Two major earthquakes have struck the Atlantic Ocean, prompting an expert to warn that a wider seismic “chain reaction” could eventually reach fault lines near the United States.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a magnitude 6.9 earthquake along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the undersea boundary between Africa and South America, at 8:23 a.m. ET.

The tremor followed a magnitude 6.7 earthquake at 1:44 a.m., less than seven hours earlier and roughly 50 miles to the north. Both earthquakes struck along the same seafloor fault system, where the ocean floor is gradually pulling apart.

Geophysicist Stefan Burns told the Daily Mail that the closely spaced earthquakes were unusually powerful for the region and could form part of a seismic “chain reaction” unfolding in 2026 as activity shifts toward fault lines closer to North America.

Burns, who says he successfully forecast several earthquakes months before they occurred this year, warned: “If there is going to be fallout close to land, it would be like something big happening in North America.”

The earthquake analyst said the Caribbean plate has already experienced a series of major seismic events in 2026, including devastating earthquakes in Colombia, Venezuela and Panama.

In Burns’ assessment, Tuesday’s Atlantic earthquakes show that stress accumulated along the Caribbean plate may now be influencing the neighboring South American and African plates. He described the development as a seismic “knock-on effect” that could transmit energy through connected plate boundaries, with the North American plate potentially next.

Research has documented how major earthquakes can influence faults thousands of miles away, offering a possible scientific explanation for the distant triggering mechanism Burns described.

A study published in the journal Nature found that powerful earthquakes can generate seismic activity thousands of miles from the original rupture.

Researchers from UC Berkeley and the USGS reported that a magnitude 8.6 earthquake in the Indian Ocean in 2012 triggered tremors around the world, including a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Baja California. In some cases, faults ruptured as long as six days after the initial event.

Roland Bürgmann, a co-author of the study, said seismic waves can sometimes set off a sequence of smaller earthquakes that ultimately leads to larger ruptures. He characterized distant triggering as extremely rare, but said it remains “a real possibility if the right kind of earthquake happens.”

“Until now, we seismologists have always said, ‘Don’t worry about distant earthquakes triggering local quakes,’” said Bürgmann, a professor of earth and planetary science at Berkeley.

Burns said the Mid-Atlantic Ridge “doublet”—two strong earthquakes occurring near one another within a short period—signals substantial movement between the South American and African plates. He linked the activity to more than a year of seismic unrest along the nearby Caribbean plate.

He also pointed to a series of powerful South American earthquakes, all exceeding magnitude 7.0, and said the broader sequence can be traced back to a magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck the Cayman Islands in February 2025.

Burns said Tuesday’s Atlantic earthquakes were among the strongest recorded along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the past five decades. The magnitude 6.9 event was the third most powerful earthquake documented there since 1976.

“Generally, anything close to magnitude 7.0 on a mid-ocean ridge is incredible,” he said.

Burns wrote on X that he would not be surprised if the apparent progression of major earthquakes along the tectonic plates surrounding the Americas produced another significant seismic event before the end of the week.

Although USGS scientists have argued that geological events like earthquakes cannot be predicted well in advance, Burns has gone on the record repeatedly this year, warning of major earthquakes in South America weeks and even months before they took place.

The popular YouTube commentator who focuses on earthquake science first predicted that a major earthquake could strike Colombia on June 24, nearly two months before the magnitude 7.4 disaster in the city of San José del Palmar on August 10, 2026. 

He said in a YouTube livestream that the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes in Venezuela that same day would be sending out waves of seismic energy that could cause another fault to rupture several weeks or months later.

The scientist also noted at the time that these massive seismic events appeared to be moving north towards Panama, Mexico and the US.

Burns told the Daily Mail that October 9’s magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Panama was ‘exactly’ what recent seismic trends had been showing, adding that the pattern continued to show movement towards a major disaster hitting vulnerable fault lines in California.

Burns also theorized that the sun plays a major role in causing earthquakes.

On October 10, he predicted that a high-speed solar impact would set off a major quake within one to three days after the doublet erupted along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The head of a Los Angeles nonprofit that supports domestic violence survivors and homeless people has reportedly lived in Hawaii for at least a decade while receiving costly benefits from the organization, including a luxury apartment in Santa Monica and a BMW.

