Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing renewed scrutiny following a Los Angeles Times report alleging that she intervened in an internal after-action review of the catastrophic Southern California wildfires that killed 31 people.
Per Fox News, the newspaper cited two unnamed sources as saying Bass was concerned the original draft could expose the city to legal liability over preparedness failures and sought to remove or soften language that implicated municipal agencies.
According to the report, these changes favored the mayor’s office by diminishing references to lapses in staffing and resource deployment ahead of the fires.
Bass has repeatedly denied interfering with the document and has rejected the accuracy of the reporting. However, the Los Angeles Times cited a source described as a “Bass confidant,” who said “the mayor didn’t tell the truth when she said she had nothing to do with changing the report.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing renewed scrutiny following a Los Angeles Times report alleging that she intervened in an internal after-action review of the catastrophic Southern California wildfires that killed 31 people.
Per Fox News, the newspaper cited two unnamed sources as saying Bass was concerned the original draft could expose the city to legal liability over preparedness failures and sought to remove or soften language that implicated municipal agencies.
According to the report, these changes favored the mayor’s office by diminishing references to lapses in staffing and resource deployment ahead of the fires.
Bass has repeatedly denied interfering with the document and has rejected the accuracy of the reporting. However, the Los Angeles Times cited a source described as a “Bass confidant,” who said “the mayor didn’t tell the truth when she said she had nothing to do with changing the report.”
The alleged revisions focused in part on issues that have remained under sustained examination for more than a year, including whether firefighting resources were adequately staffed and positioned as dangerous conditions escalated.
The controversy has intensified existing criticism of Bass’s conduct surrounding the disaster.
She has previously faced backlash for traveling to Africa for an event shortly before the fires erupted, despite forecasts warning of hazardous fire conditions. Bass has disputed claims that the trip reflected poor judgment or negligence.
Reaction to the report has been swift, drawing condemnation across social media and from political figures.
Reality television personality Spencer Pratt, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles, called for sweeping accountability while speaking to Fox Los Angeles at the site of his destroyed Palisades home.
“There’s no moving forward until we get the answers and the people that are responsible are fired, and that includes the fire chiefs, the fire battalion chiefs, that includes the mayor, it includes anybody that had anything to do with this,” Pratt said.
Businessman Rick Caruso, who narrowly lost to Bass in the previous mayoral election and is reportedly considering another run, labeled the allegations an “outrage,” saying Bass “actively covered up a report meant to examine the most significant disaster in Los Angeles history.”
More than a year after the Eaton and Palisades fires ravaged parts of Los Angeles, many residents remain unable to rebuild.
Survivors in the Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods continue to face delays caused by regulatory hurdles, rising construction costs, and stalled assistance.
State rebuilding requirements and the scale of destruction have slowed recovery efforts, leaving large areas largely unchanged since the fires.
Unresolved questions also persist regarding the city’s emergency response. Local officials have been criticized over reports of empty fire hydrants, a drained reservoir, delayed response times, insufficient brush clearance and maintenance, and what critics describe as a mishandled public communications strategy in the aftermath.
The Eaton and Palisades fires burned a combined 37,728 acres—an area larger than Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Universal Studios combined—and destroyed more than 16,200 structures.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the mayor’s office forcefully rejected the allegations.
“Mayor Bass has been unequivocal for months — she reviewed an early draft of the report and only asked the LAFD to make sure it was accurate on issues like weather and budget,” the statement said.
“She and her staff made no changes to the drafts. The Mayor has been clear about her concerns regarding pre-deployment and the LAFD’s response to the fire, which is why there is new leadership at LAFD and why she called for an independent review of the Lachman Fire mop-up.
“There is absolutely no reason why she would request those details be altered or erased when she herself has been critical of the response to the fire – full stop. She has said this for months.
“This is muckraking journalism at its lowest form. It is dangerous and irresponsible for Los Angeles Times reporters to rely on third hand unsourced information to make unsubstantiated character attacks to advance a narrative that is false.”
THE THIRD FORCE
