member

They call themselves the Booked Babes. Tonight, the women are gathered in Anna Sokol’s kitchen, surrounding an oven-roasted duck stuffed with apples. The dish is a Ukrainian delicacy from Sokol’s home country, where she was once a fashion designer and influencer. Now, she’s in Venice Beach. Sunlight bleeds in from the window where the sun is setting over the Venice Canals. At the women’s feet, a mini Bernedoodle, Zipper, paces nervously, barking at arriving guests. Screams echo from the upstairs bedrooms, where two husbands are in exile, watching a Green Bay Packers game with a newborn baby.

Tonight’s book club is Eastern European-themed, prompting the women to wear red cardigans and dresses. The book under discussion is “The New Rules” by Russian-born TikTok influencer Margarita Nazarenko, who prescribes gender roles that Sokol recognizes as distinctly Eastern European. Nazarenko is a best-selling author with more than 600,000 followers on Instagram, known for offering practical, blunt dating advice to women. “Her methodology feels very Eastern European in male and female relationships and dynamics,” Sokol explains as her guests pick at deviled eggs and brie cheese with manicured nails.

The guest list for the Booked Babes is small — only six women, with one of them commuting remotely from Miami; this time, she joins over FaceTime. The Booked Babes was founded more than two years ago at a holiday party as a New Year’s resolution to read more and forge new friendships. Since then, the women have become best friends, and the book club meetings they host have taken on a life of their own —becoming more spectacular and competitive with each meeting.

The Booked Babes journeyed to a gothic mansion in La Jolla and dressed as Marie Antoinette in extravagant rococo dresses.

(Anna Sokol)

“It started off very normal in the beginning, very casual,” book club member Cassandra Leisz explains. “I don’t really know when the switch happened.”

With each passing month, the book club became more elaborate and more involved — including vacations in coastal towns, costuming, pickleball tournaments and monogrammed custom merch.

Take the historical literary fiction novel “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by Patrick Süskind, for example, set in the 18th century. The group journeyed to a gothic mansion in La Jolla and dressed as Marie Antoinette in extravagant rococo dresses. Eighteenth century activities included croquet and designing a custom perfume, all accompanied by fashion photography. Sokol chose the novel for its cult status in Ukraine: “Everyone read it, even though it’s a really weird book.”

For the book club members, the spectacle is part of the fun. “It gives us all a chance to be creative and come together. You get to make it whatever you want it to be. There’s the element of: how do I want to express myself in this time period?” says Leisz.

For the book club pick “Flawless” by Elsie Silver, Ashley Goldsmith planned a cowboy picnic in Franklin Canyon, complete with her mother’s vintage Chevy pickup truck.

(Anna Sokol)

For her turn hosting, Leisz rented a boat — not quite a yacht, she clarifies — in Marina del Rey, paired with lobster rolls and champagne. The novel was “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach, set in a hotel in Newport, R.I. Leisz leaned into the snobby, blue-blood aesthetic described in the book for her outing.

“It is a financial commitment. We put a lot of money into it between the decor, the gifts and the activity,” says Leisz.

Opinions and literary taste often vary among the women. The book club enjoys sparring over polarizing books, but the point is always friendship. “There are a lot of times I don’t like the book, but I love having an opportunity to spend time with girlfriends,” says Ashley Goldsmith.

Custom merch like personalized sweatshirts, elaborate gifting and travel have become a tradition for this book club.

(Anna Sokol)

For her book club on “Flawless” by Elsie Silver, Goldsmith planned a cowboy picnic in Franklin Canyon, complete with her mother’s vintage Chevy pickup truck for photo ops. The meal was followed by a mechanical bull-riding competition at Saddle Ranch. Goldsmith even hired a security guard to secure the public picnic bench beginning at 7 a.m.

The Booked Babes have attracted attention on the members’ social media with eager requests to join. The book club always politely declines, given its specific chemistry. “The second we started posting about this and talking about it, people were like, ‘Oh my God, how do I join?’” says Leisz. Since schedules are already tricky to maneuver, the club does not accept new members.

The Booked Babes raise their glasses.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

In curating a book club, the members insist that diversity of opinion is key. “We’re all quite different from each other. We have very different backgrounds. Some of us come from different countries,” says Leisz. Illana O’Reiley, who joined over Facetime, immigrated from Dublin and is currently living in Miami.

At dinner, the book club sits down for the Ukrainian meal to discuss “The New Rules.” On the table are elaborate rose arrangements and settings draped in red ribbon. Amanda Ghaffari slyly streams the Green Bay Packers game on her iPhone. O’Reiley jokes via Facetime she is eating popcorn and watching the hit gay drama “Heated Rivalry.”

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1. A flower arrangement is set for a themed book club. 2. A cheese plate. 3. Book club members wear red and pink dresses for their meeting. (Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

The conversation includes some light teasing about each other’s attachment styles — the intimate banter of close friends. Victoria Frenner, who is a therapist, expresses skepticism about the book’s punchy tone. “When someone is speaking on something with a lot of conviction, like, there always has to be some kind of caveat,” Frenner says.

“This is why I wanted you to read it. It’s very Eastern European-focused.” Sokol says. “American girls are a little more on the independent side. She doesn’t say ‘don’t be independent,’ but she talks a lot about femininity.” Sokol recounts the dizzying story of meeting her husband at a wedding in Moscow, which begins with her husband attending a nightclub in Dubai.

Ashley Goldsmith reads her individualized star chart.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

For the activity planned, Sokol, who is eight months pregnant and wearing a dazzling candy-pink dress that matches the chosen book’s cover, presents the members with their own custom Slavic astrology reading, one she procured from a Ukrainian astrologer she visited when she was 19. Fortune telling and mysticism are common in Eastern Europe, she explains. The custom readings are bound in booklets, each featuring a spirit animal, such as a panda, and suggested habits.

“Avoid fast cars and motorcycles. Avoid countries with active war,” one of the booklets read.

Ghaffari explains that ever since she was 3 years old in Milwaukee, her mother has been in a decades-long book club. “She flies back for it, and she’ll recommend books that they just read,” Ghaffari says. Three weeks ago, Ghaffari had her first baby, who is in attendance, whom she jokes is the “book club heir.”

The Booked Babes fall quiet as they thumb through their astrology booklets, reading about destiny, transfixed by the mesmerizing promise of inevitable fate.

Connors is a writer living in Los Angeles. She hosts the literary reading event Unreliable Narrators at Nico’s Wines in Atwater Village every month.

THEY say good things come to those who wait, so I have high expectations for Roger Sanchez’s first studio album in two decades.

And as he gears up to release the 13-track record, Spectrum, on June 5, the superstar DJ reveals he’s thrown fans a curveball after teaming up with Melanie C on his song I Don’t Wanna Know.

“That’s one I didn’t have on my dance card,” Roger tells me after popping into Bizarre HQ, where he takes his tea “milky, two sweeteners”.

“When the Spice Girls first came out, I always felt she was underrated. There was such a power in her voice and I didn’t feel in the Spice Girls she got her due for how powerful her voice is.

“She’s the bubbliest one of the group. She’s a powerhouse.

“I had this track and I was talking to my team about artists who people wouldn’t expect me to work with.

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“My manager was like, ‘How about the Spice Girls?’ and I said, ‘Well it’s got to be Mel C if we’re going to do it.’

“We sent the track that I had originally done to her team, and she loved it. And so she sent me back the song that she wrote. And I was like, let’s go.”

Sanchez has scored numerous hits in the European and World Charts with both his own music and the remixes he has created for an array of superstars including Diana Ross, Kylie Minogue, Daft Punk, Madonna, The Police, No Doubt and Maroon 5.

Like us, Roger is now waiting to hear Madonna’s new album Confessions On A Dancefloor: Part II after previously working with her on remixes of her songs.

“You don’t ever count Madonna out,” Roger explains.

“I know she’s been around for quite some time.

“And as somebody who’s been around for a minute myself, I can say creative forces like that are probably becoming a little more rare as time goes on, because of just the way things are done now.

“You just never count her out because she’s always brewing something

“And it’s always going to be something that moves the needle somehow.”

Just days after Roger drops Spectrum, he will head to his spiritual home in Ibiza to take up a residency at super club Pacha, after spending weeks in the UK finishing the record.

“I started forming where I wanted a body of work to go around 2020. Before we dove into the hell that was known as Covid.

“Coming out of that, the UK was one of the first markets to reopen so I started touring.

“I wound up spending a lot of time in London and I’ve got a flat in Shoreditch.

“The UK became a real central point for me. I connected with a lot of writers and artists here. This is a London album.”

Spectrum is packed with dance bangers including my favourites Midas Touch, Come My Way and How Do We Say Goodbye with Karen Harding, which will be the next single to be released.

And Roger is hoping to return to Glastonbury one day to play the record, after a killer headline set at NYC Downlow back in 2016.

“That was my first kind of performing experience at Glastonbury,” Roger explains.

“It felt like a 1989 rave in the UK. Very, very dark and very loud.

“And people weren’t on their phones. They really plugged into the moment.

“I’ve played a few times since. I did one for Glitterbox and I did another for Greenpeace in a tree.

“There’s a little door opening in the base, and you climb up a bloody ladder.

“You feel like you’re a hobbit. It felt a bit like Gandalf walking into Bilbo Baggins’ home.”

SPICE IT UP

MELANIE C teamed up with another special someone at the weekend – Spice Girls bandmate Mel B.

They sang Spice Up Your Life for the first time since the group’s 2019 tour at a concert in Leeds.

Mel C played the gig to celebrate the release of latest solo album Sweat, which is on course to go to No2 this Friday.

TENSIONS between Gordon Ramsey and Brooklyn Beckham were high back in February after the famous chef fired a warning shot to the wannabe over his feud with his parents.

Now it seems Gordon is coming for Brooklyn in business.

Gordon has trademarked Hotter Than Hell by Gordon Ramsay – the name given to the spicy relishes he uses in some of his restaurants.

But it appears he could be preparing to flog bottles of the sauce to customers and if he goes ahead with the venture, he will be competing with Brookylyn’s Cloud 23 hot sauce, which he launched back in 2024.

“If Gordon is launching his own sauce he’ll be going up against Brooklyn in that market,” an insider told me.

“Things will get spicy if they end up clashing over it.”

In February, Gordon told our newspaper he thought Brooklyn had got carried away by his marriage to Nicola Peltz.

Asked about how Posh and Becks were coping after their son’s acid-tongued Instagram statement about them, Gordon said: “Victoria is upset, and I know 24/7, seven days a week, just how much David loves Brooklyn.

“Brooklyn and I have messaged a little bit. Our relationship is solid. I love him.

“His heart is incredible. But it’s hard, isn’t it, when you’re infatuated?

“Love is blind. It’s easy to get up on that rollercoaster and get carried away. But it will come back.”

Awkward.

Moment in the sun

PROMISING British pop star Bellah Mae is having her moment in the sun after signing a record deal in the States.

The Birmingham-born singer posed on a lounger in a snap to promote her new single Salt And Sugar from her upcoming EP, Keep It Peachy, which will be out on May 29.

It’s the first release for Bellah, who is currently on tour across the US, with her new label Sony Nashville.

She told me: “I’ve been coming to Nashville to write since I was 19 years old and knew I wanted to eventually spend more time here from the first time I came over, so to be one of the first UK artists signing to Sony Nashville and be here is a lot of dreams all coming true.

