By Katherine Tinsley
6:14pm PDT, Mar 10, 2025
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According to a report, Karen Bass's messages from her
trip to Ghana on January 7 have been removed from her phone.
"Her phone is set not to save text messages," city lawyer
David Michaelson told the
Los Angeles Times.
However, Los Angeles administrative code says there is "no requirement that a city official or employee save text messages."
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The local newspaper filed a public records request for Mayor Karen Bass's texts from January 7 and January 8 — when she was in West Africa instead of the city she represents.
Bass's team informed the outlet there were "no responsive records" available.
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In an interview with ABC 7, Karen Bass acknowledged that going to Ghana during the horrific event was inappropriate.
"Obviously, I hated the fact that I was out of the city when the city needed me the most," she said.
"And frankly, when my family needed me the most — because I was impacted, my family was impacted by the fires as well," she continued. "It is a horrible feeling to know that it took a long time to come back because of how far away I was."
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Karen Bass later admitted that leaving the country didn't work out in her favor.
"It was a mistake to travel, but I will tell you that we need to evaluate everything," she said. "Because, honestly and truly, if I had all of the information that I needed to have, the last thing I would have done was to be out of town."
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Following the historic disaster, Karen Bass terminated fire chief Kristin Crowley and cited the firefighter's response to the wildfires for the decision.
"Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles' public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief," Bass said in a statement.
"We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley's watch," she added.
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Karen Bass later alleged Kristin Crowley wasn't willing to cooperate with her.
"A necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after-action report on the fires," Bass said, alleging that "the Chief refused."
"[This requires] her removal," she continued. "The heroism of our firefighters – during the Palisades fire and every single day – is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what our city needs."
