Rep. Sara Jacobs is facing backlash after it was revealed that she had falsely claimed to have worked as a policymaker in the Obama Administration on her resume, raising questions about her honesty and qualifications as a congresswoman.
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA) falsified her job description on her resume while supposedly working for the State Department, falsely claiming she was a policymaker in the Obama Administration.
“I worked at the State Department under President Obama,” Jacobs said during a Jan. 14 interview with MSNBC.
Her campaign website previously described her as an experienced policy-maker who had served in key positions at various organizations, including the State Department, UNICEF, and the United Nations.
However, that turned out to be a lie. According to the Union-Tribune, an investigation by the NTK Network revealed that Jacobs was actually a junior employee working for a government contractor at the State Department, and was not permitted to make policy decisions due to federal regulations.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2018, Jacobs worked for IEA Corporation for 19 months, a company that had the State Department as one of its clients.
She was based at the State Department office space and worked on projects related to security in sub-Saharan Africa.
However, her campaign’s claims about her policy-making experience were challenged when her former boss, Cindy Huang, spoke to the Union-Tribune.
Huang stated that contractors such as Jacobs could conduct research, provide advice, recommendations, and ideas, but were not authorized to make policy decisions. It’s worth noting that Huang even appeared in one of Jacobs’ campaign ads, but now has condemned her false claims.
“My understanding of the regulations is that contractors can conduct research and provide advice and recommendations, and ideas, but they cannot be decision makers in the policy process,” Huang told the Union-Tribune at the time.
Despite revelations that Jacobs misrepresented her credentials as a former Obama Administration policymaker, her campaign refused to back down.
Rather than admit to the falsehood, Jacobs’ team went on the offensive, describing her claims as “the most accurate and transparent” way to present her experience. Such a response raises concerns about the campaign’s commitment to honesty and integrity.
Jacobs was first elected to the House in the 2020 election and assumed office on January 3, 2021.
During her 2020 campaign, it was discovered that Jacobs’ campaign was largely funded by her family’s wealth, with voters suggesting that she bought her seat and was out of touch with the needs of her constituents.