“I wanna bridge the gap between the UK and US country-pop worlds and take over the space one song at a time… the British Hannah Montana!

“The new era is fun, flirty and confident.”

Shakira loves a Brazilian

SHAKIRA made history on Saturday as she played one of the highest attended concerts of all time.

More than 2million fans saw the Colombian superstar play a free gig at Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro.

During the spectacular show, the She Wolf singer wore ten costumes, many of which were made by local designers – including a jumpsuit with Swarovski crystals in the pattern of the Brazilian flag.

More than 1,500 drones lit up the sky before Shakira took to the stage.

And the singer was later joined by Anitta to perform their new single, Choka Choka.

Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran Tour will come to Europe in September, where she will play 11 nights at the purpose-built Shakira Stadium in Madrid.

GRAHAM DRINKS IN EURO FUN

GRAHAM NORTON has told how he turns to drink to survive the madness of Eurovision.

The BBC star, who will be commentating on the song contest in Vienna on May 16, said the live final is such a slog, he needs a drink to get through it.

On Alan Carr’s Bottoms Up! podcast, Graham said former host Terry Wogan called him before his first ever contest in Moscow with some tips.

He said: “The only bit of advice he gave me was, ‘Don’t have a drink before song nine’.

“But I’m drinking whatever I can lay my hands on because it’s a long old stretch.”

Graham also admitted that refreshments are not easy to source at the venues, saying “normally, it’s smuggled in”.

But he knows better than to overdo it during the live show.

Given the quality of some of the songs, I’m amazed he can wait until number nine.

OLIVIA RODRIGO mocked Jake Paul as she hosted Saturday Night Live in the US.

Speaking about the boxer, who she starred with on the Disney show Bizaardvark a decade ago, Olivia said: “We’d always talk about our futures, me and Jake.

“I’d say, ‘I wanna create music that explores the complexities of girls my age’, and he’d say, ‘One day I wanna beat up old guys on Netflix’.”

LIAM AND NOEL NOT IN TUNE

LIAM GALLAGHER has admitted he’s in the dark when it comes to the new music his brother Noel has been writing – and whether it could be for Oasis.

Last month, Noel revealed he had been “in the studio, noodling away” on new tunes.

But when asked about it on X at the weekend, Liam was none the wiser.

He said: “I’ve not heard anything unless he’s doing a solo album, which would be a real shame, I mean really good.”

When someone else commented: “So he just doesn’t tell you his plans?” he replied: “Pretty much.”

Given how much Liam spouts off online, I can’t really blame Noel for keeping schtum.

Spotted looking chic

NICOLE SCHERZINGER is spotted in Kentucky – 4,000 miles away from her Pussycat Dolls bandmates back in London.

While Nicole looked chic in a polka dot dress as she sang the US national anthem at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt were busy going through their paces during rehearsals.

The Dolls, who are now a trio, kick off their reunion tour in California in a month’s time, before shows on this side of the Atlantic in September.

If their tour is anything like their shows back in the day, they will have a lot of dance moves to learn between now and then.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee voted on party lines Wednesday to approve Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve to replace Jerome Powell, a longtime target of President Trump’s insults for not cutting borrowing costs as far as the president wanted.

The vote was 13-11, with all Republican senators voting in favor and Democrats opposed.

Warsh is a former top Fed official but has also been a sharp critic of the institution and Powell’s leadership. He has called the inflation spike to 9.1% in 2022 the central bank’s biggest policy mistake in four decades. A vote on his nomination probably won’t take place until next month, but he could be confirmed by the time Powell’s term as chair ends May 15.

The Senate Banking vote is the first of two key events surrounding the future of the Fed’s leadership. Also Wednesday, Powell is presiding over what will probably be his last meeting of the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee. At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Powell may indicate whether he will remain as a member of the central bank’s board of governors after his term as chair ends.

It would be unusual for Powell to stay, but doing so would deprive the Trump administration of an opportunity to appoint a new member to the board. Powell may choose to stay if he sees it as necessary to protect the Fed’s independence, which has become part of his legacy as its leader.

Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and chair of the committee, said Warsh is “battle tested” and added that, “It is incredibly important that we break the bind of Bidenomics on households across this nation.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, criticized the banking panel for voting on Warsh’s nomination. Doing so “will bring the president one step closer to completing his illegal attempt to seize control of the Fed and artificially juice the economy,” she said, citing Trump’s effort to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and investigate Powell.

The Fed on Wednesday is widely expected to leave its key rate unchanged at about 3.6% for its third straight meeting, defying Trump’s calls for lower rates.

Warsh has called for “regime change” at the Fed and could alter many of its practices, including the economics models it focuses on, how it communicates with the public, and how large its bondholdings will be in the long run.

Those changes could affect financial markets, but otherwise won’t necessarily be visible to the general public. But Warsh has also advocated for additional interest rate cuts, which could potentially lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans. He will face barriers to implementing those cuts anytime soon, however, largely because the Iran war has caused a spike in gas prices, pushing inflation to a two-year high of 3.3%.

The Fed typically keeps rates elevated, or even raises them, to combat worsening inflation.

Most of the other 11 members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee have indicated they would prefer to wait and evaluate where inflation and the economy are headed before making any changes to rates. It could take time for Warsh to build up enough influence to push for rapid rate cuts. He will also replace Stephen Miran, a member of the Fed’s rate-setting committee who was appointed by Trump last September and is the most consistent advocate for rate reductions at the central bank.

Warsh also faces questions about his independence from the White House, a key issue that dogged him during a Senate Banking hearing last week. On Wednesday, Warren said, “Mr. Warsh is a Trump sock puppet who is so cowed by the president that he could not even say that Trump lost the 2020 election.”

Last December, Trump called for much lower interest rates in a social media post, and added that “anyone who does not agree with me will never be Fed chair!” And just last week he told Fox Business that he expects rates to head lower, “when Kevin gets in.”

Warsh denied at his hearing, however, that Trump had ever pressured him directly to cut rates.

Rugaber writes for the Associated Press.

A ROCK band member has quit his group after 10 years, six albums and huge sold out arena tours.

Red Rum Club, who formed after sharing a rehearsal space, have confirmed their trumpet player has gone his separate ways.

Joe Corby, who is known for his soaring trumpet solos, has quit the band just weeks before they are set to head off on their big US tour.

Red Rum Club, who now have five members including Fran Doran, Simon Hepworth, Neil Lawson, Michael McDermott and Tom Williams, have confirmed future concerts are going ahead as planned.

The band, who formed in Merseyside, confirmed Joe’s shock exit from the group yesterday, in a sad statement on X.

They said: “It is with great sadness that we are announcing Joe’s departure from Red Rum Club.

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“We want to thank him for the music and the memories we have made over the last 10 years and we wish him all the best for the future.

“All future shows will be going ahead as scheduled.

“Love, Fran, Tom, Mike, Neil and Simon.”

Fans flooded the comments of the post, sharing their thoughts on the sad news.

One fan wrote: “Gutted, for me Joe is Red Rum Club, I have now followed you for the past nine years.”

Another fan penned: “Ahh, so sad to hear this! I hope it’s for a positive reason and no health issues or fall outs. Joe will be such a HUGE miss. As others have said, he’s been such an integral part of your USP.”

Elsewhere under the post, fans were speculating Joe had quit the band to pursue his own solo career.

Red Rum Club burst onto the music scene in January 2019 after releasing their debut album Matador, which reached Top 50 in the UK Album Sales Charts.

The album featured their hit single Would You Rather Be Lonely.

An audience member was arrested at the Britain’s Got Talent semi-final on Saturday night, just hours after all the drama unfolded during the I’m A Celebrity final

Britain’s Got Talent was left in chaos as an audience member was arrested on Saturday night. ITV’s weekend schedule had already got off to a dramatic start with the I’m A Celebrity…South Africa final, which saw contestants like Gemma Collins and Sinitta walk off stage as the row between Adam Thomas, Jimmy Bullard and David Haye reached breaking point.

During Saturday’s semi-final of the long-running competition series, which was broadcast live from The Hammersmith Apollo in West London, ITV security teams had to get involved and remove a woman from the building.

The Sun claims that the ‘screaming’ audience member was held outside the building by the crew and after cops arrived was handcuffed and taken away in a police van.

Singer Alexandra Burke, who won The X Factor in 2008 and enjoyed major success with hits like Hallelujah and Broken Heels before going onto a career in musicals, was also outside the theatre where she was having a photoshoot done prior to taking to the stage herself.

The outlet claims that the star, who has also previously appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and served as a guest judge on The X Factor and RuPaul’s Drag Race, was rushed inside for her own safety.

The Mirror has contacted Met Police and Britain’s Got Talent representatives for comment.

The evening was not without its drama elsewhere, either, as Ant and Dec were back in full force to carry out their hosting duties following the events of the night before. As the first semi-final got underway, head judge Simon Cowell took aim at Dec. Dec tried to wrap up the judges’ feedback for magician Fraser Penman after the act and the commentary went on a bit long.

Dec was heard shouting out: “Thank you judges, thank you very much”, calling for an end to the speaking, wanting to move on with the live show. But fans noticed Simon “rudely” hit back at this.

He told Dec: “I’m still talking!” Dec appeared taken aback by this. While Simon was pointing out he hadn’t finished what he had to say, fans didn’t think it was very fair, especially after the chaos the hosts had faced the night before.

Taking to social media one fan said: “I’m still talking? F**k off Simon.” A second fan said: “‘I’m still talking’ Simon I think Ant and Dec have had enough attitude for this weekend.”

A third fan posted: “Wow @SimonCowell is a little rude I’m still talking!” Another viewer said: “‘I’m still talking’ God he’s such a d**k. Pack it up Dec, you don’t need the money.”

Another viewer said: “I’m still talking lol,” as a final post read: “Omg I couldn’t tell if he’d said that or ‘I’ll stop talking’, poor Dec, hasn’t he been through enough?”

Britain’s Got Talent 2026’s live shows air Saturdays at 7PM on ITV1 and ITVX. *

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WASHINGTON — In the span of 10 days, the nation’s capital saw a cascade of ethical scandals that cut across party lines and branches of government, raising fresh doubts about whether Washington is capable of holding itself accountable.

Three members of Congress — two Democrats and a Republican — resigned within days of one another as they faced calls for their expulsion due to their alleged misconduct. A fourth lawmaker is facing the same pressure but has so far refused to step down.

A Cabinet secretary stepped down amid a months-long investigation into allegations that she pursued a romantic relationship with a member of her security detail, while her husband stood accused of sexually assaulting female staffers in her agency.

In a separate case, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed last week that it put a senior counterterrorism official on administrative leave as it investigates an ex-boyfriend’s allegations that she was seeking out wealthy men online to pay for luxury items.

The back-to-back resignations and investigations, spanning both parties and both the legislative and executive branches, have reignited a debate about whether Washington’s rules and institutions for self-oversight can keep pace with the misconduct unfolding within it. Even those charged with policing it say the system is failing.

“Clearly, we have an ethical problem,” Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, said in an interview.

DeSaulnier, who has served on the committee since 2023, said the panel is long overdue for an overhaul. He would like to see the committee speed up investigations and give it more authority to root out misconduct before lawmakers can resign to avoid accountability.

