Spencer Pratt visits Capitol Hill to spotlight investigation into Palisades fire
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- Reality TV star Spencer Pratt joined Republican senators on Capitol Hill to talk about congressional investigation into Palisades fire.
- Sen. Rick Scott of Florida says the investigation is meant to find out what the government officials could have done to prevent the disaster.
Reality TV star Spencer Pratt joined two Republican senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to bring attention to a newly launched congressional investigation into the response to the Palisades fire in Los Angeles.
“I feel like this is going to be so powerful for all of the United States because there shouldn’t be disasters that are preventable,” Pratt, who lost his home during the fire, told reporters.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said the main goal of the investigation is to figure out why the fire happened, why the state and local governments were unable to prevent it and how officials are helping the victims recover.
“We are going to get answers,” Scott said. “We are going to do everything we can to help the victim and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
U.S. Senators Rick Scott (R-Florida) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) have announced plans to open a new Congressional investigation into the deadly Palisades fire.
The congressional investigation, which launched on Monday, is focused only on the Palisades fire, but Scott said the probe could expand to other destructive fires that have taken place in Los Angeles County.
“We are going to start with this,” Scott said. “We’ll just let the facts take us where they are.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has welcomed the congressional investigation. At the news conference, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin warned that if officials fail to cooperate, the panel is ready to issue subpoenas to compel them to do so.
“We don’t want to use it and we hope we don’t have to,” Johnson said. “It is a good sign Gov. Newsom is willing to do so, and that’s the best way of doing it. But if they don’t, you’ve always got that backstop of compelling testimony, compelling documents, and that’s what we’ll do if we have to.”
“But I don’t think we will have to, quite honestly,” he added.
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