It’s been over a year since Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti was nominated by the Biden Administration to serve as Ambassador to India. And what a year it’s been. As we’ve shared, there have been reports commissioned to help prove his complete disbelief and unawareness over allegations of sexual assault by his close friend and advisor Rick Jacobs. When that didn’t seem to put legislators at ease or provide the political cover necessary to appoint Garcetti to the post, his parents hired a lobbying firm to move the process forward and to “help tell the truth”.
In the latest twist of this ongoing Kardashian-like tale, Politico has reported that members of team-Garcetti have made attempts to pressure Senator Mark Kelly (who is also a retired U.S. Naval Captain and NASA astronaut) to support Garcetti’s nomination by leaving the impression that not doing so would result in him being cut off from donor networks. Jacob Peters, a spokesman for the Senator’s office put it best when he said: “Sen. Kelly was shot at over Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, so there’s a zero percent chance he’d be intimidated by this.” As of now, it does not appear that the needed votes are in place for the appointment. Fortunately for Garcetti, there’s a GoFundMe effort to help him get a plane ticket to India.