Carol Adelkoff, CEO of the 1736 Family Crisis Center, received about $1.6 million over a two-year period, making her the highest-paid homeless services executive in Los Angeles, according to the LA Times.

Adelkoff told the newspaper that nearly half of that total came from a payout for unused vacation time accumulated during her more than 40 years with the organization.

However, her compensation was not the only expense that drew scrutiny.

The nonprofit, which runs domestic violence shelters throughout Los Angeles, reportedly paid $6,500 a month for an upscale apartment near the beach in Santa Monica for Adelkoff to use when visiting Southern California.

Records reviewed by the outlet also indicate that the organization leased a BMW for Adelkoff’s personal use in Hawaii, where she has lived for at least 10 years. The nonprofit has no shelters or clients in the state.

The organization’s board approved the Santa Monica apartment in 2018, while financial records show that the nonprofit was paying the rent the following year.

It remains unclear how long the arrangement continued or whether the nonprofit is still covering the apartment’s costs, the LA Times reported.

In a letter defending the expense, the organization’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, said maintaining a residence for Adelkoff was more affordable and predictable than repeatedly paying for hotel stays during her trips to Southern California.

Wright also argued that the property offered the CEO added security because she had concerns about her personal safety.

Employees had raised concerns about the nonprofit’s spending well before the expenses came under wider scrutiny.

In 2019, three senior staff members hired attorney Dorsey Kleger-Heine to question what they viewed as the improper use of charitable funds for Adelkoff’s personal benefits, according to the LA Times.

Kleger-Heine detailed the employees’ allegations in a letter sent to the nonprofit’s board in December 2019.

Several weeks later, she brought the issue to the California Attorney General’s Office, filing a complaint with its charities division over the organization’s spending practices.

The 1736 Family Crisis Center operates domestic violence shelters, crisis hotlines and homeless programs across Los Angeles and Orange counties. According to its latest tax filings, it receives about $15 million in annual revenue, with approximately 94% coming from taxpayer-funded government grants.

Adelkoff defended the approximately $1.6 million in payments, saying the figure was primarily driven by the cashing out of decades of unused vacation rather than a sharp increase in her salary.

“The salary didn’t jump like that,” Adelkoff told the LA Times.

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She said her base salary had remained around $405,000 for several years and that about $824,000 of the money paid over the two-year period reflected vacation time accumulated over decades.

The organization’s finance director, the next-highest-paid employee, earned $206,000.

“It was simply a matter of reducing accrued vacation liability on the books and paying it out,” Adelkoff said.

The nonprofit’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, said the board worked with legal and financial advisers to reduce the growing vacation liability before Adelkoff’s eventual retirement.

Wright said the executive had accumulated the leave because the demands of leading the organization made it difficult for her to take time off over her 40-year tenure. 

Still, nonprofit governance experts questioned both the payout and the oversight behind it.

“The bigger question is, was it appropriate for a person to be able to accrue that much money and suddenly get it paid out?” said Brian Mittendorf, an Ohio State University expert in nonprofit accounting.

Laurie Styron, CEO of nonprofit watchdog CharityWatch, called the payout “highly unusual.” “How was this decision made?” she asked. 

Experts also noted that while California employers cannot force workers to forfeit unused vacation, most nonprofits cap how much paid time off employees can bank.

The Times reported 1736 Family Crisis Center capped vacation accrual for other employees — but not for Adelkoff. The executive has also been living far from the nonprofit’s headquarters.

Adelkoff has listed the Big Island of Hawaii as her primary residence for more than a decade, according to the outlet.

Property records show she owns a 3,700-square-foot, four-bedroom home, and court records include testimony from her daughter that she was raised in Hawaii and that her mother lives there “year-round.” 

Adelkoff declined to confirm where she lives, telling the newspaper that revealing her location could pose a security risk because the nonprofit serves victims fleeing abusive situations. She also did not answer questions about how often she travels to Southern California for work or who pays for those trips. 

Other nonprofit leaders told The Times that while some executive duties can be handled remotely, regularly visiting shelters and meeting with staff, donors and clients is a key part of running community-based organizations.

“I’m sure that that’s an operational challenge,” Mittendorf said. “My big question would be, does it create more of a financial burden on the organization?” 

The nonprofit said Adelkoff works an average of 70 hours a week and that her pay has returned to its historical level now that the vacation payouts have been completed.

