Mayor Karen Bass' press relations office has been communicating via WhatsApp messages set to auto-delete every 24 hours, a practice that could potentially shield communications from public records requests, according to three individuals familiar with the office.
This revelation comes amid scrutiny over the press office's use of an unpaid consultant, Yusef Robb, as a spokesperson for the first half of the year. Shortly after Robb concluded his role as a city spokesperson, he began crisis communications work for Lineage, a company whose Boyle Heights cold food storage facility experienced a significant fire last month, resulting in widespread smoke and odor complaints.
Sources indicated that Robb remained a participant in several WhatsApp group channels with mayoral press staffers, all utilizing the auto-delete function, until at least a week after commencing his employment with Lineage. These channels were initially reported by L.A. Material. The Mayor's Office has declined to comment on the use of disappearing messages on WhatsApp, and Mayor Bass herself has also reportedly used such communication methods.
The Los Angeles Times has submitted a public records request for all messages exchanged by Robb with the mayor or her press office between June 1 and July 10, including WhatsApp communications. City administrative codes mandate the retention of such records for a minimum of two years.
This situation echoes past disputes regarding message retention. Following a public records request for Mayor Bass' text messages after the January 2025 Palisades fire, her office initially stated that texts were "ephemeral" and not subject to retention requirements. Although the city eventually released over 100 messages, The Times filed a lawsuit alleging unlawful withholding and deletion of public records. City attorneys have argued that retaining work-related messages for extended periods is "absurdly impractical" and could infringe on employees' privacy rights.
In contrast to current practices, the city previously mandated that Google Chat messages be saved "indefinitely" after discontinuing an auto-delete feature that had been in place. Message retention has also been a point of contention in federal government circles, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly configuring some of his Signal chats for auto-deletion.
