Gavin Newsom is slammed for asking well-wishers to send LA fire victims donations via his super PAC

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been slammed for directing well-wishers to make wildfire donations through a Democratic fundraising site.

Newsom, 57, shared a link to californiafirefacts.com - a website created by his campaign committee - claiming it would combat misinformation about the devastating Los Angeles fires.

He has been steering donations meant for California wildfire victims through his super PAC's fundraising page, which collects donors' personal information for Democratic databases.

But critics quickly noticed that while the site encourages donations to the California Fire Foundation, it funnels all contributions through ActBlue, the Democratic Party's fundraising platform, via Newsom's Campaign for Democracy super PAC.

Donors who provide phone numbers are also automatically enrolled to receive text messages from Newsom's political organization.

Three fires are still burning Los Angeles to the ground - Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst. At least 16 people have died, tens of thousands of people are displaced, and 12,300 structures have been burned to the ground.  

'A lot of misinformation out there. Just launched a new site to ensure the public has access to fact-based data around the Southern CA wildfires,' Newsom posted to X on Saturday. 

'The TRUTH:- CA did NOT cut our firefighting budget. We have nearly doubled the size of our firefighting army and built the world's largest aerial firefighting fleet. 

'CA has INCREASED forest management ten-fold since we took office.

'California will NOT allow for looting. Get the facts: http://californiafirefacts.com,' the post continued.

Newsom has been blasted for his attempt to harvest donor data while victims lose homes.

It sparked immediate backlash with critics pointing out that the California Fire Foundation already accepts direct donations without requiring Democratic Party middlemen.

ActBlue, which processes the donations, takes a 3.95 percent cut of every contribution, the New York Post reported.

This means thousands of dollars meant for fire victims could instead go to payment processing.

'So at the bottom of your “fact” site you want ppl to donate to a fund that is run by ACTBLUE!' one critic pointed out. 'So not only have you been completely incompetent and a failure you have lied continuously and now you want ppl to donate to a site that a portion goes to DEMOCRAT FUNDRAISING!'

'Democratic policies is why SoCal is literally burning to the ground with no end in sight! What a piece of work you are! You need to RESIGN and own your FAILURE! The fact that you are consistently LYING over and over is astounding! What a disgusting human being you are!' 

Another user chimed in, commented: 'Why is this a priority right now? After the current crisis is over, there will be plenty of time for you to try and respond to and deflect criticism. Launching this PR website reveals that your focus is too much on your political future and not the problems in front of you.' 

The controversy comes as Los Angeles residents continue to grapple with devastating wildfires that have destroyed homes and forced widespread evacuations across the region.

This comes as Newsom faces fury after claiming he does not know how the Los Angeles wildfires happened - while appearing to cast blame on other officials, including LA mayor Karen Bass.

Newsom has been accused of 'passing the buck' in his latest attempts to defend his response to the devastating 'Palisade Fire' inferno across the state, as the official death toll today rose to 16.

The man previously touted as a potential Democrat presidential candidate has also been criticized over $100million cuts to funding earmarked for tackling wildfires.