The Post reached out the the non profit for comment.

A transgender woman accused of fatally stabbing a Chicago man 13 times after he allegedly mocked her gender reportedly left part of the knife embedded in his skull.

Kelly Day, 32, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the Oct. 7 stabbing of Larry Young, 50, near a gas station on Chicago’s South Side, the Chicago Police Department said in a news release obtained by News Media.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the attack occurred in front of Day’s 7-year-old stepson after an argument over comments Young allegedly made about Day’s gender.

At a detention hearing Saturday, prosecutors said surveillance footage from the gas station showed Day stabbing Young 13 times in the head, neck and shoulders.

An autopsy later determined that part of the knife blade had broken off and remained lodged in the victim’s skull, according to the Tribune.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Young as a Chicago resident and said he died at 7:26 p.m. on Oct. 7 from multiple sharp-force injuries. His death was ruled a homicide.

Day told investigators she acted in self-defense, alleging that Young used a slur, threatened violence against her and her wife, and made a gesture indicating he might have a gun, the Tribune reported.

Prosecutors said Day, who was assigned male at birth and identifies as a woman, had earlier been mocked for using the women’s restroom at a McDonald’s, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Prosecutors said the earlier incident upset Day, who later discussed the ridicule with her wife.

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Young, who reportedly did not know Day, approached the family as they walked along East 87th Street.

An argument began after Young allegedly made comments about Day’s gender. Day’s wife tried to intervene, but the confrontation continued. Prosecutors said Young eventually pushed Day before walking toward a gas station across the street.

Prosecutors said Day followed Young, and the confrontation then escalated into violence.

After the stabbing, Day allegedly called 911 and said she had been injured while defending herself. She left the scene before officers arrived.

Prosecutors said Day discarded the knife, which investigators later recovered with part of the blade missing.

Day later made another 911 call, telling authorities she had been cut while cooking, prosecutors said.

Chicago police and members of the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Day at approximately 10:50 p.m. on Oct. 7, fewer than four hours after the stabbing.

During Saturday’s detention hearing, Judge John Hock ordered Day held in custody pending trial, citing the severity of the alleged attack.

Day was scheduled to return to court Tuesday.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Greece, resigned Tuesday amid allegations of improper conduct, while declaring that she would “vigorously defend” herself.

The Trump administration said earlier in the day that it had asked Guilfoyle to step down after she faced mounting scrutiny over claims of improper and potentially unlawful behavior before and during her time in Athens.

The announcement followed several days of public speculation and came in response to a question posed to newly appointed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia during her first media briefing Tuesday morning. Zacharia described Guilfoyle as “a wonderful asset to the team” and said the administration wished her well.

Guilfoyle’s exit had been foreshadowed over the weekend in reporting by The Associated Press. Trump also voiced his displeasure Monday over reports concerning the ambassador’s alleged conduct.

Asked at the White House whether he was considering firing Guilfoyle, Trump replied, “Well, we’re looking at it,” adding, “We’re not happy.”

Trump’s remarks came a day after the AP, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that the president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were “extremely pissed off” by the allegations and were expected to decide Guilfoyle’s fate during the week.

The Wall Street Journal has published a series of reports since late last month detailing alleged questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. The claims include threatening an official from the host country, accepting inappropriate gifts and services, and offering to use her influence within the Republican administration in exchange for payment of a substantial credit card bill.

Guilfoyle denies the accusations and cites her ‘decades of public service’

Guilfoyle rejected the accusations in a social media post, writing, “These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity.”

“I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, and defending the values that make America exceptional,” she wrote. “I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service.”

In a statement issued late Sunday, Guilfoyle’s attorneys, David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, denied any wrongdoing. They said money she sought from a Trump donor was compensation for unpaid public appearances and speaking engagements that took place before her nomination as ambassador.

The lawyers also disputed allegations involving Guilfoyle’s use of private aircraft. They said she had “sought, obtained and followed State Department guidance and followed the Department’s travel regulations” before each flight.

The allegations began surfacing weeks ago

Rubio initially defended Guilfoyle after the first report but later stopped addressing the allegations publicly. Last week, he said, “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

After another report emerged, however, Rubio sharply criticized journalists who questioned him about the claims. Speaking Thursday before departing Athens, he said he did not know whether the allegations were accurate and would not comment on matters he could not verify.