“It takes too long,” he said, drawing an analogy to law enforcement standards for officers facing misconduct allegations. “If you’re a law enforcement officer, there are standards for a suspension with pay or without pay. I think we need to take a look at things like that.”

The committee’s records show that since 1976, it has investigated 28 instances in which a House member was suspected of sexual misconduct. The outcome in 13 of those cases was a loss of jurisdiction, meaning the member resigned, retired or otherwise left the House before the committee could reach a conclusion on the allegations.

“Unfortunately, there likely exist matters never reported to the Committee,” the panel said in a rare statement last week. It added that its “greatest hurdle” in evaluating allegations of sexual misconduct is “convincing the most vulnerable witnesses to share their stories.”

Lonna Drewes, left, and her attorney, Lisa Bloom, arrive at a news conference in which Drewes accused U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) of sexual assault, on April 14 in Beverly Hills.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

The two most recent cases in which the committee lost jurisdiction were the investigations into former California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat accused of sexual assault who denied the allegations, and Republican former Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, who last month admitted to a sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide.

The committee is currently investigating Rep. Cory Mills, a Florida Republican, on allegations of “sexual misconduct and/or dating violence.” Mills has denied wrongdoing and declined to step down, telling CNN that House Speaker Mike Johnson told him not to resign and let the process play out.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has defended his stance on ensuring there is due process for House members, telling reporters last week that representatives should not be removed based only on allegations.

“There’s got to be an element of due process,” he said at a news conference, in which he also acknowledged that “sometimes it takes a long time” to achieve that and that he is open to suggestions on how to make the process better.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has also expressed hesitance in ousting members before they receive due process. He said that much in relation to Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), who eventually resigned as she faced an ethics investigation and federal criminal charges of stealing $5 million in disaster relief funds. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) speak to reporters after a hearing with the House Ethics Committee on Capitol Hill on Tuesday in Washington.

(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

The stance has drawn objections from 14 House Democrats in competitive swing districts, including California Reps. Mike Levin and Derek Tran.

In a letter addressed to Johnson and Jeffries, the lawmakers urged both House leaders to push the Ethics Committee to “expedite their investigation” with more transparency, including public hearings.

“We must demonstrate that no one is above the law and that serious misconduct will result in serious consequences,” the lawmakers wrote.

The calls for reform are not limited to the House.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Congress as a whole needs to increase transparency around how ethics complaints are handled and create a system that better protects junior staffers rather than members and senior aides who oversee them.

“The House of Representatives has an office that provides legal advice and representation to staff, but the Senate doesn’t appear to have such a thing,” Schiff said. “So that is also something I’m looking into.”

Schiff is also looking beyond Capitol Hill. He is pushing to install an inspector general inside the executive office of the President, a watchdog position that has never existed there despite being standard across the rest of the federal government.

Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, left, chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, and David Smith, assistant director, Office of Investigations U.S. Secret Service, arrive for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled Federal Pandemic Spending: A Prescription for Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Rayburn Building on Feb. 1, 2023.

(Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call via Associated Press)

President Trump has fired at least a dozen inspectors general during his second term, according to the New York Times. The dismissals of those independent watchdogs across the executive branch are likely to complicate Schiff’s efforts, which he said will need to “overcome the instinctual opposition of many in the president’s party who may view [the bill] as an indictment of the president’s actions.”

“But if we are ever going to ensure that a president and his administration are not above the law, an inspector general in the executive office is critical,” he said.

Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said he has long advocated for installing an independent watchdog in the White House but doubts that a Congress operating under its own cloud of scandal would take that step now.

“They are not complying with their own rules,” he said. “It is a big problem.”

Painter also argued that Trump’s own conduct is itself reshaping what members of his own administration and allies in Congress believe they can get away with.

Trump, for example, entered his second term as the first president convicted of a felony — for fraud in a sex scandal involving a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Separately, he was found liable by a jury for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll in a decades-old incident.

The president’s past social ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have also received renewed scrutiny as his administration is criticized for the handling of the files. Trump has denied wrongdoing in all three matters.

“That sends a message to the entire administration and to Congress as to what is acceptable,” Painter said.

Trump, who is known for chiming in on myriad topics on social media, has not talked much about the sex scandals on Capitol Hill. But the president did call Swalwell a “sleazebag” in a recent interview with the Daily Mail.

“I don’t know anything about the charges, but he’s a bad guy,” Trump said. “He’s always been a bad guy, he’s a corrupt politician, and everyone knows it, so it’s happening to him, and we’ll see what happens. Right? Let him go defend himself.”

The president has not been as candid with his administration’s own controversies, but watchdogs in executive agencies have scrutinized some of his members.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer attends the world premiere of Amazon MGM’s “Melania” at The Trump-Kennedy Center on Jan. 29 in Washington.

(Taylor Hill / WireImage via Getty Images)

The White House declined to comment on the allegations against former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who stepped down last week after multiple allegations of abusing her position’s power, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job.

The New York Times reported that Chavez-DeRemer was under investigation by the agency’s inspector general, and that an imminent report was likely to be unfavorable toward her. The investigation had been ongoing for several months before her departure.

In a separate case, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Julia Varvaro, the agency’s deputy assistance secretary, was put on administrative leave amid an investigation into allegations that she was seeking out so-called sugar daddies online.

The scandals come as recent polling shows Americans are growing more dissatisfied with Trump and Congress.

Congress’ approval rating has plummeted to 10%, according to Gallup polling released last week. Public approval of Trump has dropped to 28%, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released earlier this month. The president’s approval ratings are tightly linked to concerns about the Iran war and the economy.

Some lawmakers, like DeSaulnier, worry the scandals will continue to erode Americans’ confidence in the government and the people who represent them.

“If they don’t have trust in these institutions and the people who are in these positions, that’s a real, serious problem for American democracy,” he said.

Members of the Writers Guild of America have officially ratified their newest contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

More than 90% of the 11,000 voting members in both WGA East and West registered their support of the new agreement. The voting period closed Friday at noon, after the union first struck a tentative deal earlier this month.

The new contract includes a robust healthcare plan in which studios pay over $320 million to sustain the health fund, higher residual rates — including a provision for a “success bonus” for the most popular streaming shows from 50% of the base residual to 75% — and language on the licensing of work for AI training.

“The first reaction [from members] was relief that we were not going to be going into a period of labor strife or strike authorization vote, in the midst of this contraction,” said John August, the co-chair of WGA’s negotiating committee, referring to the ongoing challenges in the industry. “Members want to work, and they want to get back to doing their job.”

Negotiations between the union and film and TV studios began in March, as the union’s current contract expires May 1. August said that, at the beginning of the negotiations, expanding the healthcare plan was a top priority. The union was able to secure increases that would raise the cap that companies pay to as high as $400,000 by 2028.

Union officials say the current cap has remained unchanged for two decades as healthcare contributions have steadily declined because there are fewer working writers.

But under the new contract, members would, for the first time, have to start contributing to their healthcare costs to the tune of $75 per month. The earnings threshold to get coverage would increase by about $7,000 to $53,773, leaving many members concerned about the higher cost.

“This is all difficult. Healthcare in America is not a good situation. But we were really mindful, as we always are, of trying to make sure the career of writing is sustainable,” negotiating committee co-chair Danielle Sanchez-Witzel said.

Additionally, the contract terms have been extended from the WGA’s usual three years to four — though it is not the first time the guild has added more time to its deal with the studios. Sanchez-Witzel clarified that the four-year period for the new contract ”is, by no means, a standard. This is just what we needed this year and what we agreed to for this cycle.”

“We were here in 2026 trying to get some things that we didn’t get earlier [in previous negotiation cycles] and happy for the progress we made,” she said.

The WGA is the first of the Hollywood unions to strike a deal with the studios. AMPTP congratulated the WGA on the ratification in a statement released shortly after the vote totals were announced.

“This deal reflects a collaborative approach that supports both writers and the industry’s long-term stability,” AMPTP said.

SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America still need to negotiate new contracts.

The actors’ union began its negotiations in February and extended those talks in March, but paused to allow AMPTP to finish its deal with the writers’ union. SAG-AFTRA’s and the DGA’s contracts expire June 30.

WASHINGTON — The Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee said some of its members would support a presidential pardon for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for her assistance in the committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

But good luck getting any of them to admit it.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) told Politico Wednesday that “a lot of people” support the idea of Maxwell receiving a pardon from President Trump in exchange for her cooperation in the committee’s investigation.

Although Comer said he opposed a pardon himself — “other than Epstein, the worst person in this whole investigation is Maxwell” — he offered that his committee was “split” on the issue.

Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, the top Democrat on his committee, condemned the idea of a Maxwell pardon and said Democrats on the committee uniformly oppose it.

“It’s outrageous that Republicans on the Oversight Committee are considering a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell,” Garcia said in a statement. “She is a sexual abuser who facilitated the rape of women and children.”

The Times reached out to all 26 Republicans on the committee to see who, if anyone, supported the idea of a pardon.

Although most didn’t respond, the few who did expressed outrage at the idea.

“I am absolutely not supporting a pardon for her nor have I heard that from anyone else,” said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).

“Never in a thousand years,” said Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.).

Maxwell declined to answer the committee’s questions during a video deposition in February from the Texas federal prison where she is serving her 20-year prison sentence.

She is still challenging her 2021 conviction on five counts related to the sex trafficking of minors for her role in recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse. She was accused at trial of also participating in the abuse of one victim.

At the time of her February deposition, Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus said she would offer the “unfiltered truth” if granted clemency by Trump.

Attorneys who have represented victims abused by Epstein and Maxwell strongly opposed the idea of a pardon.

“This is a woman who belongs behind bars for the rest of her life for what she did to women,” said Spencer Kuvin, who has represented numerous Epstein victims.

Sigrid McCawley, a managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, questioned the value of information Maxwell could provide.

“Ghislaine Maxwell is a proven self-serving liar,” McCawley said in a statement. “There is nothing credible that she will offer the government, and the assertion that she would provide information is simply a smoke screen.”

Trump has not said he is considering a pardon but when asked by reporters he has declined to rule it out.

Epstein abused more than 1,000 girls and young women over the span of decades. He negotiated a lenient deal nearly two decades ago with federal prosecutors in south Florida that allowed him to serve 13 months in a Palm Beach County jail where he was allowed to come and go freely to settle claims that he had abused dozens of high school girls.

Following investigative reporting on that deal by the Miami Herald, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York brought new sex charges against Epstein in July 2019. He died in federal custody one month later.

Epstein and Maxwell counted members of the British royal family, multiple presidents and business titans among their friends.

They have been accused of forcing some of their victims to have sex with some of those men. But Maxwell is the only other person who has ever been charged in connection with Epstein’s crimes.

The committee has deposed numerous people who knew Epstein, including Ohio billionaire Les Wexner, who hired Epstein to manage his finances, and former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The committee has not, however, deposed Trump, who once famously called Epstein a “terrific guy” and said, “I just wish her well,” when told of Maxwell’s arrest in 2020.

The Department of Justice has also released millions of pages of documents from its investigations into the deceased sex offender in response to the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last year.

The release of the files has led to criminal inquiries in the United Kingdom into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince, and Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, over allegations that they provided secret government information to Epstein.

So far, the files have not led to any publicly known criminal investigations in the United States.

Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery cleared a major hurdle Thursday as Warner stockholders overwhelmingly embraced the $111-billion deal.

