Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass’ text messages from around the time the destructive Palisades Fire began were not saved, a report has found.
The Los Angeles Times sought the text messages as part of its reporting, requesting “all text messages sent and received by the mayor as she was returning from Africa on Jan. 7 or Jan. 8 that specifically mentioned fire response or travel plans.”
David Michaelson, counsel to the mayor, responded to the request saying that Bass’ phone was set not to save text messages, the Times reported. Michaelson further claimed that there was “no requirement that a city official or employee” save their text messages. The Times, however, noted that the city’s own document retention policies say records must be kept for at least two years. Michaelson argued that such retention does not apply to text messages.
There is no setting on most…