“You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things,” Rubio said near his plane as Guilfoyle watched him leave.

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A second U.S. official could not confirm whether a formal inspector general investigation had been opened. Inspectors general frequently begin with informal reviews of complaints involving staff members, and those inquiries do not always lead to a full investigation. Formal proceedings can result in disciplinary measures, including dismissal.

The State Department has declined to comment on whether its inspector general is examining the allegations.

The Greek government and Cabinet members did not immediately respond to Zacharia’s announcement.

Before Tuesday’s announcement, Greek opposition parties had urged the Foreign Ministry to summon Guilfoyle and demand an explanation. “This, most importantly, is an issue of national dignity,” Sia Anagnostopoulou, a former deputy foreign minister, told parliament Friday. Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said Guilfoyle had been treated “the same way as every other ambassador” and maintained that a formal summons was unnecessary.

Just hours before the announcement, Guilfoyle shared photos from a meeting with Spain’s ambassador to Athens and posted birthday wishes for Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law. The message was set to Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” featured on the soundtrack of the 2023 film “Barbie.”

Democrats call for an investigation

Senior Democrats in Congress have already called for an investigation. They include Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees, respectively, along with Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform.

Since late September, the Journal has detailed numerous accounts of questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. Its first report said that she had told guests at a reception that the United States could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.

While Rubio was in Athens, the Journal reported — citing text messages — that Guilfoyle had asked a Trump donor and supporter to pay a $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did.

The Journal then reported that Guilfoyle had been enraged about not being invited to a Greek-themed event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year and demanded to attend while boasting about luxury travel to France with energy company executives.

Another report, from the British tabloid The Daily Mail, said that Guilfoyle had alienated staff at the U.S. Embassy in Athens and had pushed the bounds of behavior appropriate for the top representative of the U.S. government to Greece.

Guilfoyle is a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was married to Democrat Gavin Newsom when he was San Francisco’s mayor, before he became California’s governor. She later was engaged to Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.

___

AP journalist Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

Kelly Clarkson reportedly stopped by Brooklyn toy shop Art of Play for some retail therapy Saturday, but the outing quickly turned into a heated confrontation.

The singer accused the store of treating her like the character in Pretty Woman after staff allegedly refused to sell her a $15,000 mechanical bird. Clarkson, according to reports, then abandoned her usual America’s sweetheart image and took aim at the proprietor, calling him an “idiot” and saying, “You’re not only rude, you’re also a liar.”

The store described the episode as a misunderstanding. The dispute nevertheless escalated beyond social media, with police reportedly summoned after a disturbance prompted frightened employees to lock themselves inside.

A source told the Daily Mail that Clarkson—described as “genuinely one of the nicest people in Hollywood”—felt she had been treated unfairly. After years of what she believes has been disrespect, the insider said, the singer is not prepared to quietly move on.

“Other people would blow it off, not Kelly,” the insider said.

“She’s not just going to brush it off and pretend everything is fine. She believes in being honest, treating people fairly and calling things out when they’re wrong.”

Clarkson left Los Angeles for New York City three years ago, relocating with her daughter, River, 12, and son, Remington, 10.

A second insider who previously worked with the singer said the Brooklyn incident was not the first time Clarkson had felt slighted since making the move to New York.

“She has a really hard time with how New Yorkers are. She is getting sick of it. A lot of people in New York don’t recognize her and don’t treat her that nicely, probably because she usually has no makeup on and a big hat. They judge her and she knows it,” the insider claimed.

Another source offered a sharper comparison than Pretty Woman, likening Clarkson to Miranda Priestly, the demanding fashion editor played by Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

“People definitely whispered about her when she was here. It was like Miranda Priestly walking into Runway, except she would walk in without her glam and then have her helpers make her all dolled up so she was on-air ready… Of course, it was part of her hosting gig, but she took it to another level,” the source said.

The second insider offered a different explanation, suggesting Clarkson’s irritation may reflect the contrast between her Southern upbringing and New York’s famously blunt social culture.

“Kelly is used to super-friendly people from the South, people who are helpful and kind and say ‘have a nice day,’ but we all know New Yorkers are not like that. They can be nasty.”

The insider characterized Clarkson as a “no-BS person” who does not sugarcoat her opinions and “says it like it is.” That directness, the source added, can sometimes “ruffle feathers.”

