House committee report questions distribution of FireAid’s $100 million for L.A. wildfire relief

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After an investigation, the House Judiciary Committee published a report on Tuesday about FireAid, a charity created by Clippers executives. FireAid raised $100 million to help with wildfire recovery in Los Angeles last January.

Representative Kevin Kiley of California, working with committee chair Jim Jordan of Ohio, launched an investigation in August. Kiley requested a full accounting from FireAid of all the charities that received funding. His concern was that the money went to local nonprofits instead of directly helping people affected by the fires.

FireAid quickly published a detailed report about how it raised and distributed funds. Following this, The Times contacted all the nonprofits mentioned in the report and found that those who received grants were promptly provided with money to use as they had described in their own public statements. An independent legal review reached the same conclusion.

Music

The money raised from January’s benefit concert represents a small portion of the billions of dollars in damage caused to Altadena and the Palisades. Six months after the fires, The Times checked in with FireAid organizers to learn how the funds have been distributed.

A recent report from the Republican-led committee questions the effectiveness of the work done by the nonprofit FireAid, though it doesn’t point to many instances where groups actually went against FireAid’s objectives.

Representatives for FireAid did not immediately respond to request for comment on the report.

The report found that only six out of many nonprofits receiving FireAid funds used the money for things like staff salaries or labor costs.

The committee criticized several local nonprofits that help minority and marginalized communities, including well-known groups like the NAACP Pasadena, My Tribe Rise, Black Music Action Coalition, CA Native Vote Project, and CORE. They questioned the clarity of these organizations’ fire relief efforts, but didn’t offer any evidence of misused FireAid funds.

The report alleges that FireAid favored and funded grants for undocumented immigrants, primarily relying on sources like Fox News, Breitbart, and the New York Post. As evidence, it points to a grant given to CORE, an organization that provides disaster relief to vulnerable populations, including undocumented migrants facing housing and economic difficulties. The report highlights CORE’s work with these communities as proof of prioritizing ‘illegal aliens.’

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The folk-rock band from Los Angeles is holding a benefit concert with special guests this Wednesday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

According to the report, $500,000 allocated to organizations like the California Charter Schools Association, Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank was used for things like salaries and labor costs. The committee determined this use of funds didn’t align with the original goals of FireAid.

However, the examples they point to as questionable include NLSLA using a FireAid grant to pay the salaries of lawyers offering free legal help to those affected by fires, the Community Clinic of Los Angeles using grant money to improve mental health and trauma training at smaller clinics, and the L.A. Regional Food Bank using funds to increase its efforts to combat hunger.

The report focused on the Altadena Talks Foundation, which received $100,000 from FireAid through Team Rubicon relief worker Toni Raines. However, the report stated that the foundation’s fire relief work, including its local news podcast, wasn’t clearly defined or understood.

As a film buff, I’m used to dramatic accusations, and the report’s claims about FireAid were pretty explosive – suggesting donations meant for fire victims actually funded things like Native American voter outreach, support for undocumented immigrants, podcasts, and even… fungus planting! But digging into the evidence, it seems like a lot of the money went to well-established local charities dealing with all sorts of community needs after the fires. It looks like some funds might have covered basic costs like staff salaries or general expenses, and the committee just didn’t fully agree with the goals of certain groups. It’s a messy situation, but not quite the outright scandal it initially sounded like.

FireAid still plans to distribute an additional round of $25 million in grants this year.

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2026-01-07 05:31