Bass Pushes Back On Ex-LAFD Chief’s Bid To Question Her Under Oath

LOS ANGELES, CA — Mayor Karen Bass is opposing a bid by former Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley to do additional discovery, including deposing the mayor, prior to a hearing on the mayor's anti-SLAPP motion aimed at winning dismissal of Crowley's defamation suit on free-speech grounds.

In her first Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed Feb. 20, Crowley alleges retaliation by the city in violation of the Labor Code and retaliation in violation of the state Constitution. The city denies any retaliation took place and says the first suit should be tossed out as a result.

Crowley's second suit, for defamation, was brought against Bass on June 23. In court papers filed Tuesday with Judge Kristin S. Escalante in advance of a Dec. 3 hearing, Bass' lawyers state that Crowley's request to do limited discovery before the hearing should be denied.

"The `limited' discovery sought by plaintiff is anything but," the Bass lawyers state in their court papers, noting that Crowley is asking the mayor to answer nearly 80 requests for admission, explain each answer in interrogatories and sit for a deposition.

"This discovery, which covers dozens of merits issues raised in this case and the related case against the city, cannot be reconciled with the Legislature's directive that a litigant generally should not endure the time and resources associated with discovery while an anti-SLAPP motion is pending," Bass' attorneys argue in their pleadings.

Because the 55-year-old Crowley is a public figure, she must demonstrate, by clear and convincing evidence, that Bass, 73, spoke with actual malice, but the information sought by the former chief is "irrelevant to the legal standard for actual malice and cannot support plaintiff's claim as a matter of law," according to Bass' attorneys' court papers.

Bass attorneys also state in their pleadings that it is "striking" that Crowley wants to depose Bass on a wide range oftopics without recognizing the substantial burden it would impose on the head of Los Angeles city government and while knowing the same information can be obtained from others.

But in their court papers, Crowley's attorneys say the proposed deposition would be a limited inquiry as to "official duty" defense and state of mind.

"Where a plaintiff shows that the defendant possesses evidence needed to establish the plaintiff's prima facie case, the court must liberally exercise its discretion to permit reasonable, specified discovery," according to Crowley's attorneys' court papers. "Plaintiff seeks only that and the court should grant her motion."

In their anti-SLAPP motion, Bass' lawyers call Crowley's lawsuit "an improper attempt to stifle and punish critical public discourse."

The Bass lawyers write in their court papers that Crowley wants to hold the mayor liable for a statement the city's leader made during a televised mayoral debate. But the Bass remark falls within the anti-SLAPP statute's protections for any oral statement or writing made in a place open to the public or a public forum in connection with an issue of public interest, according to Bass' attorneys' court papers.

The state's anti-SLAPP law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.

The challenged statement concerns the response of the LAFD and the city to the Palisades Fire, a topic that remains the subject of public interest as well as widespread news coverage, public discussion and ongoing investigation, Bass' attorneys note in their court papers.

"Bass falsely stated that `the primary problem there was that the chief sent home 1,000 firefighters. ... (there were) fire trucks that were out of use because she had sent the firefighters home. ... there was supposed to have been deployment and pre-deployment in the area that did not happen," according to Crowley's defamation suit.

But in their court papers, Bass' lawyers contend that in making the challenged statement, the mayor took part in the ongoing discussions regarding the Palisades Fire and, thus, her statement was in connection with a matter of public interest.

Crowley was removed as LAFD chief by Bass on Feb. 21, 2025, although she is still with the LAFD as an assistant chief in the Valley Bureau.

Bass accused Crowley of leadership failures during the January 2025 windstorm that led to the deadly Palisades Fire, and also accused the former fire chief of refusing to prepare an after-action report on the firefight. The mayor also accused Crowley of failing to deploy 1,000 firefighters who "could have been on duty" the morning the fire erupted.

Bass also contended in interviews that Crowley failed to inform her of the fire danger presented by forecasted Santa Ana winds — despite those warnings being widely publicized by the National Weather Service and in media reports for days in advance.

Crowley in 2025 appealed her removal as chief to the City Council, but the council stood behind Bass, rejecting the appeal in a 13-2 vote.

The Palisades Fire burned more than 23,000 acres, killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures.

City News Service