And when Clarkson believes she has been wronged, the source said, she does not hold back.

“When Kelly gets offended, she goes into Beast Mode. She takes people head-on and can be tough as nails when she thinks she has been treated unfairly.”

For fans used to Clarkson’s warm, down-to-earth persona, the verbal fireworks might seem a little off-brand. But the source insists the straight talking is part of the package.

‘She’s real and people trust her because she doesn’t put on some fake Hollywood persona.’

And there are two particularly important people Kelly wants to see her standing her ground: her children.

‘She’s still the Kelly everyone knows and loves, but she’s not willing to take anyone’s crap anymore, especially now that she’s a mother,’ the first insider said. 

According to the first insider, standing her ground is about setting an example as much as settling a score.

‘She wants her kids to stand up for themselves, speak their minds, and be honest about how they feel. So, when Kelly feels disrespected, she’s going to say something about it.’ 

She shares both children with her late ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, who died in 2025, aged 48 after a battle with melanoma. 

This time, though, her complaint came with an audience.

What began as a Saturday shopping trip became a very public spat when Clarkson took to X to accuse the shop of deciding she couldn’t afford what she wanted. 

‘Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad,’ she wrote, claiming she ‘literally was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it’ when she asked about buying the mechanical bird, and was offered something comparable instead. 

Then came the less-than-glowing customer feedback.

‘Wow, dude. You’re an idiot,’ she wrote. 

Art of Play explained that the bird, named Molly, was a ‘one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton’ used in the shop’s magic shows. 

According to the business, there was one rather important catch.

‘Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale.’

The shop insisted buyers and browsers alike were welcome, but said Clarkson’s complaint had made it anything but business as usual.

‘Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by eight million people who have never visited our store,’ it said.

The backlash did not stay neatly confined to the comments section. The store was flooded with one-star Google reviews following Clarkson’s viral post, while police were called over reports of a disorderly person at the premises.

Staff were reportedly so concerned by the disturbance that they locked themselves inside.

Still, Art of Play appeared keen to call a ceasefire.

‘We’re going to keep our heads down and hopefully, we can clear things up with Kelly someday,’ it added – signing off with a pointed nod to her own hit: ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’

Clarkson, however, was not ready for the singalong.

In a follow-up post, she challenged the claim that the bird was not for sale, saying she had pointed to a price tag marked ‘Singing Bird’ and been told it cost $15,000.

‘Cool, cool. Sure, it wasn’t for sale. That’s the narrative Art of Play is gonna go with,’ she wrote.

Clarkson then gave her account of the exchange, alleging that the employee had looked her up and down before telling her, in a ‘condescending tone’: ‘yes, it’s for sale but it costs 15,000 dollars so if you’d like me to find something comparable for you I can.’

Her verdict was blunt.

‘So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar.’

And before anyone could accuse her of having a problem with small businesses in general, she addressed that, too.

‘I love small businesses and know they are important and I always support them, but you don’t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business.’

She even found room for a compliment – although the employee might have preferred she hadn’t bothered.

‘Your store is really cool. Unfortunately, you aren’t,’ she concluded.

Some supporters on Reddit applauded her for calling out what she described as condescending service, arguing that the issue wasn’t celebrity status – it was basic manners.

One wrote: ‘The lesson Kelly Clarkson is conveying is not that she is special. She is saying treat everyone good because you never know who you are talking to.’

Another chimed in: ‘Thank you for calling them out, Kelly. The ‘equality’ people are hypocrites.’

But not everyone thought Clarkson had earned the last word, with many rallying behind the shopkeepers. 

For some critics, the issue was not whether Clarkson had encountered a rude employee. It was whether a star with millions of followers should name a small business and leave it to weather the consequences.

‘Kelly was absolutely out of pocket for making the post to begin with. It automatically sounded like she wanted to buy something that wasn’t for sale and she tried to play the whole, ‘do you know who I am?’ card and fair play to the store for taking the diplomatic position here,’ one critic posted.

Another wrote: ‘She looks really bad with the whole story out. Really, really bad.’

Others argued that even if her version of the encounter was entirely accurate, the public dressing-down was still disproportionate.

‘Even if Clarkson were 100 percent correct and an employee were rude to her, it wouldn’t be justification for using her platform to sic millions of fans on a small business. A normal person would go to the company directly with the complaint,’ one wrote.

