FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT

Radim Dragomaca, [email protected]

Whistleblower Aid Deeply Disappointed by Senate Confirmation of Eric Garcetti as U.S. Ambassador to India

Senators and Administration chose to overlook 19 victims, witnesses and whistleblowers who detailed how Garcetti enabled sexual abuse at LA City Hall

Washington, D.C., March 15, 2023 – The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm Eric Garcetti as U.S. Ambassador to India despite well-documented allegations that Garcetti enabled and covered up persistent sexual abuse by a top aide and lied about it under oath.

Whistleblower Aid had urged Senators of both parties to reject the nomination, briefing them on the extensive evidence underlying the allegations and serving as legal counsel to Naomi Seligman, a former communications director to Garcetti, who made a powerful appeal to senators earlier this week on CNN.

On behalf of Whistleblower Aid, CEO Libby Liu issued the following statement after the vote:

“Today’s confirmation flies in the face of what 19 courageous whistleblowers, victims and witnesses came forward to bear witness to the Senate: that Eric Garcetti enabled, tolerated and covered up years of sexual abuse his top aide at Los Angeles City Hall. This appalling behavior from an elected public leader should be disqualifying for any official position. Senators who say they want to stamp out sexual abuse and violence and have supported vital legislation like the Speak Out Act have chosen in this instance to put political expediency over principle. This will have a chilling effect on future attempts to hold enablers and perpetrators to account and cause victims and witnesses to think twice about the risks they are taking in coming forward. The Senate has voted against its own values, against the truth, and against the interests of our relationship with the world’s largest democracy. We must do better.”

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Whistleblower Aid is a non-profit legal organization in Washington, D.C. supporting individuals who lawfully report government and corporate law breaking. It provides assistance to individuals in the United States and abroad seeking to disclose illegal conduct, including misconduct relating to government officials, securities fraud, sexual violence, and violations of tax, labor or environmental laws. In recent years Whistleblower Aid lawyers have represented Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and the Ukraine whistleblower whose disclosures led to the first impeachment of President Trump. —