$100 Million Raised for Fire Victims Stolen by Hollywood Democrats
Four months after Congress exposed FireAid's diversion of $100 million in wildfire relief funds to progressive nonprofits, the Justice Department has not opened a fraud investigation, leaving actual victims with nothing.
Miles Teller told 50 million viewers watching the January 2025 broadcast that every dollar raised would go straight to California wildfire survivors. The star-studded FireAid concert pulled in about $100 million to aid victims of fires that killed 31 people and leveled thousands of homes. Four months after Congress laid out evidence the money vanished into political causes instead, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has not announced whether the Justice Department will investigate.
The concert raised approximately $100 million for victims of wildfires that killed 31 people and destroyed thousands of structures across Southern California. FireAid distributed that money to 188 nonprofits. Not a single survivor received a direct payment.
Teller's words still echo from that broadcast. "All the money raised will go directly to people who need it now and long-term efforts to build it back."
The House Judiciary Committee's January interim staff report documented $75 million in grants to those 188 nonprofits, with some funds supporting causes that had nothing to do with fire recovery. The committee based its findings on FireAid's own disbursement records.
The report shows $100,000 to the CA Native Vote Project for Native American voter participation. Another $100,000 went to NAACP Pasadena for political advocacy. The LA Black Worker Center received $250,000 for unionization efforts.
A further $250,000 flowed to Community Organized Relief Effort for programs that prioritize undocumented immigrants. The Centre for Applied Ecological Remediation took $500,000 for fungus and microbe soil projects. The Altadena Talks Foundation got $100,000 to produce a local podcast. More than $500,000 paid salaries, bonuses and consultant fees at nonprofit organizations.
Rep. Kevin Kiley formally asked then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a federal investigation into the diversions. Bondi lost her job on April 2. Blanche has not said whether the DOJ will pursue the FireAid case.
"Nobody has any idea why the attorney general is no longer the attorney general and I'm the acting attorney general except for President Trump," Blanche told reporters.
The people who lived through those fires have seen none of it. David Howard lost two homes in Pacific Palisades. He told Fox News the FireAid money has not reached him.
"I am very involved here and neither have my neighbors," Howard said. He called the situation "a s—tshow."
Ben Einbinder lost his Palisades home, too. He told the New York Post that his community remains confused. "There are a lot of people in our group chats who are like, 'What's the FireAid money being used for?' Because I don't think any of us have seen any of it."
FireAid said it "does not have the capability to make direct payments to individuals and that was never the plan." The statement contradicts Teller's on-stage promise directly.
The foundation commissioned an audit from Latham & Watkins that found no evidence of fraud. The House Judiciary Committee challenged those findings, pointing out that grants went to causes "completely unrelated to fire recovery."
Congress is investigating FireAid alongside ActBlue. The House Judiciary Committee led the FireAid probe. Three committees — Judiciary, Oversight and Administration, chaired by Jim Jordan, James Comer and Bryan Steil — are examining ActBlue.
ActBlue faces allegations of foreign donation fraud and obstruction. FireAid followed the same pattern of collecting charitable donations and channeling them to progressive nonprofits.
"Now, we've learned that this money didn't go to the victims at all," Kiley told CBS News. "That's why I said, 'Let's get to the bottom of this. Let's get transparency. Let's get accountability.'"
The remaining $25 million, set aside for a third round of grants, had not been distributed by the end of 2025. No public confirmation of disbursement exists as of this week.
Kiley has demanded the remaining funds reach survivors directly. The Justice Department has not announced an investigation into FireAid, four months after a House committee report exposed the systematic diversion of charitable funds intended for disaster victims.
Howard still lives in the ashes of his neighborhood. So does Einbinder. So do thousands of others who believed a promise made on national television, then watched their money disappear into causes they never asked for and never voted to support.