Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) just sent the attached letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking the Department of Justice to open an investigation into donations made to the Annenberg Foundation, who organized FireAid.

Recent reporting found that some of those donations were instead diverted to nonprofits that have very little connection to fire relief and recovery.

Rep. Kiley is urging the DOJ to take action to maintain and restore confidence that donor intent is respected and that the intended recipients of these funds are made whole.

Ms. Pamela Bondi
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Attorney General Bondi,

Americans watched the devastation wrought by the January fires in Los Angeles with shock and sadness. Driven by faith, compassion, and a desire to do good, tens of thousands opened their hearts and their wallets to donate time and money to help the victims.

There is no question the need was great; over 18,000 homes and structures were destroyed, rendering many more thousands homeless and tragically killing over 30 people.

To aid the recovery, the Annenberg Foundation organized FireAid, a major benefit concert featuring some of the biggest names in entertainment who generously donated their talent for the event. The outpouring of support was tremendous, with public reports noting that over $100 million was raised. The Annenberg Foundation promised in its solicitations that the funds would be used for “direct relief” and that those funds would “not be used for administrative purposes [FireAid].”

But recently, independent reporting by Fox11 in Los Angeles and Circling the News have uncovered that those donations were instead diverted to a number of nonprofits, many of which have a tenuous connection (at best) to fire relief and recovery. Some of the nonprofits don’t even operate in the LA area. For example, “After the Fire,” which is in Sonoma – well north of LA — describes its mission as “coaching, convening and collaborating,” another grantee described its mission vaguely as “multigenerational power building” and “civic engagement.”

Whatever we might think of those mission statements, it diverges from the stated purpose of the solicitation and is likely inconsistent with donor intent.

Americans’ generosity should not be the second victim of this tragedy. I’m asking that the Department of Justice take urgent action to maintain and restore confidence that donor intent is respected and that the intended recipients of these funds are made whole. An investigation is needed to discover where these donations went and who benefited.

Moreover, Congress and the administration will likely soon consider additional disaster aid for California – relief my constituents and I support. No doubt, many of these same nonprofits will line up for even more funding. Taxpayers and donors alike expect that we will learn from our experience here and hopefully make better decisions going forward.

I look forward to working with your team and to hearing more from your department.

Sincerely,
_________________________
Kevin Kiley
Member of Congress