Eric Garcetti is working on his next political chapter.

The former mayor of Los Angeles was confirmed as US ambassador to India on Wednesday after months of speculation over whether Garcetti knew or should have known of alleged sexual harassment of colleagues by a former top aide.

The 52-42 U.S. Senate endorsement gives the longtime politician a chance to revive his career abroad, though the harassment allegations that dogged his office and the emotional fallout are far from resolved.

A trial is scheduled for later this year in a case brought by a Los Angeles police officer who alleges he was the victim of crude sexual jokes and groped by Garcetti consultant Rick Jacobs. The counselor denies harassing anyone, and Garcetti has said he did not witness the harassing behavior, as the officer claims.

At the same time, the harassment allegations imploded the once-close relations between a group that included Garcetti and his former top aides at City Hall.

In media interviews and statements, some former Garcetti associates have blamed each other for failing to report Jacobs’ alleged misconduct or for allegedly lying about what they witnessed. Others have accused another of leaking information to the media.

Jessica Levinson, a suffrage teacher at Loyola Law School, said she did not view the vote as a referendum on Garcetti and the harassment allegations. Some senators were likely eager to fill the vacant post, she said.

“I don’t know if this is justification rather than victory,” Levinson said. His becoming ambassador to India just means there was the political will to move this nomination forward.”

Garcetti said in a statement he was “excited” by Wednesday’s outcome, saying the ambassador’s post has been “vacant for far too long.”

The overseas position could eventually open up more career opportunities, including the California governor’s office. Term Limits Enforce Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026.

Garcetti’s closest associates were quick to rattle off the names of former US diplomats who went on to win elected office or occupy other prominent roles in government, including two former ambassadors to India: the late US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (DN.Y. ) and the late John Kenneth Galbraith, the noted liberal economist who served under several

Democratic

presidents.

It’s a great group of people who’ve done this job before, said Bill Carrick, the political consultant who helped Garcetti win the mayoral seat in 2013. So this is quite an extraordinary place to be.

Sara Sadhwani, a political science professor at Pomona College, suggested the position is a good fit for Garcetti at this point.

This is a great job and a great place to restore and rebuild his brand, his reputation and also his status, whatever direction he would like to take in the future, Sadhwani said.

A loss in the Senate would have been a major blow to Garcetti personally and to any future aspirations he might still have to return to electoral office, said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola. Marymount University.

Guerra said Garcetti “could take a kind of sabbatical from electoral politics, but he can still stay in the game for the longer term with these kinds of high-profile appointments.

Guerra said he did not believe the Senates’ long delay in approving Garcetti would have long-term political ramifications.

No one will remember it took so long; only that he was approved, Guerra said.

Greg Smith, an attorney for Matt Garza, the LAPD officer suing the city for alleged conduct by Jacobs, declined to comment Wednesday on Garcetti’s confirmation.

Jacobs admitted in his statement that he may have hugged Garza and made sexual jokes in front of the mayor’s security team. At least two men who worked in Garcetti’s office also gave testimony saying they were victims of unwanted touching by Jacobs.

Other staffers have described being blocked by other Garcetti staffers after they testified. Other Garcetti staffers have described being blocked by colleagues after testifying

. Some told The Times that former colleagues blocked them on social media.

People I considered close friends, people I had discussed Jacobs’ behavior with, never spoke to me again once my statement came out, Suzi Emmerling, a former Garceti staffer, said in an interview this week.

Emmerling also said in her statement that Garcetti’s wife, Amy Wakeland, threatened to withhold money from Emmerling’s then-employer, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, for city-backed philanthropic work because Wakeland thought Emmerling was talking to people about the allegations .

That story is 100% made up. I’ve never been part of such a conversation,” Wakeland told the Times on Wednesday.

So did Naomi Seligman, Garcetti’s former communications director

she

encountered a “mafia”-like culture that rewarded silence in Garcetti’s office. She said she was told by other staff that the

mayor protected

Jacobs.

She called Wednesday’s confirmation vote “heartbreaking” for victims and whistleblowers.

Seligman, who works at the nonprofit legal group Whistleblower Aid, had led the charge to overturn the nomination, met with Senate offices and claimed that Garcetti and others were hiding the truth of what happened.

But others in the mayor’s office questioned their credibility and said yes

did not witness any significant incident

in which she said that Jacobs had forcibly kissed her on the mouth in full view of her staff.

A jury verdict on the Garza case if the case isn’t

settlement arranged

advance will not put all allegations to rest, said

Law of Loyola

Levinson.

There were so many more fingers being pointed and accusations being made, Levinson said.

Sadhwani

the professor of politics at Pomona College,

said many voters will mostly remember Garcetti as LA mayor and then ambassador and focus less on the sexual harassment furor that plagued his office.

But she said the controversy would continue to crop up in news articles in future terms in office, and she predicted detractors would surface a photo of Garcetti standing next to Jacobs and giving the thumbs up as his aide held his hand over another man’s crotch. .

“It’s very devastating for the future because imagery is easily used in campaign materials,” she said. (Garcetti said he didn’t see Jacobs’ gesture at the time.)

Sadhwani, an Indian American, said it failed to fill

the

Ambassadorship has been a sore point in India, which celebrated 75 years of independence from Britain last year. She said it was important that someone put “their full passion” into the work.

Asked if she thought Garcetti would be that person, Sadhwani said: “I think he has a passion for justice, a real concern for justice. Those are important qualities to bring as an ambassador to any country, right?”