Approval was expected. Paramount Chairman David Ellison’s proposal would pay Warner investors $31 a share — four times the price of the company’s stock a year ago. Warner Bros. officials did not disclose the precise vote count during the nine-minute special shareholder meeting beyond saying the merger “received sufficient votes and has overwhelmingly passed.”

Paramount offered the generous premium to compete with, and ultimately triumph over, Netflix, which withdrew from the auction in late February after Ellison’s father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, agreed to guarantee the financing of his son’s deal.

The merger would create a new Hollywood behemoth by giving Paramount, which owns CBS and the Melrose Avenue film studio, such valuable assets as HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, Food Network and Warner Bros.’ film and television studios in Burbank. Warner controls beloved TV shows, franchises and movies, including “Casablanca,” Harry Potter, D.C. Comics, “Game of Thrones,” “Euphoria,” “The Pitt,” and “Rooster.”

“Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, building on our successful equity and debt syndications and progress across regulatory approvals,” Paramount said Thursday in a statement. “We look forward to closing the transaction in the coming months and realizing the creation of a next-generation media and entertainment company that better serves both the creative community and consumers.”

Paramount now must secure regulatory approvals in the U.S. and abroad. Ellison, who is poised to honor President Trump with a dinner Thursday evening in Washington, hopes to complete the deal by late summer.

Shareholders, however, made known their disdain for Warner Chief Executive David Zaslav’s proposed golden parachute, which could swell to $887 million, depending on when the transaction closes. His cash, stock and options would be valued at more than $550 million. Warner board members also agreed to pay his tax bill, which could approach $330 million, should the merger be completed by year’s end.

Shareholders, in a non-binding vote, voted against Zaslav’s package.

Paramount’s deal has encountered significant opposition in Hollywood and beyond.

More than 4,000 filmmakers, actors and industry workers, including Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Ted Danson, J.J. Abrams and Kristen Stewart have signed an open letter asking California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and other regulators to block the deal.

Opponents fear the consolidation would be lead to massive layoffs and diminish the quality of programming that Warner Bros., CNN and HBO are known for. Hollywood has sustained thousands of layoffs over the last six years; the film production economy hasn’t recovered from shutdowns during the 2023 labor strikes.

“This is already an incredibly consolidated industry where writers have seen merger after merger leave fewer and fewer companies in control of what our members can get paid to write,” Michele Mulroney, president of the Writers Guild of America West, said Wednesday during a press briefing organized by Free Press and other progressive groups that oppose the merger.

“A combined Warner Bros. and Paramount would create a media behemoth with tremendous leverage to reduce content, to raise prices, to increase control of production, to suppress member compensation, worsen working conditions and silence the voices of our members,” Mulroney said.

Trump has long agitated for changes at CNN, and few expect his Justice Department to block the transaction. Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the sentiment. “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network the better,” Hegseth told reporters in March.

It’s unclear whether Bonta or other state attorney generals will file a lawsuit to try to stop the deal. Bonta previously told The Times that his office is reviewing the consolidation.

“This deal can get blocked. I personally think it will get blocked — or undone,” Alvaro Bedoya, former Federal Trade Commission member who now serves as a senior adviser to the American Economic Liberties Project, told reporters Wednesday. He pointed to other proposed mergers that unraveled due to fierce opposition, including the proposed combinations of grocery giants Kroger and Albertson’s.

David Ellison has promised to keep HBO entact and the Paramount and Warner Bros. movie studios humming. He promised cinema owners last week that a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. would release 30 movies into theaters each year.

“This transaction uniquely brings together complementary strengths to create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers,” Paramount said in a statement to push back on the opposition. The company would have the power to “bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale — while strengthening competition by ensuring multiple scaled players are investing in creative talent.”

To finance the Warner takeover, Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison, has agreed to guarantee the $45.7 billion in equity needed. Bank of America, Citibank and Apollo Global have agreed to provide Paramount with more than $54 billion in debt financing.

Paramount has enlisted a former Trump administration official, lawyer Makan Delrahim, who served as Trump’s antitrust chief during the president’s first term.

In a confident move, Delrahim filed to win the Justice Department’s blessing in December — even though Paramount didn’t have an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery’s board at the time. In February, a key deadline for the Justice Department to raise issues with Paramount’s proposed Warner takeover passed without comment from the Trump regulators.

When the heads of three Los Angeles Unified School District unions stood side by side at City Hall to announce their new contracts after nearly going on strike hours earlier, one of them looked out of place.

Max Arias was decked out in a purple letterman’s cardigan emblazoned with “99,” for Service Employees International Union Local 99. United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz wore a tie-dyed T-shirt that read “Solidarity LA.”

And then there was Maria Nichols, who looked like the school principal she once was.

Shiny black shoes. Black slacks. Light makeup. Tight smile. The only flash of color was her green V-neck union T-shirt, the logo peeking out of a black blazer.

Arias and Myart-Cruz gave impassioned speeches hailing the last-minute deals, which still need to be approved by union members and the school board. Nichols, who leads the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles/Teamsters Local 2010, started with a joke about her mere year and 10 months as a union leader.

“I’m the new kid on the block,” the 60-year-old said. “But we made a commitment. It’s not about equality, it’s about equity. … We are all better today for our collective work.”

AALA’s tentative contract calls for raises of more than 11% for the LAUSD’s 3,000 principals, assistant principals and middle managers — a lower percentage increase than SEIU’s 24% and UTLA’s 14%. But the contract also secured a 40-hour week with flex time off for extra hours, addressing long-standing complaints about grueling schedules.

On top of all that, Nichols has led her members into a new era.

“For a long time, principals have been perceived” as a class apart from other school employees, Arias said at the City Hall news conference Tuesday.

Not only are they many workers’ bosses, but with median salaries of $160,139 for elementary schools and $174,628 for higher grades, they make a lot more money. When UTLA went on strike in 2019, AALA stayed on the job.

This time, AALA and the other two unions vowed to all go on strike together if any one of them failed to get a contract.

“So them coming in,” Arias continued, “really shows our members that it is important to start figuring out how we work in solidarity.”

Nichols “called us and said, ‘I know that you guys have already been rolling, but I want to join in,’” Myart-Cruz added. “Having the leadership to be able to articulate that message to her administrators is a great thing. Solidarity is a great thing, but we now have unity.”

“I may be the new kid on the block,” Nichols told me afterward with a grin, “but I’ve been fighting for better schools for 42 years.”

We met a few days later at AALA’s Echo Park office.

“Excuse the mess,” Nichols cracked as we walked to her corner suite. She now wore a bright red pantsuit, union pins on her lapel. Hundreds of signs reading “Enough is Enough” leaned upside down against desks and cabinets. Chips, water and other snacks were piled inside collapsible carts.

“This was all going to be used for the strike,” she said. “You know what they say — expect the best but prepare for the worst.”

AALA /Teamsters 2010 President Maria Nichols hugs UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz during a news conference announcing a tentative agreement between LAUSD and the unions representing teachers, principals and workers at City Hall in Los Angeles on April 14, 2026. Above them is SEIU Local 99 President Max Arias.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A breakfast of blueberries and yogurt sat untouched as Nichols recounted her life story. She moved to Los Angeles at age 5 from her native Peru to join parents who left after a military coup. A star volleyball setter at Fairfax High, she gave up a University of Arizona scholarship her freshman year after breaking her wrist and finding it “too hard to watch the games and not be involved.”

Back home, she joined LAUSD as a bilingual teacher’s assistant while pursuing a degree in physical therapy at Cal State Northridge. Thanks to a succession of bosses she called “angels,” she stayed in public education. She worked in San Fernando Valley elementary schools as an assistant, a teacher and an assistant principal before a decade-long run as principal at Vena Avenue Elementary in Arleta, which was designated a California Distinguished School during her tenure.

That led to a promotion as a regional director for Valley schools, a job she loved despite the difficulties of shrinking budgets and enrollment. Nichols credited then-LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner with granting autonomy to principals in the district.

“We were all administrators from the field that had served time in this district and gone up the ranks,” she said. “That disappeared with [current Supt. Alberto] Carvalho. Gone. Gone.”

She pointed to a flow chart on the wall, titled “Ready for the World,” that Carvalho’s team distributed after he arrived in 2022. He brought in his own people instead of empowering existing administrators, she said.

“It’s a great plan,” Nichols said with no sarcasm while reading its goals aloud. “Because that is what we want. But we don’t invest in staff because we have a shortage. … We can’t have joy and wellness if your people are drying on the vine because they’re exhausted.”

Friction between principals and teachers over budgets and educational strategies increased. Frustrated, Nichols attended her first AALA meeting about two years ago.

“There were like 20 people there. And I thought, ‘This is it? This is where we are?’” she recalled.

Some principals urged her to run against the union’s incumbent president. One of them was Kathie Galan-Jaramillo, whom Nichols had hired to lead Sylmar Leadership Academy.

“Our union was very small, and it was very difficult for us to stand for what we believe in,” Galan-Jaramillo said. “But Maria knew all of the things and hurdles that we [administrators] had to do and go through, and the expectations.”

To prepare for negotiating a new contract, Nichols studied the existing one.

“It was so weak. The language was so antiquated,” she remembered thinking, especially when it came to making sure members weren’t being overworked. “And then I looked at UTLA’s contract and I said, ‘Holy crap. No wonder they get everything.’”

At the end of 2024, 85% of AALA members approved a Nichols-backed merger with Teamsters 2010, which represents higher education workers in California, to shore up their resources and try a different, tougher mindset.

“She has what’s lacking among many leaders — she has the judgment and humility to say, ‘I have things to learn and I’m up to it,’” said Teamsters 2010 Secretary-Treasurer Jason Rabinowitz, who sat with Nichols in contract negotiations. “And she’s a learner and quick study. That’s not always easy to do, because labor leaders have ego.”

After contract talks hit an impasse in February, Nichols reached out to Arias and Myart-Cruz to share research and strategy. They sold her on a united front. But initially, not all AALA members embraced the move, with some questioning why the union would still strike after getting a new contract.

“I was getting a lot of push back from members — ‘But if we get a TA [temporary agreement], why would we strike?” Nichols said. “But it wasn’t about the TA anymore. It was about the coalition. It was about sticking together. It was about power and unity. … My folks were not used to that.”

Nichols expects that AALA members will ratify the agreement.

“We’ll be done, and in May, we [Arias and Myart-Cruz] will go out and have some dinner, and, you know, adult beverages,” she said with a loud laugh.

Maria Nichols, head of the LAUSD principals union, AALA/Teamsters 2010, at her AALA office in Echo Park.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Then comes what she describes as the new alliance’s “heavy lies the crown” moment.

LAUSD plans to bankroll the contracts with money from Sacramento that may or may not come through, even as it plans to cut more than 600 jobs and school enrollment keeps dropping. SEIU’s new contract includes extra hours for members — who include custodians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers — so they can qualify for health benefits, Nichols pointed out.

“They deserve it,” she said, citing her respect for them because her father was a dishwasher and her mother cleaned houses. “But that impact of health benefits, it’s going to be directed at school budgets. OK, great. We got all of these wins, but how is that going to impact our budget at schools? Where’s the money going to come from?”

But these were issues for another day.

The conference room table was now covered in stacks of the same green T-shirt Nichols had worn at City Hall.

“We were going to give them out during the strike,” she said as her staff busied for a flurry of meetings. “But we’ll still give them out. We’ve got a job to do.”

