up one new nugget, though. 

Jacobs helped create something called the Mayor’s Fund, a non-profit foundation people could donate to technically legally influence Garcetti and win his favor.

Sorry – a very long typo there… Jacobs helped create something called the Mayor’s Fund, a non-profit foundation to fund crucial city betterment projects.

In 2018, the Fund hired Jeremy Bernard as CEO, but Jacobs stayed on the board of Directors and was still around – a lot.

From the story:

Bernard testified that he reported concerns about Jacobs’ treatment of female employees to the chair of the board of the Mayor’s Fund, Kathleen Brown, in April 2020. (Brown is a former California state treasurer, and her father, Pat Brown, and her brother, Jerry Brown, both served as governor of the state.)

A few days later, Bernard participated in a conference call with Brown and Jacobs. On that call, Bernard said, he was fired.

Bernard testified that he was “shocked and dismayed” by what took place and that he believes his firing was an act of retaliation for reporting workplace misconduct.

“Did you form an impression that Rick Jacobs retaliates against people that complain about him?” Bernard was asked in his deposition.

“Yeah. I think that is a fair assumption,” he replied.

Jacobs and Bernard were good friends when he was initially hired.

Reportedly, Garcetti is not super duper happy with his current gig and may have his eyes set on a return stateside for a job in the potential (shudder) Harris administration.

Hopefully, this will put the kibosh on that.

Final note – Garcetti’s parents did really pay DC lobbyists a hundred grand to help him get the job.