The Los Angeles wildfires that engulfed the city in January were the result of a devastating perfect storm of extremely high winds, dry conditions, and inept management by many institutions at the local and state levels.
One of the central figures taking heat is LA Mayor Karen Bass, who was overseas in Ghana when the flames started—despite the fact that she promised as a candidate that she would eschew such photo-op trips and despite the fact that she had been warned that the fire danger was extreme.
It only gets worse for the mayor, however, as the LA Times asked a pointed question in a headline Friday: “Why is Mayor Karen Bass deleting her text messages?” Two things quickly come to mind: 1) Why, indeed? And 2) If you’re a liberal and the far-left LA Times is coming after you, you know things are bad.
Why is Mayor Karen Bass deleting her text messages? https://t.co/leNvM1OpWC pic.twitter.com/L4rLXnKzle
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 8, 2025
This seems highly suspect:
When flames erupted in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was more than 7,000 miles away, on a diplomatic mission to Africa.
Bass headed home shortly thereafter and was in transit for nearly 24 hours as the fire ravaged the Palisades and surrounding communities.
She and her office have said she was in constant communication during that period. But it’s impossible to know exactly what she was communicating, because her messages were not saved, according to a city lawyer.
“Her phone is set not to save text messages,” said the lawyer, David Michaelson.
I’m sorry, who does this? Who, except a guy cheating on his wife, goes into their phone’s settings and explicitly says, “Do not save any of my messages?” It seems especially questionable considering we’re talking about the leadership of a top official during a major crisis and what she said and when she said it might be extremely important to review when assessing the aftermath.
This is why there’s a recall effort underway:
Karen Bass Was MIA When Wildfires Broke Out—Now Another Past Statement Comes Back to Haunt Her
Photos Surface of LA Mayor Karen Bass Living Her Best Life As Palisades Wildfire Exploded
Same energy https://t.co/f4qKeLwURD
— Elizabeth Barcohana (@E_Barcohana) March 8, 2025
Did the mayor run afoul of the law? It’s murky:
Michaelson said that there is “no requirement that a city official or employee save text messages,” despite the fact that the city’s own document retention policies dictate that most records should be kept for at least two years.
Under state law, “any writing” related to the conduct of government is deemed a public record. On Jan. 10, The Times filed a public records request for all text messages sent or received by the mayor while she was in transit on Jan. 7 or Jan. 8 that mention fire response or her travel plans.
So while it would seem pretty clear that she is required to keep all records, city lawyer David Michaelson argues that those rules don’t apply to text messages. Right.
As Matt Vespa wrote at our sister site Townhall:
That argument isn’t holding water with other attorneys, some of whom deal directly with public records law, who called the argument Bass’ lawyer used “flawed.” They all saw through the legalese, which isn’t shocking given they’re lawyers: the mayor’s office is trying to say they have a right to say what’s public and what’s not without saying it. Moreover, the city doesn’t supersede state law on government retention of files.
Karen might have taken a nap during her entire flight back from Ghana. We don’t know because she decided to delete or not save some crucial communications relating to this crisis.
Looks like we’ll never know. Progressive, transparent government at its finest.
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