But the criticism of Clarkson was not confined to strangers in the comments section. 

A source close to Clarkson, who has worked on her eponymous talk show, told the Daily Mail that, while they were inclined to believe she had encountered rude service, the public dressing-down was harder to square with the person they knew.

‘I’m inclined to believe that she was treated rude, because I’ve been with her when she’s gotten rude service and she usually laughs it off. Like if the barista is a jerk, she’s like ‘guess someone is having a bad day,” explained the source.

‘So this is kind of crazy to me. Definitely out of character for her. The Kelly I know wouldn’t use her social media as a weapon like this. So I’m confused.’

The insiders defending Clarkson, however, painted a very different picture.

‘Sure, that kind of attitude can make some people see her as an obnoxious diva who thinks she’s above everyone else. But honestly, that’s about as far from who Kelly is as you can get,’ said the first insider.

‘She’s someone who understands what it feels like to be on the receiving end of unfair treatment.’

The second source added: ‘She is not a diva at all, she is not stuck up, she is just pure Texas.’ 

In a further response late Sunday, Art of Play maintained that Clarkson’s visit had lasted five minutes and said it had offered her a ‘nearly identical’ bird available directly from the designer who made both. 

The business said it had also offered to show her a third option – but that ‘she did not stick around long enough to see it.’ 

The two sides, then, remain some distance from singing the same tune. But the first insider is not ruling out a change of heart. 

‘There could be a moment of clarity down the line where Kelly and the store decide to let bygones be bygones.’

For now, though, the source says Clarkson isn’t ready to put an apology on the counter. 

‘She wants to stand her ground and make it clear that she won’t be bullied into backing down or pressured into apologizing for continuing to speak out,’ the insider said.

The Daily Mail has contacted Clarkson’s rep for comment.  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is declining to answer questions under oath about her handling of the deadly Palisades Fire, according to the attorney representing former Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley, whom Bass removed after the blaze.

Crowley’s attorney, Mia Munro, wants to question Bass about statements she allegedly made during a May mayoral debate. Those remarks are central to a defamation lawsuit Crowley filed against the mayor in June.

According to a source familiar with the case, Crowley’s legal team wants to establish what Bass knew, when she knew it and why she repeated the disputed claims during the debate.

Bass, through her attorney Ian Van Dusen, has declined to sit for a deposition. In a sworn statement, Munro said she was “advised that Bass would not agree to any discovery.”

In recent court filings, Munro said she was seeking “a limited deposition of Defendant Karen Bass, addressing the issue of Bass’ state of mind” when the mayor made the debate comments.

Bass’ office did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.

During the televised debate, which also featured candidates Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt, Bass was asked about cuts to the LAFD’s operating budget and reports that some fire engines were out of service when the Palisades Fire erupted.

“The primary problem there was that the chief sent home a thousand firefighters,” Bass replied.

Bass added that “there were also fire trucks that were out of use because she had sent the firefighters home” and that firefighters were supposed to have been deployed or pre-deployed in the area, but “that did not happen.”

“Each statement is false, and Bass knew it,” Crowley’s complaint states. The lawsuit argues that official LAFD records available to Bass in her capacity as mayor contradicted the claims.

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Munro’s statement also says Bass has declined to acknowledge that the remarks she made during the debate were factual statements.

Crowley’s attorneys asked Bass to answer written discovery requests by admitting or denying that she made the statements. Van Dusen declined to have Bass respond and instead filed an anti-SLAPP motion.

“Bass has chosen not to sign a declaration attesting that the statements she made about (Crowley) at the Mayoral Debate were true, or that Bass believed that the statements were true,” Munro wrote.

Crowley’s legal team is also seeking clarity about who is covering Bass’ legal bills. “Is the City of Los Angeles? The lawsuit is based on Karen Bass, the candidate, not the official,” a person close to the case told The Post.

“Bass could not be sued individually if acting in the capacity of Mayor. She’s trying to use official immunity, but she made the comments on a campaign debate stage. Our tax dollars shouldn’t be paying for this,” the person added.

A judge is expected to rule on Crowley’s discovery motion November 2, one day before the election. The person familiar with the case characterized Bass’ refusal as politically motivated and said it was “very much rooted in her personal interest.”

