Eric Garcetti sworn in as ambassador to India after two years of heist
Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) was sworn in as US ambassador to India on Friday after seven Republicans sided with Democrats in a vote this month to get his confirmation through the Senate.
Vice President Kamala Harris led the swearing-in process as Garcetti recited the oath of office, a moment nearly two years after filing for his original nomination in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations against a high collaborator of Garcetti.
Today I had the honor of swearing in my fellow Californian, Eric Garcetti, to be our next Ambassador to India. Ambassador Garcetti is a committed public servant and will play a vital role in strengthening our partnership with the people of India. pic.twitter.com/sL8WQWEs6y
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) March 24, 2023
“Ambassador Garcetti is a committed public servant and will play a vital role in strengthening our partnership with the people of India,” Harris said in a statement after the event.
The ambassadorship had been open for two years after Biden first nominated the then-mayor in July 2021.
However, the nomination never reached the Senate floor at first, as Garcetti had been accused of knowing about his aide Rick Jacobs allegedly sexually harassing members of their office in Los Angeles.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a report last year that found it was “more likely than not that Mayor Garcetti had personal knowledge of the sexual harassment or should have known.”
Jacobs, however, denied any wrongdoing, Garcetti maintained he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing, and the White House backed the former mayor, waiving him in January and praising him as “well qualified” for the role.
The final Senate vote tally, 52 to 42 with six absentees, was unusual in that typically hardline Republicans like Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Steve Daines (R-MT) defected to vote for Democrat from California, while far-left Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) voted with Republicans.
Senate Republicans who ended up voting for Garcetti made it widely known that they were keen to fulfill a vital role for the United States as it competes with China on the global stage and were therefore prepared to ignore Garcetti’s perceived flaws, such as allegations against his aid and controversies like his handling of the coronavirus or the rampant homelessness he oversaw in Los Angeles
Hirono seemed concerned about the harassment allegations, saying cryptically in a statement, by THE New York Times“I have received additional information which, taken in totality with the information already available, leads me to be a ‘no’ to the nomination of Mr. Garcetti.”
Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.
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