LA Mayor: I’m Investigating Why I Was ‘Allowed’ to Go AWOL

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you … progressive ‘leadership’ in a nutshell. Said nutshell provided by Southern California’s leading progressive nut, in fact. 

Elex Michaelson, a reporter for Fox’s Los Angeles affiliate, sat down with Mayor Karen Bass to discuss the many failures around the devastating wildfires that left thousands homeless. Bass insists that she is investigating all of the failures, including why she was “allowed” to go to Ghana as weather services and the LA Fire Department sent out warnings of potential disaster:

NEW: LA Mayor Karen Bass says she’s investigating why she was allowed to go on a trip to Ghana days before the LA fires.

Investigating someone else for something you did is wild.

Bass: That level of preparation really didn’t happen. So it didn’t reach that level to me. No one… pic.twitter.com/k7DtUqIRJy

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 19, 2025

Michaelson asked specifically about her decision to leave for Ghana, even with warnings about the dangerous situation developing. Bear in mind that Bass had pledged during the 2022 campaign never to leave the state during her time in office, let alone the country. She broke that pledge while receiving warnings about the potential for disaster, which Bass acknowledges while attempting to downplay it.

So why did she leave? Apparently, Bass won’t answer that herself, but claims to be investigating why she was ‘allowed’ to do so:

Bass: That level of preparation really didn’t happen. So it didn’t reach that level to me. No one said you shouldn’t have gone on a trip.

Reporter: Why didn’t it happen?

Bass: I don’t know. That’s what we are investigating.

Investigating what? Bass is the mayor and she made that decision. Doesn’t the buck stop there? This sounds like Bass is “investigating” how she can shift the blame for deciding to go on a White House-paid junket while warnings arose over the risks of the Santa Ana windstorms that were coming. And let us also not forget that Bass left the city in potential emergency conditions while the deputy mayor she appointed had been suspended for allegedly making terroristic threats:

LA deputy mayor placed on leave after FBI raids home for allegedly making bomb threat. This happened in December. His portfolio included the fire department and public safety in general. https://t.co/FHpM21Ey6r

— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) January 10, 2025

As for not being sufficiently warned — the basis on which Bass hopes to shift the blame for the Ghana junket — that’s utter nonsense. The Los Angeles Times reported six weeks ago that Bass got plenty of warning about the danger from the National Weather Service about “extreme fire conditions” before she stepped onto the flight to Ghana:

The National Weather Service began warning of potentially strong winds — amid “extreme fire conditions” — on Thursday, two days before Bass left for Ghana. Those warnings intensified over the subsequent days. By Monday, officials were bracing for a potentially life-threatening and destructive windstorm.

Eric Spiegelman, a Los Feliz resident who served for several years on the city’s Board of Taxicab Commissioners, said Bass should have booked an earlier flight home no later than Sunday, after the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for L.A. and Ventura counties. That bulletin warned of “strong and damaging winds” and “critical fire conditions.”

“She should have been here on Tuesday, full stop,” Spiegelman said. “They kept upgrading the danger level.”

Bass never should have left at all. She split as danger approached without anyone in clear charge of emergency responses in her absence, and then never bothered to keep abreast of the situation while overseas. Bass made that decision because she prefers to advance herself rather than provide leadership and proper services to Los Angeles residents and constituents. Bass never did see this job as anything other than a stepping stone to the governor’s office, and her dereliction of duty during the wildfires is damning evidence of it.

Now Bass wants to pretend that she was “allowed” to go to Ghana, and that it was someone else’s fault. Bass is still derelict, still abdicating, and counting on the progressive establishment in LA and California to rescue her from responsibility.