The experts call Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon on April 8 ‘a blatant violation of the UN Charter’.

A group of United Nations experts has denounced Israel’s attack on Lebanon a day after the United States and Iran agreed a ceasefire as illegal and urged UN member states to halt all arms transfers to Israel.

The 19 experts – including special rapporteurs and independent experts across a range of human rights mandates – issued the condemnation on Wednesday as Israel continued to pound areas of southern Lebanon, killing at least 16 people, including four paramedics, Lebanese state media reported.

Referring to a devastating wave of Israeli attacks across Lebanon on April 8, which Lebanese authorities said killed more than 350 people, including 30 children, the experts said: “This is not self-defence. It is a blatant violation of the UN Charter, a deliberate ‌destruction of prospects for peace, and an affront to multilateralism and the UN-based international order.”

They called for Israel to “cease all military operations in Lebanon” and urged UN member states to halt arms transfers to Israel while “there is credible evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law”, according to the UN Human Rights Council.

Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon on March 2 after the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in response to the US-Israel killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei two days earlier, the first day of their war on Iran.

Israel has carried out a devastating bombardment across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south, killing more than 2,000 people and forcibly displacing more than 1.2 million.

The UN experts said such forced displacement “of a civilian population constitutes crimes against humanity”. They also condemned Israel’s targeted “destruction of homes”, particularly in predominantly Shia areas of the south, as “a form of collective punishment” that “points to ethnic cleansing”.

Israel’s continuing bombardment of Lebanon has been a point of tension in US-Iran negotiations. Tehran said Lebanon should be covered in the ongoing ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lebanon is ‌not ‌part of the ceasefire with Iran and Israel will continue to target Hezbollah “wherever required”.

On Saturday, days before Israel and Lebanon held rare, high-level diplomatic talks in the US, Netanyahu said Israel wanted long-term peace with Lebanon but on the condition that Hezbollah is disarmed.

The Reuters news agency quoted a senior Israeli official as saying ⁠Israel’s security cabinet planned to convene on Wednesday evening to discuss a possible ceasefire in Lebanon. It also quoted several senior ⁠Lebanese officials as saying ceasefire efforts were under way.

WASHINGTON — Eric Swalwell’s downfall has raised the possibility of a broader reckoning on Capitol Hill as congressional staffers, reporters and opposition researchers race to verify long-standing rumors of a sordid underground culture among the city’s most powerful.

Former lawmakers across the political spectrum have warned for years of a hushed congressional bacchanal marked by inappropriate revelry and sexual misconduct. But a sense of growing momentum gripped Congress on Tuesday, as Democrats grappled with Swalwell’s resignation and Republicans called for other lawmakers to face scrutiny.

The 72-hour collapse of Swalwell’s political career has shifted attention not only to his closest associates in Congress, but also to a larger set of sitting lawmakers from both parties suspected of lurid sexual activity. Several members have claimed that Swalwell’s alleged behavior was an open secret amid a cacophony of rumors on social media of other potential offenders.

“I think that many people knew about this for a while,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, said in an interview with The Times.

Luna, who planned to lead the charge to expel Swalwell before he resigned, alleged that young staffers would talk among one another about Swalwell’s conduct. Lawmakers should have done more to approach him about the rumors, she said.

Multiple current and former female staffers who spoke with The Times described a broader culture of warning one another about lawmakers with reputations for inappropriate conduct.

But the warnings, passed privately among junior aides, have focused on “sleazy” activity and boundary-crossing behavior, said one former legislative aide, who asked to remain anonymous. Whispers about sleazy behavior generally do not meet the coverage threshold for traditional newsrooms, which are bound by strict ethical standards.

Another former aide said that quiet guidance shared among female staffers focused on behavior that is legal, but nevertheless viewed as unprofessional and unbecoming of members of Congress — a line that has prevented many from speaking out publicly.

Now, a race is on for leverage between two political parties facing comparable strategic risks — each with members facing growing questions over their alleged conduct — and for scoops among news outlets, seeking to break the story first.

The Monday resignations of Swalwell and Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, who faced his own sex scandal, was also forcing lawmakers to address the issue publicly. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) — one of Swalwell’s closest friends in Congress — answered questions from reporters at length Tuesday, telling them he should have confronted Swalwell when he heard rumors about his behavior.

“You let your guard down. I let him into my circle. … I deeply regret it,” Gallego said.

He denied knowing about Swalwell’s alleged misconduct when asked about the behavior.

“Look, we socialized. We went out. But I never saw him engage in any of the predatory behavior, harassment, sexual assault,” Gallego said.

Notably quiet was President Trump, who has faced sexual assault accusations of his own and frequently parried with Swalwell throughout his presidency. Although Trump posted an article reporting Swalwell’s resignation on social media, he has not commented on the matter in his own words.

The unraveling scandal comes at a time when lawmakers have come together across party lines to push for transparency in the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender and alleged sex trafficker whose network of powerful associates included Democrats and Republicans alike.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, details of the Swalwell scandal continued to unfold Tuesday, as a Beverly Hills woman accused him of drugging and raping her in 2018. The Times could not immediately reach his attorney; he previously denied allegations of rape and sexual misconduct made by multiple women in published accounts last week.

Sex scandals are not a new phenomenon on Capitol Hill, which has seen over a dozen members embroiled in controversy over the last decade, including Katie Hill of California, Cory Mills and Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Blake Farenthold of Texas, among others.

But several prominent former members — including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — have warned of a more widespread cultural problem.

“Every member in Congress knows not to let any young staffer get around Swalwell or Matt Gaetz. It’s not a secret there,” McCarthy said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Luna had pressed lawmakers to address alleged sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill. In February, she called on the “predatory freaks” in Congress to leave office as she complained about the process to get ethical complaints handled.

“It pisses me off because while some of us are actually working and busting our asses, these clowns are sexually harassing their own staff, doing illegal crap, insider trading etc,” Luna wrote at the time.

Luna said Monday that she was encouraged to see bipartisan support for expelling Swalwell and Gonzales.

A longtime staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity said Tuesday that allegations against Swalwell have sparked conversations about how to do more to help staffers report sexual misconduct, such as reforming procedural rules that would allow staffers to report any of their concerns directly to ethics panels, and about the need for ethics investigations to move more quickly.

“Congress has a short-term memory, that is the difficulty here,” the staffer said. “After these guys leave their seats, there needs to be a concerted and consistent effort for reforms to be established and be made permanent.”

Felipe Staiti, guitarist and founding member of Enanitos Verdes, has died. He was 64.

The seminal Argentine rock band’s official X account confirmed his death on Tuesday.

“His music, his dedication, and his story remain forever with us and with all those who accompanied him throughout these years,” read a statement posted on X.

Staiti died Monday due to health complications following his hospitalization in the Argentine city of Mendoza, per the national news outlet Los Andes.

Born in the province of Mendoza in 1961, Staiti was an original member of Enanitos Verdes, which formed in 1979 with lead vocalist and bassist Marciano Cantero and drummer Daniel Piccolo. The band later added guitarist and vocalist Sergio Embrioni and keyboardist Tito Dávila.

With beloved hits such as “Lamento Boliviano” and “La Muralla Verde,” the band was part of the Latin America rock scene that rose to global popularity in the 1990s. As of March 31, its classic soft rock ballad “Lamento Boliviano” about emotional anguish entered the Spotify Billions club, surpassing the 1 billion streams threshold on the platform.

In 1997, following the release of its eighth studio album, “Guerra Gaucha” — which marked the band’s shift into more social and political themes — former Los Angeles Times reporter Enrique Lavin called Enanitos Verdes a “perennial presence on the Southern California rock en español scene.”

Following the 2022 death of longtime band member Cantero, who died in September 2022 due to kidney complications, Staiti picked up Cantero’s responsibilities as lead vocalist, performing live for the first time that December at the Bésame Mucho Festival at Dodger Stadium.

According to Los Andes, Staiti had long suffered from health issues in the years preceding his death. He contracted a bacterial infection in Mexico in late 2024, which combined with his celiac disease triggered severe dehydration that resulted in a monthlong stay at the hospital. This led to severe weight loss, which affected his vocal muscles and resulted in the cancellation of several performances across South America.

In 2025, Enanitos Verdes joined forces with Hombres G for their “Huevos Revuletos Tour,” stopping in various cities across California, including the Yaamava’ Theater in Highland, the SAP Center in San Jose and the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Enanitos Verdes are currently still scheduled to perform at the Toyota Arena in Ontario on May 26.

WASHINGTON — California Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned his congressional seat on Monday under intense pressure from lawmakers of both parties after several women accused him of sexual misconduct, including a former staffer who alleged rape.

Swalwell, a Dublin Democrat who suspended his campaign for California governor on Sunday, said in a statement that he was stepping down from the House, where he has served since 2013, and planned to continue fighting what he called “serious, false” allegations made against him.

“However, I must take responsibility and ownership of the mistakes I did make,” Swalwell wrote without specifying which mistakes those were.

His resignation came hours after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against him and as lawmakers from both parties threatened to expel him from the House if he did not leave his post. He said he was aware of the expulsion efforts underway and said that it was “wrong” to expel a member of Congress “without due process, within days of an allegation being made.”

“But it is also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” he said.

Asked about replacing Swalwell, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement that it is “reviewing the matter. Once the seat is officially vacant, our office will make an official announcement.”

The allegations, detailed in reports by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN last week, drew swift bipartisan condemnation, with lawmakers from both parties calling the accusations “disgusting” and demanding that he either resign or be removed from office.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) intended to lead the charge to expel Swalwell. In an interview Monday, Luna said she planned to file a motion as early as Tuesday on the grounds that he violated House rules over an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate. A House floor vote could have been held as early as Wednesday, she said.

Following Swalwell’s resignation, Luna said the Northern California lawmaker did “the right thing.” But she took issue with him saying that the allegations were not grounds for expulsion, noting that he was under criminal investigation.

In New York, the Manhattan district attorney’s office opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Swalwell by a former staffer and issued a statement over the weekend that urged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division.”

After the sexual allegations came to light, Democrats called on Swalwell to resign, but when it comes to expulsion, they said they would not move against Swalwell alone. They were also pushing to expel Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who last month admitted to a sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide.

Late Monday, Gonzales said he too was stepping down. “When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office,” he wrote on X.

The push to get Swalwell expelled had gained traction even among his friends.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) wrote on X on Monday that Swalwell should be kicked out of Congress, saying he “trusted someone who I believed was a friend, but is now clear that he is not the person I thought I knew.” Gallego said the woman “deserves to be believed, to be supported, and to see justice served.”

Had Swalwell been expelled, it would have been the first such removal in congressional history on the grounds of sexual misconduct, and among the rare instances in the House’s 237-year history in which members ousted one of their own.

Only six members have been expelled from the House. Three were fighting for the Confederacy, two were convicted of bribery and one was the fraudster George Santos, whose sentence was later commuted by President Trump.

Now that Swalwell has resigned, he is still eligible for his pension and for a number of other perks extended to other former members, including the ability to enter the House floor and access to the congressional gym.

Swalwell said Monday that he is working with his staff to “ensure they are able, in my absence, to serve the needs of the good people of the 14th congressional district.”

While many of Swalwell’s staffers have already quit, remaining staffers not involved in constituent services would lose their jobs and receive no severance pay.

Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute, which is focused on congressional reform, argues that the practice is unfair.