Crowley filed the defamation lawsuit after a highly public dispute with Bass that began in the aftermath of the January 2025 Palisades Fire. The blaze destroyed nearly 7,000 structures and killed 12 people.

According to the lawsuit, Bass questioned Crowley’s decisions during the fire after the chief publicly criticized the mayor, who was in Ghana when the blaze began.

Bass dismissed Crowley as LAFD chief on February 21, 2025. Crowley was given a note stating: “Unfortunately, you have exercised management incompatible with what is required of leaders of City departments. One example is the decision to send 1,000 firefighters home instead of keeping them on duty the morning that the fires broke out,” according to the defamation complaint.

The lawsuit also alleges that Bass continued making false claims about Crowley, including that she refused to oversee an after-action report on the fire. It further accuses Bass of denying that the LAFD budget had been cut, blaming Crowley for failing to pre-deploy additional firefighters and faulting her for not personally calling Bass about the dangerous weather conditions.

Bass’ office was contacted for comment.

911 recordings indicate that a chain of miscommunications delayed the emergency response after the Tennessee Department of Correction’s failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike.

The first call reached dispatchers at about 8:40 p.m. Sept. 30, nearly an hour after Pike’s scheduled execution had begun, according to documents and audio obtained by Fox News.

The unidentified caller reported that the execution had failed but could not provide the code dispatchers required to confirm the call was legitimate.

The recordings show operators then tried to verify whether the report was genuine before sending help.

“So we have a medical call for service at the Riverbend Prison,” one dispatcher says in audio obtained by Fox News.

The dispatcher told a colleague that the caller said, “They carried out the execution, the subject didn’t pass away, and they need an ambulance because she’s not breathing normally.”

“We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening, and we need to send an ambulance, and/or if you need police assistance, or if this is someone that is just basically prank calling or like swatting us,” the operator said.

In a separate portion of the dispatch audio, an operator can be heard canceling the emergency response.

At approximately 9:03 p.m., a dispatcher said supervisors at the Department of Emergency Communications had determined the report was false. “Per supervisors here at the DEC [Department of Emergency Communications], we have been informed it is a false call,” the dispatcher said. “There is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison.”

A later exchange between a dispatcher and someone who appeared to work at Riverbend revealed that uncertainty remained.

“We got a call about a failed execution at your guys’ facility, and we’re just calling to verify,” the dispatcher said.

“Um … who called you?” the prison employee replied.

“Is there like a sergeant I could speak with, or a supervisor?” the dispatcher asked.

“Who called you? Do you know?” the employee asked.

“No, we don’t exactly know,” the dispatcher answered.

“I’m being told nobody from our facility called you, so there’s not really anything to speak of at the moment,” the employee said.

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Pike’s attorney, Kelly Gleason, also contacted 911 to report the botched execution, according to the recordings.

“What’s going on is my client, Christa Gail Pike, is undergoing a state execution. She has completed the stages of the protocol and last we knew from the attorney who is present, she is still alive and breathing and needs immediate life-saving care,” Gleason can be heard saying during a phone call timestamped at approximately 9:08 p.m.

Around the same time as Gleason’s call, Riverbend Prison’s Central Control told emergency responders that they “would have been the ones to call in” but that they “did not make that call,” according to the audio.

But also around that time, a first responder can be heard on a separate recording saying: “Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it’s real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people.”

At that point, Central Control cleared the way for first responders to enter the prison at 9:11 p.m.

Pike was in an ambulance and being transferred to a hospital by 9:34 p.m., the Associated Press reported.

Pike was convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in 1996 for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was sentenced to death and had been on death row for over 30 years when she arrived at her scheduled execution by lethal injection on Sept. 30.

Prison execution authorities administered a single dose of pentobarbital, a central nervous system depressant used in Tennessee execution protocol. When Pike remained conscious after the initial dose, authorities administered a second dose per state protocol.

When the second dose did not kill Pike, Tennessee’s single-drug execution protocol prevented authorities from administering a third dose.

Pike was taken to a hospital where she was placed on a ventilator and remained unconscious for six days, waking up on Oct. 6, according to her attorneys.

Pike was taken back to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center women’s prison on Oct. 10 where she is continuing to receive medical care, her attorneys said in a statement.

Following the failed execution, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has paused all state executions pending a further review.

News Media contacted the Tennessee Department of Correction and Pike’s attorneys for comment.