California Gov. Newsom tries to weasel out of blame with reservoir claim is immediately called out
California Gov.Gavin Newsom on Sunday tried to play semantics and weasel out of blame by saying state reservoirs were “completely full” when the LA fires broke out — even though a county-run reservoir had been drained at the time.Newsom made the shocking statement while addressing criticism from President-elect Donald Trump over the state’s water management ahead of the infernos.“The reservoirs are completely full — the state reservoirs here in Southern California.
That mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us,” Newsom told NBC News in a pretaped interview that aired on “Meet the Press” on Sunday.Reporter Jacob Soboroff pressed Newsom on his response by pointing out how the LA-County-run Santa Ynez Reservoir was bone dry — something that even has prompted a probe from Newsom.“That’s exactly what triggered my desire to get the investigation to understand what was happening with that local reservoir,” Newsom said.
“That was not a state system reservoir, which the president-elect was referring to as it relates to the delta smelt … which is inexcusable because it’s inaccurate,” the governor said, as if missing the point that water pressure was a major debilitating issue when the blazes broke out last week.“Also, incomprehensible to anyone that understands water policy in the state,” Newsom said.Last week, Trump raged against Newsom’s management of California in light of the wildfires, alleging the governor refused to allow “millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning.”Trump claimed last week that Newsom rejected that policy because of his desire to save the smelt fish, something Newsom and local officials have denied, claiming that was unrelated to reservoir management.On Friday, Newsom blasted off a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as well as the Los ...