FireAid has hired a law firm to conduct a comprehensive review of the celebrity fundraising event after officials and the public questioned how the organization is spending $100 million in donations for Los Angeles-area fire victims.
Attorneys from the Latham and Watkins law firm in Los Angeles notified Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) of their plans to “conduct a comprehensive review of FireAid’s governance and grantmaking processes,” according to a July 28 letter.
“To ensure FireAid remains true to its original mission of directly supporting fire survivors, our law firm has been retained to conduct a comprehensive review of FireAid’s governance and grantmaking processes,” attorney Makan Delrahim wrote in the letter.
The review will also include assessing whether recipient organizations were using funds that aligned with FireAid’s stated purpose and commitments, Delrahim wrote.
Kiley called for a federal investigation into the organization after he said he learned none of the victims of the Los Angeles-area Palisades and Eaton fires received funding.
FireAid held celebrity concerts at two venues on Jan. 30 in Inglewood, California, days after the wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in Pacific Palisades and the Altadena area in January. The event featured performances by Billie Eilish, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Stevie Nicks, and several other well-known entertainers who donated their talents for the cause.
Kiley requested an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice on July 23, asking for urgent action to “maintain and restore confidence that donor intent is respected and that the intended recipients of [the] funds are made whole.”
Kiley has received a response from the White House and vowed to continue looking into the matter.
“President Trump has responded to my request for an investigation by referring the matter to Attorney General Bondi, and FireAid has told me they will soon been sending me a transparency report,” Kiley told The Epoch Times in an email July 30. “I am committed to getting answers for the sake of the victims and the thousands of generous donors.”
FireAid organizers with the Los Angeles-based Annenberg Foundation, a family foundation that provides funding globally, promised the money would be used for direct relief.
The organization said it had so far awarded $75 million of the donations to more than 160 nonprofits, schools, and local organizations working to respond and “lift up” the affected communities, the law firm noted in its letter.
Of the funds distributed, about $17 million went to wildfire recovery, including housing support, mental health services, environmental recovery, remediation, and soil testing, according to FireAid’s attorneys.
Masked people view damage from the Eaton Fire amid poor air quality in Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2025. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Another $6 million went to relief for fire survivors and impacted communities, including food, emergency supplies, and care programs, the attorneys reported.
The attorneys also said about $500,000 went to “symbols of hope,” including the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. Another $1 million was approved to fund a FireAid project with the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation to provide brush vehicles for Altadena and the Palisades ahead of the upcoming fire season.
The group expects to award another $25 million by the end of 2025.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office declined to say last week whether he would approve a state investigation into the funding.
“FireAid is an independent organization not affiliated with the state or the governor,” Newsom’s press office posted on X. “The governor and the state had no role in the FireAid concerts, or the organization’s decisions to distribute FireAid funds.”
The governor’s office referred complaints about the organization to the California Department of Justice’s Charitable Trusts Section.
