Top LA journalist fires back at ghostwriting allegations: A smear campaign

Fired Los Angeles journalist Memo Torres is fighting back against allegations that California state Sen.Sasha Renee Perez helped ghostwrite his stories, calling the accusations a “complete lie” as his ugly split with LA TACO erupts into a public war of words.Torres, 46, acknowledged in a new Substack post that he briefly dated the Democratic lawmaker in early 2026 but flatly denied she ever wrote or controlled his reporting, calling the accusations, “a smear campaign on my name, my work, my ethics, and my integrity.”“At no time did Senator Perez write any article under my byline, nor did she ever have access to edit, submit or publish any of my articles or Daily Memos,” Torres wrote.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story The immigration reporter claimed LA TACO’s top brass knew about the romance from the start.

Owner and co-founder Alex Bloomingdale and Editor-in-Chief Javier Cabral were both aware of the relationship, Torres said, and the outlet reviewed his stories to ensure he wasn’t giving Perez preferential treatment.Torres also cited a written message from Bloomingdale following an internal review.“we did an internal investigation and found that nothing inappropriate happened, no coverage was altered, etc,” Torres claimed Bloomingdale wrote to him.The fiery defense follows LA TACO’s decision to fire Torres over what the publication described as repeated violations of its policies and journalistic standards.The outlet’s internal process reportedly followed nearly five months of discussions, according to LA Material.Torres also blasted claims that he refused to take responsibility, accusing sources close to his former employer of lying and arguing that Perez was being unfairly dragged into the controversy.California Post News: Facebook,...