LA Mayor Karen Bass' past in communist Cuba revealed... as insiders say her political career is 'over'

She rose from being a doctor’s assistant to running one of the largest cities in America. 

But today, embattled Karen Bass, 71, is a lightning rod for anger over her handling of historic wildfires that turned huge swaths of Los Angeles into a charred hellscape.

And now her alleged missteps have imperiled her political career and further damaged her crumbling reputation with millions of Angelenos. 

Last night, in yet another on-air embarrassment, she was taken to task in front of millions by none other than President Trump. 

He admonished her for her poor handling of the fires disaster, telling her to use her power appropriately to get people the help they need.  

So far, 27 victims are known to have perished in the fires, fanned by dangerous Santa Ana winds, as authorities continue to sift through mile after mile of horrific devastation searching for human remains.

‘I don't think she'll ever be reelected... I think her political career is over,’ former LA County District Attorney Steve Cooley tells DailyMail.com of the city’s 43rd mayor.

‘The perception of her from residents at this point is such that she can no longer effectively lead the city of Los Angeles. She's lost the public's trust and importantly, their respect.’

Cooley, who served as DA from 2000 to 2012, states that there is an understandable wave of sentiment to have Bass ejected from the Mayor’s office but that such a move would be an uphill battle.

He added there was already a wave of city-wide antipathy towards Bass before the historic fires which he blames on her decision to prioritize DEI issues rather than focusing on hiring qualified candidates to key departments. 

Moreover, he adds that Bass’ focus on her two signature issues – keeping LA a sanctuary city and the ceaseless homeless crisis – have bee a major detriment to the city and its residents.

‘She's operating against the law when it comes to sanctuary cities, and the other issues of homelessness - she has not accomplished her goals, and it has been a failure,’ said Cooley.

Before becoming Madam Mayor, Bass served six terms as a Democrat in Congress and was a potential running mate in Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign for president. She entered Congress in 2010 and was chair of Congressional Black Caucus.

Meanwhile, the current wildfire disaster is only the latest controversy to damage Bass.

She praised Fidel Castro and had close associations with Cuba in her youth, traveling to the country in 1973 with an organization called the Venceremos Brigade and seeing the communist leader speak.

In 2016, when Castro died, she referred to him as 'commandante en jefe' (commander-in-chief) saying his passing was a 'great loss to the people of Cuba.' She also reportedly gave a eulogy for a senior member of the Communist Party USA.

‘And now you have the fires that destroyed (the city) and there is mismanagement. People feel that she let them down. To a certain extent, some people feel the city was set up for this disaster.’

Cooley lambasted divorcee Bass over her controversial hiring of $750,0fd00-a-year LA water czar Janisse Quiñones who was brought in to clean house at thea city’s woefully mismanaged Department of Water and Power (LADWP) but is said to be responsible for a raft of failures that contributed to the devastating Palisades Fire, LAFD insiders told DailyMail.com.

On Bass's orders, the city maxed out its budget to 'attract private-sector talent', hiring Quiñones on a salary almost double that of her predecessor.

Cooley pointed out that Quiñones, just like Bass, has been overly focused on social justice.

 ‘Their job to protect the public was secondary to their social justice agenda, and for that, they should all resign in disgrace,’ he said.

Bass, shockingly, was in Ghana when the Palisades fire erupted on Jan. 7 and ripped through the area ravaging multi-million dollar homes and leaving thousands homeless.

She was thousands of miles away to attend the inauguration of that country’s new president as part of a U.S. delegation. Bass eventually made it back to LA the day after the flames had begun causing havoc.

'I've seen the devastation firsthand,' she wrote in on online post. 'These fires across our region have changed lives forever. The days ahead will be challenging but we will get through this crisis, together.

'Thank you to all the first responders who are working day and night doing everything possible to protect Los Angeles.'

Bass, who smiled awkwardly during her address, said: 'To any of you and all of you who have experienced a loss, the grief, the anger, the just utter shock - I've seen the devastation, it is unbelievable the amount of loss that people have experienced.'

Elon Musk blasted Bass, the first woman mayor of LA, as ‘utterly incompetent’ and highlighted posts on X saying she was a ‘DEI hire.’

And property developer Rick Caruso, who narrowly lost to Bass in the 2022 mayoral showdown, condemned her ill-timed absence from LA, claiming it contributed to a delayed response to the fires.

‘We have a mayor who seems to be more concerned about being at some party, wherever that is,’ Caruso told the Los Angeles times.

In the city’s most recent budget, Bass decreased funds for the LAFD by $17 million - but had originally wanted to slash $23 million.

Coincidence or not, the cuts came after the United Firefighters of LA had endorsed Caruso for mayor. He compared Pacific Palisades, where he owns an upscale mall called Palisades Village, to a ‘third world country’ because of mismanagement that led to fire hydrants running out of water.