“I think the House owes them a duty for what they’ve had to go through,” Schuman said.

Longtime ethics expert Meredith McGehee said that members have been reluctant to expel their colleagues in recent years because of the razor-thin majorities in the House, but that not doing so hurts the credibility of the institution.

“It’s really important at this moment that the House act to expel these men who have been seriously and credibly accused of wrongdoing,” said McGehee, a former executive director of the ethics watchdog Issue One. “To allow either one of them to stay in office and serve out their term would be a farce.”

The Swalwell scandal could still prompt an ever larger surge of expulsion calls. Some lawmakers called for two additional members to be swept into any expulsion vote: Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), who has been accused of sexual assault, and Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), who was indicted on charges that she laundered $5 million of federal disaster money and used it to fund a political campaign.

“Reps. Swalwell, Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mills should resign. If they refuse, they should be expelled,” Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) wrote on X on Monday. “Americans deserve better and Congress must hold our members accountable.”

Any expulsion would require a two-thirds majority vote, or 290 of 435 votes if every House member participates. The Senate would not be required to concur with the House vote to make the expulsion effective, but it remains to be seen whether the House could meet the two-thirds threshold.

Times staff writer Melody Gutierrez in Sacramento contributed to this report.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Lawrence Bennett wasn’t only a guardian of the green jackets — the iconic garment of Augusta National — but he also oversaw their cremation.

That was among his many responsibilities in a career that spanned 51 years, where he first picked up litter then picked up everyone from celebrities to sports heroes to ex-presidents as the club’s top chauffeur.

“All I’ve known from Day 1 was Augusta National,” said Bennett, 72, sitting in the living room of his tidy home six miles from the storied course. His hallways are painted Masters green. Paintings of the course hang on the walls, as do photographs of famous people with heartfelt inscriptions.

For decades, he embraced the club. The members hugged him back, from bankrolling his college tuition to sending him generous gifts when he retired in 2013 and donations when his beloved wife, Cheryl, died in 2020 after suffering a massive stroke.

Lawrence Bennett, a longtime chauffeur at Augusta National, holds a framed portion of the logo that appears on the green Masters jackets.

(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)

Bennett isn’t watching the Masters this week — he tuned in for Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and some other greats over the years — and he said he’s never swung a golf club. But his job was his life, even though he moonlighted as a high school teacher and administrator.

His father, too, bled green. The late and legendary Freddie Bennett began as a young caddie and worked his way up to caddie master, looking for that ideal chemistry between club members or tournament competitors and the men who carried their golf bags and advised them on putting lines.

“Once you work at Augusta National, they don’t want half of your time,” the younger Bennett said. “They want all of your time. And that’s what he did, and that’s what I did.”

Father and son were highly regarded at the club.

“There’s no doubt they commanded respect,” said Ward Clayton, author of “The Legendary Caddies of Augusta National.” “But at the same time, they understood, whether you’re working for Augusta National or a top corporation, you’ve got to follow the guidelines of the place you’re working for. I think they understood that to the highest degree.”

Augusta National opens its gates to the world every April but otherwise is so secretive that it won’t confirm how many members it has, let alone name them. The waiting list for Masters tickets has been closed for decades and patron badges are passed down through families like heirlooms. The club is closed from mid-May until October, and new buildings appear as if by magic, yet fit in as if they’ve been around forever.

As his father and other club employees did, Bennett signed a non-disclosure agreement that lasted 10 years. Now, more than a decade after his retirement, he’s telling some of his stories.

Hot pockets

When an Augusta member died, left the club or simply wanted a new green jacket, Bennett was responsible for disposing of the old garments. That meant cutting off a coat’s emblem on the pocket, buttons and name tags in the lining, then taking what was left to a local funeral home for cremation. It wasn’t an everyday event. Bennett and a security guard from the club would bring 20-30 of the jackets that would be placed in a coffin-like cardboard box and pushed into a 2,400-degree oven.

Lawrence Bennett, longtime chauffeur at Augusta National, points to a painting of the course in his home.

(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)

“We had to wait until the ashes cooled down to make sure we weren’t leaving buttons or anything identifying about it, and the funeral home would take care of the rest,” Bennett said. “They would just toss it.”

Occasionally, deceased members were buried in their green jackets.

“Some members’ families started to request that,” he said. “And I know one guy — I had to go take the jacket, a local member — I had to watch them put it on him. Didn’t like that too good. Watch them put it on, fixing it neat, and report back to the club manager that it was on.”

Watch your speed

The club had three station wagons and a long blue limousine when Bennett began chauffeuring at age 17. He was well spoken and polite, so his bosses soon began sending him on the most important jobs.

Once, a member named Alexander Chisholm from Mississippi had come into town for a party and round of golf, then stayed over for a dinner at a fancy place called the Green Boundary Club in Aiken, S.C. Bennett brought him in the limo.

“My dad said, `Boy, if you’re going to South Carolina, slow down because they’ll give you a ticket in a minute. They watch for Augusta tags to give you tickets,’” Bennett recalled.

He started slow and cautious.

“Mr. Chisholm, with a big cigar in his mouth, said, ‘Can you go any faster than this?’” he said. “Now, I’m 19. That’s all I needed to hear. I stepped on the gas.”

As soon as he crossed the Savannah River, the police lights pulled up behind him.

“The officer wasn’t real nice,” Bennett said. “He said, `Boy, can’t you read? Can’t you see that speed limit?’ Mr. Chisholm was in back and said, `How much is the ticket?’ The officer said it was going to cost me $150.”

Chisholm peeled off three $100 bills.

“Here,” the member told the officer. “Take $300, because we’re going to be coming back the same damn way.”

Hail to the chief

Back when he was in first grade, Bennett feigned illness so he could get sent home and spend some time with his dad, whom he hadn’t seen in two weeks.

“I would hear him come home and get in the bed, but I didn’t see him because he came home when I was asleep,” he said. “He left when I was asleep. So one day I was at school, and I played sick. So I told my teacher my stomach was hurting.”

His mother was working at the time, so the school called the club.

“Dad came to get me, and he took me to work, gave me a Coca-Cola and a little pack of crackers,” he recalled. “He said, `You can’t be running around, because the President is here.’ Well, I’m 6 or 7. I thought he was talking about George Washington.”

Then, his father pulled a milk crate up to a hedge.

“He said, `You want to see the President?’ So I went out, and he put me on this box, and I could look over the top of the hedge, and there was Eisenhower. That was Clifford Roberts, and that was Bobby Jones,” he said, referencing the Roberts and Jones, co-founders of Augusta National.

Bennett has some snapshot memories of the president.

“I remember him being a big man, big stomach,” he said. “He had brown pants on with pleats, and he got up and made his tee shot off number one, and he looked over and saw me. He did just like this [crisply saluting the child]. I did it back at him.”

The moment left an impression.

“That was my first really inkling of what my daddy did,” he said, “and the type of people that were at the club.”

Supreme honor

As a young chauffeur, Bennett had all sorts of driving duties. He would take members’ wives antique shopping or sit through movies with the children of members who were bored at the tournament.

He picked up Christopher Lee at the airport once, and — as a big fan of Dracula — he half-believed he saw the English actor transforming into a vampire while they drove to the club.

“As we got back, it was getting dark, and all I could see — this was in my mind now — those fiery red eyes in the rear view mirror,” said Bennett, recounting the meeting on the “70 Years of Masters Magic” podcast.

Lawrence Bennett, longtime chauffeur at Augusta National, shows some Augusta National keepsakes at his home.

(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)

“When he got out, I had to tell him. I said, `You know what? I was nervous because all I saw was your eyes and your face in the mirror.’ And it was illegal to get an autograph, but I got it.”

In 2013, the last Masters for Bennett, he drove Arnold Palmer back to the airport and they both got teary rolling back down Magnolia Lane and out of the club.

Maybe the most memorable assignment was picking up Sandra Day O’Connor. He was especially excited because he had just been teaching his ninth-grade students about her, the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The two became fast friends, and O’Connor gave him her personal pocket constitution. She inscribed it: “For Lawrence Bennett and his ninth-grade class, always remember the constitution protects you. Sandra Day O’Connor.”

Her husband, John Jay O’Connor, told Bennett: “Do you know what she has given you? She takes that to the bench every day she goes to work.”

It’s framed in Bennett’s den.

From the heart

Bennett, whose mother was a nurse and semi-professional bowler, was the first in his family to finish high school, and first to go to college, where he would earn three degrees. His younger sister followed him, earning a degree in nursing.

Tuition at Paine College wasn’t easy on the family. That’s where the club stepped in.

“Sometimes my dad didn’t have the money, so the club manager [Phil Wahl] said, `Lawrence, Freddie, everything OK?’ My dad said, `No, Mr. Wahl, I’ve got to pay $855.53 for that boy’s semester.’ Mr. Wahl said, `Go to the front desk and get a petty cash slip.’ They gave daddy $855.53 per semester for four or five years. Never asked for it back.

“So I owe a lot to Augusta National. I tried to pay it back but they wouldn’t take it.”

Freddie Bennett retired in 1999 after 46 years as caddie master and 51 years on the property — just as long as his son would work there. He died in 2006.

“Paine College, this huge chapel, we had daddy’s funeral down there,” the younger Bennett said. “It was packed. If you looked at the private field, you thought it was tournament time. The private jets came to his funeral.

“The club manager got up and spoke, and he talked about all of the things that Freddie had done, all the achievements he had done. But he said Freddie’s greatest accomplishment at this club: `He gave us Lawrence.’

“I lost it,” he said, tears welling, “I never thought anybody thought that of me.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democratic front-runner in the hotly contested California governor’s race, was accused of sexual assault and misconduct by a former staff member and other women, according to reports published on Friday.

The woman who worked for the Northern California congressman said she had a consensual relationship at times, but that he sexually assaulted her twice when she was too inebriated to consent, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. Three other woman also have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct, including receiving unsolicited nude photos from the Democrat, according to CNN.

The allegations against Swalwell has his campaign teetering on collapse, with powerful labor organizations and other major supporters pulling their endorsements and dropping political ads promoting the once-promising candidate. U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, one of many prominent Democrats who supported Swalwell, and others have called on him to drop out of the race.

Swalwell had been gaining traction in the crowded field, and the controversy completely upends the race just as voters are starting to pay attention.

“It’s like a bomb went off,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who runs the research nonprofit Latino Working Class Project.

Swalwell’s staff member was 21 years old when she started working for the congressman, who is nearly two decades her senior, and said she did not report the incidents to police because of fears she would not be believed.

“I have no skin in the game of who becomes governor of California, but I feel people have a right to know whether the person who leads a state that is a safe haven for so many women actually treats women with dignity and will protect their rights,” the woman, who was not identified because she is the alleged victim of sexual assault, told the Chronicle. “No one protected me from him, and so I have to protect the other young women like me who aspire to work in this field and he could prey upon.”

Swalwell on Friday denied the accusations.

“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the front-runner for governor,” he said in a statement. “For nearly 20 years, I have served the public — as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.”

State Supt. Tony Thurmond and San José Mayor Matt Mahan, other Democrats running for governor, immediately called on Swalwell to drop out of the race. Multiple staff members working for Swalwell’s campaign have resigned, according to a source close to the candidate who was not authorized to speak about the matter.
.

