Overview

• The Los Angeles Times has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging the unlawful deletion and withholding of Mayor Karen Bass' text messages and other public records related to the January 2025 Palisades wildfire.
• Mayor Bass' phone settings were configured to auto-delete messages after 30 days, which is shorter than the two-year retention period required by the city's administrative code.
• The mayor's office initially claimed the text messages did not exist but later recovered and released 125 messages, some of which were redacted or withheld.
• The lawsuit argues that treating text messages as 'ephemeral' undermines transparency and accountability, while the mayor's office defends its actions as compliant with legal exemptions.
• The case raises broader questions about the application of public records laws to digital communications and could set significant precedent for government transparency in the digital age.