Bass defended her actions minutes after landing back in the city, commenting weakly in response to mounting criticism, ‘Although I wasn’t physically here, I was in touch with many of the individuals standing here throughout the entire time.

‘This is going to be an effort of all of us coming together, and we have to resist any effort to pull us apart.’

When Bass ran for mayor, video emerged of an event in 2010 when she spoke at a ceremony for a renovated Church of Scientology building in the city. The controversial organization has been accused of acting like a cult and has faced a number of allegations from former members of abuse, human trafficking and intimidation.

During her remarks, Bass called the opening of the headquarters an ‘exciting moment because I know your goal and your commitment is truly to make a difference.

‘The Church of Scientology I know has made a difference. Because your creed is a universal creed and one that speaks to all people everywhere.’

She said of the founder, who said starting a religion was the best way to make a fortune, ‘That is why the words are exciting of your founder L. Ron Hubbard, in the creed of the Church of Scientology: That all people of whatever race, color or creed are created with equal rights.”

Embarrassed Bass was forced to backtrack in a statement when a video of her pro-Scientology comments re-surfaced during her mayoral campaign. She defended them, saying she was trying to find an ‘area of agreement’ with the so-called church.

‘I attended the event knowing I was going to address a group of people with beliefs very different than my own, and spoke briefly about things I think most of us agree with, and on those things - respect for different views, equality, and fighting oppression - my views have not changed.  

‘Since then, published first-hand accounts in books, interviews and documentaries have exposed this group.’

Bass was married to Jesus Lechuga from 1980 to 1986 and the couple had a daughter Emilia who was two when she filed for divorce in Feb. 1986 citing irreconcilable differences.

They shared joint custody of their daughter and Bass was awarded child support of $60 per month.

She filed income information and at the time stating she made $28,000. At that time, she was working as a physician’s assistant at the USC School of Medicine.

Lechuga has since passed away. Bass went on to become a big player in community organizing in the 1990s, which helped her gain recognition and support when she ran for the CA Assembly.

Following their divorce, Bass and Lechuga jointly raised their daughter and Lechuga’s children from a previous marriage. Her daughter was 23 when she and her husban, Michael Wright, were killed in a car crash in 2006.

After becoming Mayor in Dec. 2022, Bass took up residence in Getty House, the official residence of the mayor of Los Angeles. The gated historic mansion, donated to the city by the Getty oil family, is located in the tree-lined Hancock Park area of the city five miles west of City Hall.

Bass says she is a Baptist and that she attends First New Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in South LA.

She is currently renting out her $2million home in the Baldwin Hills area of LA, also known as the ‘Black Beverly Hills’ because it has historically been a neighborhood for Black families and professionals.

She listed the property for rent $5,950 in September 2023. The 2,900 sq ft, two-bedroom, four-bathroom hillside home was built in 1956 and has a swimming pool, with stunning jetliner views of the city, including to downtown.

Residents near Bass’ Baldwin Hills home spoke with DailyMail.com about their controversial neighbor.

Kevin Walker, 58, said Bass has ‘always had our full support. I think she's awesome. She's been a great leader.

‘When she was living here, she was a great neighbor. She wouldn't necessarily stop and engage, but she was always respectful, always concerned about the neighborhood.

‘We had some homeless camps down the hill and she helped us fight as a community so she’s been great.’

But he agrees with Bass’ critics who say her trip to Ghana was ill-advised.

‘The problem is optics,’ he said. ‘In hindsight she should not have necessarily gone to South Africa.

‘She's at the top of the food chain so the buck stops with her. She’s supposed to serve the public. She's been in this political game long enough to understand that.’

‘Whatever words she says that this point will fall on deaf ears so we need an independent team that can say what went wrong.’

Keith Williams, 61, said, ‘The fires are hard for everybody involved but I appreciate the empathy that she’s showing and the connection she has with everybody she’s trying to deal with. It resonates with me that she understands the buck stops with her.’

Adrianne Harris, 65, praised Bass as a ‘good neighbor’ and said, ‘She’s doing the best that she can do. An ocean of water wouldn’t have put those fires out.’

But Bass’s neighbor in tony Hancock Park, Adil Farooqui, 62, said of the apocalyptic fire storms, ‘Mistakes did happen. It’s a tragedy of a lifetime. This was our Katrina.’

He voted for Caruso for mayor and said the way the ‘lack of resources’ and ‘series of mistakes’ will ‘create a lot of pressure’ for Bass.

‘We pay the highest taxes in the country - I don’t under why the fire department was curtailed of funds.

‘She has to explain why this was necessary. It's going to take a toll on her political career.’