Garcetti, China Scandal Exposed, Just Hours Before Ambassador Vote

Maybe it won’t be Rick Jacobs – Eric Garcetti’s “all hands on dick” political fixer – that will sink the ex-mayor’s quest to be the next ambassador to India after all.

It just might be China.

More specifically, it might be the million or so dollars donated to Garcetti’s “Mayor’s Fund” by two men with ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s intelligence community.

According to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation published today, “a mayoral fund set up by Garcetti nearly a decade ago received well over $1 million in donations during Garcetti’s tenure from two wealthy individuals tied to alleged CCP influence and intelligence fronts.”

“Then-Mayor Garcetti met and headlined events with members of multiple alleged front groups serving the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a CCP agency which “coordinates and conducts influence operations,” according to a report from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC),” the Caller continues.  “Furthermore, over the years, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, which Garcetti created in 2014, received multiple donations from the foundation of business magnate Walter Wang and East West Bank, where Dominic Ng serves as president and CEO.”  

Both men are reportedly tied to CCP intelligence organizations; the Mayor’s Fund – a non-profit charitable organization that is exempt from political donation caps – was started by Garcetti in 2014 – its first treasurer was Jacobs.

It should be noted that Jacobs was a member of the board of the Mayor’s Fund and that a former deputy, Raymond Chan, is currently on trial for allegedly accepting bribes from Chinese developers, as the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The trial, which began in February,  is currently on-hold due to the illness of Chan’s attorney.

China expert Ina Mitchell – author of The Mosaic Effect – says Garcetti’s involvement with Chinese intelligence front organizations is deeply troubling.

“How compromised is Eric Garcetti?” He checks all the boxes in triplicate. He is most certainly compromised and will be leveraged sometime in the future if he becomes Ambassador if he hasn’t already – no question about it,” Mitchell said. 

The international Chinese intelligence strategy is centered the long game, Mitchell, with money to politicians seen as investments in assets that may ultimately pay off and influence American policy at the highest levels.

“Whenever a politician takes money from a well-established united front organization, especially large amounts, it’s akin to signing a contract with the CCP. It’s a done deal as far as the CCP is concerned,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t’ matter if the politician is well-intentioned or what party they belong to. The CCP has dossiers on all politicians at all levels of government. So if a politician is targeted by the CCP, it’s because the CCP knows they can be leveraged. They know the weaknesses of each politician and how to leverage them.”

The China revelations were only one of a pair of new headaches for Garcetti today. His former communications director, life-long Democrat Naomi Seligman (who has been working with DC-based Whistleblower Aid group to stop the Garcetti ambassadorship) went on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper Monday afternoon and excoriated Garcetti, Jacobs, and hypocritical Senate Democrats who voted for workplace harassment protections who may still say aye to confirming Garcetti.

For background, the political fixer Jacobs has been 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).  

Despite this being public knowledge, Biden nominated Garcetti for the post, though he did, reportedly, pass him over for other administration spots.

Garcetti previously testified to the 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 a number of whistleblowers, sparked an investigation by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R). The investigation found that Garcetti’s testimony before the committee was almost certainly false.

Garcetti, said Seligman, is “unfit to hold public office” who “tolerated and enabled” a toxic workplace where extreme sexual harassment was “ubiquitous.”

Seligman told Tapper that Jacobs left her pretty much alone until she and her husband attended a function together and Jacobs walked up to her and aggressively kissed her in front of her husband.

“It was a power move,” said Seligman, especially considering Jacobs is gay but acts sexually aggressive to any and all.

Seligman added that she very specifically knows that Garcetti – despite his blanket under-oath denials of even being aware of the problem, let alone seeing it personally – not only knew about Jacobs’ terrible behavior but personally witnessed it on more than one occasion.

For example, Jacobs, Garcetti, and a lawyer for Garcetti were in a DC elevator a few years back when Jacobs started “dry humping” the female lawyer. Eventually, said Seligman, Garcetti responded to the attorney’s please for help and said “cut it out” to Jacobs.

While Garcetti’s behavior should disqualify him from any ambassador post, his being sent to India is especially problematic, Mitchell said.

For years, India and China have had extremely troubled relations – that as recently as 2020 turned “hot,” with numerous border skirmishes occurring.

“Garcetti,” said Mitchell, could be a crucial “strategic placement” to China’s benefit if he becomes ambassador.

It is not yet clear if the latest revelations will change any Senator’s minds before the final vote tomorrow.