Donors to Palisades Wildfire Fundraiser Duped - Millions Sent to Infuriating Liberal Causes Instead of Fire Victims: ICYMI
A charity that was intended to raise money for victims of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires has instead funneled funds to “voter participation efforts for Native Americans, illegal aliens, podcast shows, fungus planting, and the salaries and bonuses for those working at non-profits and other organizations,” a report from the House Judiciary Committee says.
While the report was issued in January, it’s going viral now after a clip from a California GOP representative criticizing FireAid made the rounds on social media — and as Democrats fight for their electoral lives in both the gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral elections.
FireAid, a multi-venue benefit that took place in 2025, included artists like Rod Stewart, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, Sting, and Stevie Wonder, among others.
After the concerts at the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum, the organization claimed it “raised an estimated $100 million that have [sic] been designated for direct relief and will not be used for administrative purposes.”
As always, when it comes to liberal largesse combined with typos (see also: “Quality Learing Center“), this didn’t work out quite as planned.
According to the Judiciary Committee’s report, FireAid told the media that it actually “does not have the capability to make direct payments to individuals and that was never the plan. We partnered with trusted local non-profits … to reach communities in need.”
After this, the Judiciary Committee decided to look into the millions raised by the benefit concert — and while the report said that “more information is still needed to understand the full story,” even part of the story is bad enough.
“Although the internal review, requested and paid for by FireAid, found that ‘grants were disbursed consistent with FireAid’s stated mission,’ documents provided to the Committee suggest that donations were funneled to some recipients with little or no nexus to assisting fire victims,” the report stated.
“The documents show that FireAid funded voter participation efforts for Native Americans, illegal aliens, podcast shows, fungus planting, and the salaries and bonuses for those working at non-profits and other organizations.”
For instance, there’s the $100,000 to the CA Native Vote Project, which says it’s “the first-of-its-kind statewide effort to engage Native American communities across dozens of counties to build political power through an integrated voter engagement strategy.”
While the group told FireAid the money would financially assist Native American families, they have no actual track record of doing this, and it’s unclear where that money actually went.
Not only that, but “other grants went to nonprofits that focus on political advocacy for certain favored populations,” including the NAACP’s Pasadena chapter, the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, and My Tribe Rise, all of which do political advocacy for black populations.
Another favored population: Podcasters!
Other information suggests that FireAid donations were sent to support portions of the entertainment industry. For example, grant forms showed that $100,000 in money raised at the benefit concert went to Altadena Talks Foundation for the purpose of ‘support[ing] the Toni Raines podcast and other shows …’ The Altadena Talks Foundation is an organization with a mission of standing ‘as a beacon of hope and healing – committed to uplifting lives through disaster recovery, resilience, and lasting community support.’ Toni Raines is a ‘systems administrator consultant specializing in software for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated data.’ She has been heavily involved in the tech industry but found herself speaking about the California wildfires on her podcast, applied for a FireAid grant, and received funds. It remains unclear how and if this FireAid money went to directly aid wildfire victims.
Then there’s the money that went toward illegal aliens, which is pretty much untraceable, since it went through Community Organized Relief Efforts, or CORE, which said “undocumented migrants” were one of its “priority groups.”
And then there was the largesse for administrative costs, including more than $500,000 for “bonuses, salaries, and consultants for non-profit organizations.”
It’s worth noting that the Judiciary Committee’s report is relatively kind. The New York Post, reporting on an audit conducted by FireAid, found this: “One charity is focused on buying uniforms for kiddie choir singers ($100,000) and another offers pet health care ($250,000).”
“One group got $500,000 to seed burned forests with restorative fungi and bacteria. Another half-million-dollar grant went to a group that provides mental health care for musicians,” the paper noted.
California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley, too, has gone viral for his criticism of the show FireAid has made of it.
California Rep Kevin Kiley says they have learned the $100 million dollar pacific palisades Fire Aid concert money was laundered to nonprofits
“What we have learned is absolutely beyond belief — Tens of thousands of people donated raising a hundred million dollars for what they… pic.twitter.com/7vBGCaVeui
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) May 6, 2026
A reminder to Californians: You have two major elections, both for governor and for Los Angeles mayor, where a gaggle of Democrats is running to govern much the same way that FireAid disburses donations. In fact, Mayor Karen Bass is seeking another term after screwing up the response to the wildfires. This is like a micro version of USAID, where largesse and corruption ran rampant, and oversight was nonexistent.
Your future is on the line, Golden State. Vote like it, or watch your state continue to be run like this nonprofit was.
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