LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s former chief spokesperson has filed a complaint with prosecutors at the local, state, and federal levels, demanding he be prosecuted for perjury after he repeatedly denied he knew about another former aide’s alleged sexual misconduct.
A nonprofit law firm sent a 31-page letter on behalf of Naomi Seligman to prosecutors in the U.S. Department of Justice, the California attorney general’s office, and the county’s district attorney’s office last week, accusing Garcetti of conspiring with top staffers to cover up the multiple accusations of sexual harassment made against Rick Jacobs, his former deputy chief of staff.
In return, Seligman wants felony charges to be filed against Garcetti for allegedly lying under oath, both in a legal deposition and in testimony to a U.S. Senate committee upon his impending U.S ambassadorship to India, The Los Angeles Times reported. Seligman also hopes the fallout will cause the U.S. Senate to block Garcetti’s confirmation to the position.
Jacobs has repeatedly denied the claims against him, which became public in July 2020 in a lawsuit filed by a former member of the mayor’s LAPD security detail.
Garcetti has said he knew nothing of the accusations by Officer Matthew Garza, and later others, until Garza’s lawsuit became public.
Seligman’s lawyers told the publication the letter was forwarded to more than half the members of the Senate.
“Senators should be outraged that someone nominated to represent our country in a key diplomatic post would lie to their faces so brazenly,” Seligman said in a statement. “It’s time for them to take a serious look at the evidence that I and others have presented and live up to the commitment that many of them have made to protect victims of predatory behavior in the workplace.”
Garcetti’s office responded to Seligman’s letter saying, “There is nothing new here — and these false claims about the mayor are just as ridiculous now as they were when they were first made. The mayor stands by his testimony unequivocally, and more than a dozen witnesses have testified under oath that he was never made aware of any improper behavior.”
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