[WashingtonTimes] A female California lawmaker who has been at the forefront of the #MeToo movement is being accused by multiple men of lewd groping, one of which acts is the object of an official probe by the state legislature.State Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, Los Angeles County Democrat, is being investigated by the Assembly Rules Committee over passes made against another lawmaker’s male aide.
Daniel Fierro told Politico that in 2014, Ms. Garcia, whom he said seemed drunk, caught him alone after the Assembly’s softball game, stroked his back, squeezed his butt and tried to touch him in the groin area.
Mr. Fierro was able to get away unscathed but did not tell his boss, Assemblyman Ian Calderon, at the time.
“Who wants to be that guy that Cristina Garcia is going after?” he told Politico.
However, he did tell at least two Assembly staffers at the time of Ms. Garcia’s behavior, each of whom confirmed that fact to Politico.
Mr. Fierro told Mr. Calderon, his former boss, about the incident with Ms. Garcia in January in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The Assembly Rules Committee began its investigation shortly afterward, Politico reported.
A second man, a lobbyist who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity, described a similar assault at a fundraiser at the capital’s De Veres bar.
According to the lobbyist, who fears reprisals from a powerful lawmaker, she tried to grab his crotch and he replied “That ain’t gonna happen.”
In a statement Thursday to Politico, Ms. Garcia said she had “zero recollection” of the claimed events.
“Every complaint about sexual harassment should be taken seriously and I will participate fully in any investigation that takes place,” she said, while adding that the purported victims had never complained.