Allegations of inappropriate behavior by the congressman have been circulating on social media and in political circles for weeks. On Thursday, an attorney representing Swalwell sent a cease-and-desist letter to at least one person demanding that they stop accusing the congressman of sexual assault.

Two days earlier, the congressman denounced online claims that he had inappropriate relationships with young congressional staff members.

“It’s false,” he told reporters after a town hall in Sacramento, saying he had never behaved inappropriately with female staff members or had a sexual relationship with a staff member or an intern, and denied allegations that his staff members were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements or entered into legal settlements.

In 2025, another woman said after drinking with Swalwell, she ended up in his hotel room without recollection of how she got there and that her memory of what happened is “a blur,” according to CNN. Two other women told the cable network’s reporters that the congressman sent them unsolicited photos of his penis and other sexual messages on Snapchat.

The allegations come at a pivotal time in the race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom. The primary is June 2, but ballots start landing in voters’ mailboxes in less than a month.

The race to lead the nation’s largest state remains up for grabs, with eight prominent Democrats and two top Republicans jockeying to finish in first or second place in the primary and advance to the November election.

Swalwell, 45, is among the leading Democrats with the support of 13% of likely voters in a recent UC Berkeley poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. That places him tied for first place among Democrats with former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, with billionaire Tom Steyer not far behind.

Swalwell has won the support of powerful unions, including the California Teachers Assn., along with Schiff (D-Calif.) and many of his Democratic colleagues in Congress.

CTA President David Goldberg called the allegations “incredibly disturbing and unacceptable.”

“We are immediately suspending our support,” he said. “Our elected board will be meeting as soon as possible to follow our union’s democratic process to determine next steps.”

Rusty Hicks, the chairman of the California Democratic Party, said victims must be believed and also reiterated his call for Democratic candidates to gauge their viability.

“The allegations against Congressmember Swalwell are deeply disturbing,” he said in a statement. “Any person engaged in misconduct must take responsibility and be held accountable for their actions — including a Member of Congress and candidate for Governor. Finally, my call for all — repeat, all — candidates for Governor to ‘honestly assess the viability of their candidacy and campaign’ still stands. In fact, that call is more important now than ever before.”

The woman told the Chronicle that she was hired in 2019 to work in Swalwell’s Castro Valley district office when she was 21. He quickly began sending her messages and then nude pictures on Snapchat.

In September of that year, she said she had drinks with the congressman, blacked out and could feel the effects of intercourse when she woke up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed, according to the report. In 2024, when she no longer worked for Swalwell, she said she attended a charity event honoring the congressman and met him for drinks afterward. She was intoxicated, but recalled Swalwell forcing himself upon her, and pushing him away and saying, “No,” according to the Chronicle.

The Chronicle corroborated her report with texts she sent a friend at the time and interviews with the friend and the woman’s then-boyfriend. The Chronicle’s reporters also reviewed medical records about a pregnancy and tests for sexually transmitted diseases a week after the alleged assault. She told them she had kept quiet about the alleged assaults because of fears about professional and personal repercussions.

Concern began brewing among Democrats before the allegations were published.

Cheyenne Hunt, a Laguna Hills attorney and executive director of a progressive advocacy group, and social media influencer Arielle Fodor, known online as Mrs. Frazzled, are among those publicizing the allegations online. Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who has sparred with Swalwell in the past, has amplified the allegations on social media as well.

The Times has not independently corroborated reports of sexual misconduct.

Many politicians have survived serious allegations of sexual misconduct, including President Trump, who was accused of rape before winning the White House in 2016.

Others have seen a swift reckoning. In the hours and days after the late farmworkers rights leader César Chávez was accused of sexual abuse, his name and image were stripped from schools, streets and murals.

Two recent California governors have been accused of sexual impropriety; former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to behaving improperly during his movie career and Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged an affair with a married staffer while mayor of San Francisco.

Swalwell, a former prosecutor, is married and has three children. The Iowa native briefly ran for president in 2020. On Thursday, he canceled a town hall in Palm Desert, reportedly because he was sick.

He has previously spoken out against sexual misconduct, most recently in support of women who told the New York Times that they were assaulted by Chávez.

“The women who have come forward are carrying years of pain. Speaking about that takes real courage,” Swalwell wrote in a tweet last month. “Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas and Dolores Huerta are speaking with clarity and strength. I stand with them and condemn all instances of sexual assault.”

The congressman also defended women who accused Brett Kavanaugh, then a nominee to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, of sexual misconduct in 2018.

“The more and more cases that are separate and independent that look the same, pretty soon a prosecutor starts to say to a jury … that the arrows are pointing in the same directions and what are the chances that three or four women independently, who never met each other, would have similar experiences with one person,” he said on MSNOW’s Ari Melber in September 2018 amid Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.

In Congress, Swalwell has been a prominent critic of President Trump, serving as a manager of the second impeachment of the president and frequently blistering Trump on cable news shows.

In late March, the Washington Post reported that FBI Director Kash Patel may release documents about a decade-old investigation about Swalwell’s connections with a suspected Chinese spy. Swalwell cut off ties with Christine Fang, or Fang Fang, in 2015 after intelligence officials warned him and other members of Congress about Chinese efforts to infiltrate legislators’ offices. Swalwell was not accused of impropriety.

After news of the potential release of the files broke, Swalwell accused Trump of trying to sway the gubernatorial election and weaponizing the federal government against his political enemies.

Swalwell’s attorneys filed a cease-and-desist letter with Patel and the FBI. No documents have been released as of Friday.

He was previously accused of mortgage fraud by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte. Swalwell sued Pulte last year but dropped the suit this month.

In the gubernatorial race, Swalwell has faced criticism from fellow Democrat Tom Steyer that he was ineligible to run for governor because he did not truly live in California. Earlier this year, a Sacramento County judge ruled against a similar claim made by a conservative filmmaker.

Times staff writer Melody Gutierrez in Sacramento contributed to this report.

A MEMBER of a huge girlband has teased a reunion tour – and fans will likely be bursting with excitement over the potential slew of gigs should they set plans in motion.

The Saturdays are approaching their 20th anniversary, with a reunion tour now on the cards for the girls, as per one of the members.

The hit girlband, who had hits with What About Us and Ego, was made up of Molly King, Frankie Bridge, Rochelle Humes, Vanessa White and Una Healy.

Una is the bandmate who has hinted the possibility of a tour.

The Irish beauty has revealed she is “rallying all the girls” for a reunion tour after discussing plans with bandmate Molly. 

The band initially rose to fame in 2007 before disbanding in 2014. 

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At the time, the girls insisted they were not splitting up, but instead taking a “break”.

Speaking on 2FM Morning with Laura Fox, Una said now would “be a good time” to get reunion plans in the works. 

Una said: “I hope so, you know that it has been 18 years now.

“So only two more to go. It was 2008 since the first single.

“The years are flying by it’s scary.”

She then added: “I was recently talking to Molly and she just reminded me. She was like ‘you know it’s the big 20th now, in two years’.

“I always think that the noughties was ten years ago. So I think that it would be a good time. It would take time to get a tour together.”

Una then revealed: “I am trying to rally them all up and I want it to be all of us as well. We all do. That’s how we all collectively feel. 

“If we ever do anything again it would have to be all five or it wouldn’t be the same.

“I would just love if it was all of us.”

Last summer, we reported the mysterious ‘feud’ between two of the bandmates as the stars ‘snubbed’ each other at Wimbledon after a 24-year friendship.

Rochelle and Frankie grew up in the spotlight together but last summer they mingled with celebrities just yards from each other yet failed to speak between them.

At the time, an insider told The Sun: “It was clear the women were keeping their distance. They sat on opposite sides of the suite and kept to themselves.”

NEW ORLEANS — A U.S. Army staff sergeant is trying to halt his wife’s deportation after she was detained inside a Louisiana military base where the couple was planning to live together just days after their wedding.

The effort to remove the soldier’s wife, who was born in Honduras and remained in a federal immigration detention center Monday, has drawn criticism from military family advocates who called the detention demoralizing in a time of war and warned that deporting spouses could undermine recruitment.

Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank said he brought his wife, Annie Ramos, 22, to his base in Fort Polk, La., last Thursday so that she could begin the process to receive military benefits and take steps toward a green card. The couple married in March.

Federal immigration agents detained Ramos as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, which legal experts say has dispensed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s practice of leniency toward families of military members.

“I never imagined that trying to do the right thing would lead to her being taken away from me,” said Blank, 23, in a statement to the Associated Press. “What was supposed to be the happiest week of our lives has turned into one of the hardest.”

Ramos’ detention was first reported by The New York Times.

Ramos entered the U.S. in 2005, when she was younger than 2 years old. That same year, her family failed to appear for an immigration hearing, leading a judge to issue a final order of removal, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“She has no legal status to be in this country,” Homeland SEcurity said in an emailed statement. “This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.”

In 2020, Ramos applied to receive Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, but her husband says her application has remained “in limbo” amid legal fights to end the Obama-era program.

Last April, Homeland Security eliminated a 2022 policy that considered military service of an immediate family member to be a “significant mitigating factor” in deciding whether or not to pursue immigration enforcement. The administration’s new policy states that “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”

Prior to the Trump administration’s mass deportation push, Homeland Security generally allowed the spouses of active-duty military members to gain legal status through policies like parole in place and deferred action that military recruiters promote, according to Margaret Stock, a military immigration law expert.

Ramos’ case would have been easy to resolve in the past, Stock said, but instead Homeland Security now appears to be focusing on detaining members of military families whenever the opportunity arises — including when, like Ramos, they are attempting to apply for legal status.

“It doesn’t make any sense — they’re going to get arrested for following the law? That’s stupid,” Stock said. “It’s bad for morale, it disrupts the soldiers’ readiness.”

In September, more than 60 members of Congress wrote to the Homeland Security and Defense Departments warning that arrests of military personnel and veterans’ family members was “betraying its promises to service members who play a key role in protecting U.S. national security.”

The Pentagon declined to comment.

Lydiah Owiti-Otienoh, who runs an advocacy group called the Foreign-Born Military Spouse Network, said she’s anecdotally seen an increase in cases where the lives of military families have been upended by tightening immigration restrictions. She believes the federal government is undermining its own interests by attempting to deport military spouses.

“It just sends a really bad message — we don’t care about you, about your spouses, anything you are doing,” Owiti-Otienoh said. “If military families are not stable, national security is not stable.”

Blank’s mother, Jen Rickling, told the AP in a statement that her daughter-in-law, a Sunday school teacher and biochemistry major, had been everything she hoped for — someone who “loves my son with her whole heart.”

“We absolutely adore her,” Rickling said. “I believe in this country. And I believe we can do better than this — for Annie, for other military families, and for the values we hold dear.”

Blank says he had been eager to start building a life and with Ramos on the base while he served his country.

“I want my wife home,” Blank said. “And I will not stop fighting until she is back where she belongs, by my side.”

Brook writes for the Associated Press.

The ex-guitarist of Turnstile has been arrested for allegedly intentionally hitting the lead singer’s father with a car.

Brady Ebert, a founding member of the Baltimore hardcore punk band, was arrested Tuesday in Silver Spring, Md., on charges of attempted murder in the second degree and first-degree assault.

Montgomery County Police responded to a call Sunday saying a pedestrian had been struck by a car. Upon arrival at the front yard of a home, officers discovered William Yates, the 79-year-old father of Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates, with “trauma to his lower extremities,” the Baltimore Banner reported.

