Los Angeles, US

An investigative report by NPR, an American public broadcasting organisation, has indicated that the USA’s current ambassador to India may have lied under oath to protect his close aide facing allegations of sexual misconduct.

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It was in 2020 when journalist and former Democratic fundraiser Yashar Ali accused Rick Jacobs, a top advisor to then-Los Angeles Mayor and the current United States envoy to India, Eric Garcetti, of sexual misconduct.

“I remember him (Jacobs) walking towards me with his two hands out and grabbing my face and kissing me forcibly on the lips — two times,” Ali reportedly said in a podcast series with NPR.

“I was frozen. It made me very, very uncomfortable. And once he did that, and I didn’t object to it, he continued. But not objecting to something is not consent. It’s just not objecting,” he said.

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There are allegations that despite Jacobs having a “reputation for touching and forcibly kissing people on the lips without their consent,” Garcetti went on to hire him.

Did Garcetti lie under oath?

As per the NPR report, Garcetti was accused of “witnessing and enabling harassment by a close friend and top political adviser for years.” During his 2021 testimony, when he had been serving as mayor of LA for eight years and had served as co-chair of President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.

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Yashar Ali alleges that the accusations against Garcetti were serious, due to which the Biden administration couldn’t send him to India for two years and also denied him any seat in the cabinet.

“Just know that the Biden administration, including the president, was aware of these details, had all the facts, and ignored them in favor of allowing the nomination of the despicable Eric Garcetti to be held up for two years,” Ali said.

Also read: US envoy Garcetti miffed by India's 'strategic autonomy' 

“At some point in the future I’ll find out why the president was so loyal to such a mediocre man and was willing to allow India to go without a U.S. Ambassador for two years,” he continued.

He alleged that Garcetti was finally able to get cleared for the role in India “due to $100,000 spent on a lobbyist by his parents.”

Yashar Ali shared more details to corroborate his claims about Garcetti being fully aware of sexual misconduct by one of his top aides.

Also read: 'Come to India': US ambassador Eric Garcetti's message goes viral

Ali wrote on his website that LAPD officer Matthew Garza, who worked on Garcetti’s security detail, had also accused Jacobs of assault and harassment.

And he claimed Garcetti witnessed the misconduct by Jacobs.

Garcetti has denied allegations

As per NPR, Garcetti has categorically denied these allegations, claiming he would have stopped the misconduct if he knew.

“I want to say unequivocally that I never witnessed nor was it brought to my attention the behavior that's been alleged. And I also want to assure you, if it had been, I would have immediately taken action to stop that,” NPR quoted the US envoy to India as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)