Politics

Actor Cheryl Hines introduces her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at a Los Angeles event in February. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Hello, and happy Tuesday. There are 41 days until the election, and today we are talking scandals. I have become aware that various competitors may be sniffing around a story about yours … Read more

President-elect Donald Trump has planned a news conference Wednesday, his first since July. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Nearly every day, President-elect Donald Trump’s press aides are beseeched to clarify, tame or shed context on his torrent of tweets that have flustered congressional leaders, corporate chieftains and heads of state. The spin operation has settled … Read more

For the generation that grew up in the early years of television, memories of the banter between ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his wisecracking wooden buddy, Jerry Mahoney, are growing dim. And the magic of Winchell and Mahoney will not be replayed for today’s children. Winchell’s shows on NBC in the 1950s were performed live, and … Read more

WASHINGTON — Rep. Henry A. Waxman, whose legislative record has made him one of the country’s most influential liberal lawmakers for four decades, announced Thursday that he will retire from his Westside seat, the latest in a wave of departures that is remaking the state’s long-stable congressional delegation. During a congressional career that began when … Read more

Supreme Court (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) The Supreme Court announced Monday it will weigh in on the constitutionality of wealth taxes by deciding whether Congress may require taxpayers to pay their share of earnings from a foreign company, even if they received no dividends or income. The case of Charles and Kathleen Moore, and … Read more

From humble, Long Beach beginnings, Robert Garcia emerges as national political star Before a class of captivated high school seniors, Rep. Robert Garcia recounted the trajectory of his life: as a boy from humble beginnings in Peru, as a gay man raised in a conservative Catholic family, as an undocumented immigrant worried about his future … Read more

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole on Wednesday named a former aide to President Reagan as the Senate’s deputy sergeant-at-arms, making her the first black woman to serve in the high staff position. Dole (R-Kan.) announced the choice of Trudi Morrison, former associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, to work with Sergeant-at-Arms … Read more

Feb. 26, 1984. Temple Adath Yeshurun, Manchester, N.H. The campaign, and the candidate, were at a breaking point. Ramrod straight, Jesse Jackson strode to the front of the synagogue, his fists clenched tight at his sides, his eyes darting across the tense crowd. Later, he would describe the scene as “Daniel in the lion’s den,” … Read more

Riot police clear the hallway inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) When pro-Trump rioters overran police and attacked the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers into lockdown, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf was in Bahrain, meeting with U.S. Coast Guard personnel working in South Asia. On Thursday, amid … Read more

Dave Loebsack believes in giving credit where credit is due. Believes it so much that he recently bought an ad on television here declaring, among other things, that his congressman, Republican Jim Leach, is a “good man.” When a reporter asked what had prompted Loebsack to say that, the bearded college professor replied: “Congressman Leach … Read more