William Yates and his family told police that Ebert first drove up to their house “honking his horn and yelling obscenities,” per Fox 5 in Washington, D.C. Ebert then allegedly returned and hit the elder Yates with his car.

According to the Banner, police obtained surveillance video of the incident that shows Yates moving out of the way and throwing a rock at Ebert’s vehicle and Ebert then accelerating up the driveway before swerving and striking Yates with his car. Yates told police that before first responders arrived, Ebert returned once again to yell that he “deserved it.”

Turnstile told Pitchfork in a statement that Yates underwent surgery for the “severe physical trauma” he sustained during the altercation and that the band’s members are “hoping for the best possible outcome in his recovery.”

“Turnstile cut ties with Brady Ebert in 2022 in response to a consistent pattern of harmful behavior affecting himself, the band, and the community,” the “Never Enough” band said in the statement. “After exhausting every available resource to support his access to help and recovery, a boundary ultimately had to be set when healthy communication was no longer possible and he began threatening violence.”

“We have no language left for Brady,” the band added.

Formed in 2010, Turnstile broke into the mainstream with the 2021 album “Glow On,” which earned the band its first Grammy nominations. The band’s first Grammys came in February 2026 for metal performance (“Birds”) and rock album (“Never Enough”). Turnstile is scheduled to perform at both weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival later this month.

After seven weeks on strike, members of the Writers Guild Staff Union are losing their healthcare.

The staff typically has access to the same plan offered to the Writers Guild members through the Producer-Writers Guild of America Health Plan. Employees represented by the staff union earn coverage on a month-to-month basis if they worked 31 hours per week the previous month. But since the group — which includes over 100 workers across legal, communications and residuals departments — has been on strike, they are no longer eligible.

The staff union wrote on social media that it learned about the coverage loss through an online portal “just hours before this goes into effect.”

“This puts children, spouses and their own employees into a further state of crisis. We are in week seven of our strike. This is just the latest attempt by WGAW to bust our union and break our strike,” the union wrote in the Instagram post.

WGA West confirmed employees who receive health coverage on a month-to-month basis are no longer eligible for it as of April 1. The guild said in a statement that striking employees can elect COBRA continuation coverage if they want to be covered in April and that they “cannot make contributions on behalf of staff employees who did not work in March and have no earnings.”

The work stoppage was first called on Feb. 17, after the staff union alleged that management had no intention to reach an agreement on the pending contract. Negotiations between the WGA and its staff union started last September.

The staff union strike has also coincided with the WGA’s ongoing contract talks with Hollywood’s major film and TV studios. Their members’ current contract is set to expire on May 1. The guild hopes to improve its members’ healthcare plans, increase streaming residuals and expand AI protections. This is the first time the labor group has sat down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, since both WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on a historic strike in 2023.

Last week, the staffers sent a complete collective bargaining agreement to the union’s management, which they said was “designed to bring this strike to a resolution.” Key sticking points in the negotiations include seniority-based layoffs and promotions, as well as the right to strike mid-term in the contract.

WGA wrote in a statement that it has “negotiated a contract with the staff union that offers generous economic improvements and workplace protections that are among the best for any union staff in Los Angeles.”

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida committed numerous violations of House rules and ethics standards, the House Ethics Committee found Friday in a ruling that could add weight to Republicans’ potential push to expel her from Congress.

After meeting into early Friday morning following a seven-hour hearing, the ethics panel of four Democrats and four Republicans found that Cherfilus-McCormick had committed 25 ethics violations, including breaking campaign finance laws. The panel said it would recommend a punishment in the coming weeks.

The allegations center around Cherfilus-McCormick’s receipt of millions of dollars from her family’s healthcare business after Florida made an overpayment of roughly $5 million in disaster relief funds. Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.

The congresswoman, who is running for a fourth term representing a southeastern Florida district, has denied wrongdoing, and her attorney stridently criticized Thursday’s public hearing — the first open proceeding in nearly 15 years. But the ruling from the Ethics Committee could fuel a potential vote on her expulsion and divide a Democratic caucus that is trying to make a comeback to power in the November midterm elections.

Cherfilus-McCormick also faces federal charges for allegedly stealing the $5 million in COVID-19 disaster relief funds and using it for purchases like a 3-carat yellow diamond ring. Her brother, former chief of staff and accountant were also charged. She has pleaded not guilty to those charges, and her attorney indicated Thursday that the trial is expected to start in the coming months.

What did the ethics panel find her guilty of?

The congresswoman declined to testify during Thursday’s ethics hearing, citing her 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her attorney, William Barzee, sparred with some of the lawmakers on the ethics panel and argued that they should have allowed a thorough ethics trial, where he could present witnesses and evidence to counter the conclusions of House investigators.

Barzee accused the panel of giving further momentum to the effort to “throw a woman out of Congress who was duly elected by her constituents” based primarily on bank records.

Committee investigators laid out 27 violations of House ethics standards and rules in a 242-page report. The report accused Cherfilus-McCormick of winning a 2022 special election by portraying her campaign as self-financed when it was actually funded through the $5-million overpayment her family’s company received from Florida for coronavirus vaccination services.

Barzee had argued that “she was entitled to that money,” pointing to a document that broke down how her family would share the proceeds from the healthcare business. But lawmakers on the ethics panel were skeptical of that argument.

The panel found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of all but two of the ethics violations proposed by investigators. Lawmakers declined to find her guilty of one allegation of receiving political help from an organization run by an advisor and her husband that received funding from the Haitian government. The panel also did not find her guilty of refusing to cooperate with the ethics investigation.

Will there be a push to expel Cherfilus-McCormick?

The full House Ethics Committee said it would meet after Congress returns from a two-week break in April and consider what punishment to recommend for a vote in the House.

Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, told reporters Thursday that once the committee makes a determination he “will move on the floor to expel.”

House Democratic leaders have declined to condemn Cherfilus-McCormick and said they wanted to see the ethics process play out. A couple of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, one of the most powerful groups of Democratic members, also showed up to the start of the ethics hearing Thursday in an apparent show of support for Cherfilus-McCormick.

But Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate member from Washington state who often breaks with her caucus, posted on social media Friday morning that “since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”

The last member to be expelled from Congress was Republican Rep. George Santos of New York in 2023. He argued at the time that the House would be “haunted” by the precedent of expelling a member before a criminal trial played out. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) voted against expulsion at the time, expressing the same concern.

It takes a two-thirds majority in the 435-member House to expel a member.

Groves and Kinnard write for the Associated Press. Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.

MIAMI — Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified in court that he had no knowledge that former Florida congressman David Rivera was lobbying on behalf of Venezuela’s government — as prosecutors later alleged — when he met with his longtime friend to discuss U.S. policy toward the South American country several times at the start of the first Trump administration.

“I would’ve been shocked” had I known, Rubio said in almost three hours of testimony Tuesday at Rivera’s federal trial in Miami.

Rivera and an associate were charged in 2022 with money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent after being awarded a $50-million lobbying contract by Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Prosecutors allege that the goal of the lobbying effort was to persuade the White House to normalize relations with Venezuela, while Rivera’s attorneys argue that the three-month contract, which ended before Rivera met with Rubio, was focused exclusively on luring Exxon Mobil back to Venezuela — commercial work that is generally exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

As part of his work, Rivera and his co-defendant are accused of trying to arrange meetings for then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez — now Venezuela’s acting president — in Dallas, New York, Washington and Caracas, Venezuela, with White House officials, members of Congress and the chief executive of Exxon.

Rubio testifies, an unusual move

In sometimes deeply personal testimony Tuesday, Rubio discussed at length friendships that date back to the start of his political career as an aide to Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign and a West Miami council member.

Testifying in a packed courtroom with heightened security, Rubio said he and Rivera became “very close” when they overlapped as members of the Florida Legislature. The two Cuban American Republicans co-owned a house in Tallahassee, celebrated family events together and ardently opposed Venezuela’s socialist government when both went to Washington at the same time — Rubio elected to the Senate, Rivera to the House.

So when Rivera texted Rubio in July 2017 that he needed to see him urgently to discuss Venezuela, they agreed to meet the next day, a Sunday, at a friend’s home in Washington where the then-senator was staying with his family, Rubio said.

At the meeting, Rivera informed Rubio that he was working with Raul Gorrín, a media magnate in Venezuela, on what he described as a plan for Maduro to step aside.

“I was skeptical,” said Rubio, adding that the Maduro government was full of “double dealers” constantly pitching unrealistic plans to unseat Maduro. “But if there was a 1% chance it was real, and I had a role to play alerting the White House, I was open to doing that.”

Rubio said he had no knowledge Rivera was himself working for Maduro, as prosecutors would later allege. Rubio said he doubted Gorrín would betray Maduro even when the former congressman opened his laptop and showed millions of dollars in a Chase bank account that he was told were payments from the businessman to Venezuela’s opposition.

“It was an impressive amount,” Rubio said. “He didn’t tell me whose account it was. He said it was to support the opposition.”

Two days later, borrowing talking points provided by Rivera, Rubio wrote and delivered a speech on the Senate floor signaling the U.S. would not retaliate against Venezuelan insiders who worked to push Maduro from power.

“He provided me with insight into some of the key phrases that regime insiders would’ve wanted to hear to know this was serious,” Rubio testified. “No vengeance, no retribution.”

Rubio also spoke to Trump, alerting the president in his first term that there may be something “brewing” with Venezuela.

‘A total waste of my time’

But the peacemaking effort collapsed almost immediately. At a second meeting at a Washington hotel, Gorrín failed to produce a promised letter from Maduro to Trump that he wanted Rubio to hand-deliver to the president.

“It was a total waste of my time,” Rubio testified.

Shortly afterward, Trump imposed heavy sanctions on Maduro and members of his inner circle for their decision to go forward with what Rubio called a “fake election” to empower a constituent assembly that undercut the opposition-controlled legislature.

By that time, the senator hewed closely to the Trump administration’s hard line. He taped a rare 10-minute address to the Venezuelan people in July 2017, a day after the divisive election, that was broadcast exclusively on Gorrín’s Globovision network.

“For Nicolás Maduro, who I am sure is watching, the current path you are on will not end well for you,” Rubio said in the televised address.

On the stand, Rubio said that had he known Rivera was working with Gorrín on behalf of Maduro, he never would have agreed to deliver the address on the network.

But Rivera said Rubio’s testimony backed his defense that as a lifelong opponent of communism he never worked to strengthen Maduro’s grip on power.

“Marco Rubio made it abundantly clear today that everything we worked on together in 2017 was meant to remove Maduro from power in Venezuela,” he said in a statement.

Throughout his testimony Rubio, a lawyer, spoke calmly and in command of granular details of U.S. policy toward Venezuela over the past decade, even as he struggled to recall the specifics of his text exchanges with Rivera on Venezuela matters.

His testimony was highly unusual. Not since Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan testified at a Mafia trial in 1983 has a sitting member of the president’s Cabinet taken the stand in a criminal trial.

As if to underscore the uniqueness of his appearance in federal court, Rivera’s attorney, Ed Shohat, asked Rubio to sign a copy of his 2012 autobiography, “An American Son,” at the conclusion of his testimony.

Rivera and his co-defendant, political consultant Esther Nuhfer, are among a small number of friends and family Rubio thanks in the acknowledgment section of his memoir.

Goodman writes for the Associated Press.