LOS ANGELES — As Mayor Eric Garcetti’s ambassadorial nomination faces more scrutiny in the Senate, new text messages viewed by the Los Angeles Times on Friday suggest that a former Garcetti spokeswoman may have been subjected to unwanted kisses and “squeezes” by one of the mayor’s most powerful aides, and later, that she didn’t speak up because she didn’t want to “bring down” the mayor.
Although onetime spokeswoman Anna Bahr said she does not recall being sexually harassed by Rick Jacobs — a former top Garcetti aide and subject of a sexual misconduct lawsuit — she alleged she did hear about others being harassed. She told the L.A. Times that the subject was “something everyone talked about” in the mayor’s office.
The texts were written by Bahr and another former Garcetti aide in October 2020, said Greg Smith, attorney for LAPD Officer Matthew Garza, who is suing the city over Jacobs’ alleged behavior. Smith provided the texts to the L.A. Times, which showed Bahr and the Garcetti aide discussing an individual named “Rick” at one point.
