Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt accused Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass of criminal negligence regarding their handling of the Los Angeles wildfires.
These allegations target the highest levels of California and city leadership, suggesting that policy failures during natural disasters may constitute criminal activity rather than administrative errors.
Pratt described the two officials as "criminal partners" during an appearance on NBC Nightly News [1]. He further characterized the governor and mayor as "co-conspirators" in separate reports [2]. The candidate said that the officials should be thrown in jail due to their actions [3].
Pratt has intensified his public campaign against the administration through high-profile media appearances and travel. He visited Washington, D.C., for a three-day trip [2] that began on Aug. 4, 2024 [2]. During this period, Pratt said, "I'm literally their worst nightmare" [2].
The accusations center on the devastating impact of the Los Angeles wildfires. Pratt said the leadership's response involved failures that led to the scale of the destruction [1], [2], [3]. He has used various platforms, including Fox News and NBC, to argue that the management of these disasters was not merely incompetent but illegal [1], [3].
Neither Gov. Newsom nor Mayor Bass has issued a formal response to the specific claims made by Pratt in these interviews. The candidate continues to frame the disaster response as a matter of criminal liability for the elected officials involved [1], [3].
“They are criminal partners.”
The accusations by Spencer Pratt represent a shift from standard political criticism to legal condemnation. By framing policy failures during wildfire management as criminal negligence and conspiracy, Pratt is attempting to move the discourse from administrative accountability to judicial liability, which may influence the rhetoric of the Los Angeles mayoral race.
