A member of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners who led a nationwide search to hire a new LAPD chief and sparked condemnation from activists for his previous counterterrorism research is stepping down.
Erroll Southers confirmed his plans to resign through a spokesperson on Friday, ending a stormy two-year tenure on the influential civilian panel that watches over the LAPD.
The spokesperson said that Southers, 68, wanted to spend more time with his family and pursue other professional opportunities — something that wasn’t always allowed by the demands of serving as a commissioner. The officials often spend time outside their weekly meetings attending community events.
According to the spokesperson, Southers was not asked to submit his resignation, but she declined to say more about the timing of his departure.
Southers has been a member of the panel since 2023, when Mayor Karen Bass picked him to serve out the term of a departing commissioner.
Southers remained after serving out that term because of a bureaucratic loophole that allows new members to join any city commission if the City Council fails to vote on their appointment within 45 days. When the council members took no action on Southers earlier this month after his re-nomination by the mayor, a seat on the commission remained his by default.
His last commission meeting is expected to be Oct. 21 and he will step down at the end of that week. A replacement has not been announced by the mayor.
Southers had a long career in law enforcement before switching to academia and earning his doctorate in public policy. He worked as police officer in Santa Monica and later joined the FBI. He is currently a top security official in the administration at USC.
During this time on the commission, Southers pushed for changes to the way that the department hires and recruits new officers.
But more than any other commissioner, Southers has accumulated a loud chorus of detractors who point to his work on counterterrorism in the mid-2000s in Israel — which has especially become a lightning rod because of the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
Southers’ abrupt departure underscores the increasing difficulty in filling out one of the city’s most influential commissions. The panel was down a member for months after a former commissioner, Maria “Lou” Calanche, resigned so she could run for a City Council seat on the Eastside.
One previous candidate dropped out of the running after a disastrous hearing before the council, and another would-be commissioner quietly withdrew from running earlier this year.
Next Wednesday, a council committee will consider the nomination of Jeff Skobin, a San Fernando Valley car dealership executive and son of a former commissioner. Skobin’s move to the commission would still need approval from the full council.
In the latest salvo between Hollywood and artificial intelligence companies, tech start-up Character.AI has removed many Disney characters from its chatbot platform after the Burbank entertainment giant sent the firm a cease-and-desist letter, alleging copyright infringement.
Chatbots on the Character.AI platform impersonated well-known Disney characters such as Elsa, Moana, Peter Parker and Darth Vader and generated replies that simulated the “essence, goodwill, and look and feel of each character” and also incorporated their backstories, according to a letter dated Sept. 18 from a law firm representing Disney.
“These actions mislead and confuse consumers, including vulnerable young people, to believe that they are interacting with Disney’s characters, and to falsely believe that Disney has licensed these characters to, and endorsed their use by, Character.ai,” the letter said. “In fact, Character.ai is freeriding off the goodwill of Disney’s famous marks and brands, and blatantly infringing Disney’s copyrights.”
Disney also raised concerns about reports that chatbots have engaged users in inappropriate conversations.
A spokesperson for the Menlo Park-based startup said in an email that Character.AI responds “swiftly” to rights holders’ requests to remove content and noted that all of the characters on the service are generated by users.
On Tuesday afternoon, a few Disney characters remained on the platform, including Elsa from the hit animated film “Frozen.” The spokesperson said removing the characters is a process.
“We want to partner with the industry and rightsholders to empower them to bring their characters to our platform,” the spokesperson said. “Our goal is to give IP owners the tools to create controlled, engaging and revenue-generating experiences from deep fandom for their characters and stories, expanding their reach using our new, interactive format.”
Friction between Hollywood studios and AI firms has been growing.
In June, Disney and Comcast’s Universal Pictures sued AI company Midjourney, alleging that its image generator infringed on its copyrighted characters from franchises such as “Star Wars” and “Despicable Me.”
Warner Bros. Discovery joined the legal fight earlier this month, alleging that Midjourney’s software was producing rip-offs of characters such as Scooby-Doo and Superman.
Supporters of the November ballot measure to reconfigure California’s congressional districts — an effort led by Gov. Gavin Newsom to help Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year — have far out-raised the opposition campaigns, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the state.
The primary group backing Proposition 50 raked in $77.5 million and spent $28.1 million through Sept. 20, according to a campaign finance report that was filed with the secretary of state’s office on Thursday.
The committee has $54.4 million in the bank for the final weeks of the campaign, so Californian should expect a blizzard of television ads, mailers, phone calls and other efforts to sway voters before the Nov. 4 special election.
The two main groups opposing the ballot measure have raised $35.3 million, spent $27.4 million and have roughly $8.8 million in the bank combined, campaign finance reports show.
Despite having an overwhelming financial advantage, the campaign supporting Proposition 50 has tried to portray itself as the underdog in a fight to raise money against opposition campaigns with ties to President Trump and his supporters.
“MAGA donors keep pouring millions into the campaign to stop Prop. 50 in the hopes of pleasing their ‘Dear Leader,’” said Hannah Milgrom, a spokesperson for the Yes on 50, the Election Rigging Response Act campaign. “We will not take our foot off the gas — Prop. 50 is America’s best chance to stop this reckless and dangerous president, and we will keep doing everything we can to ensure every Californian knows the stakes and is ready to vote yes on 50 this Nov. 4th.”
A spokesperson for one of the anti-Proposition 50 campaigns, which was sending mailers to voters even before the Democratic-led California Legislature placed Proposition 50 on the November ballot, said their priority was to help Californians understand the inappropriateness of redrawing congressional boundaries that had been created by a voter-approved, state independent commission.
“We started communicating with voters early about the consequences of having politicians draw their own lines,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for a coalition that opposes the ballot measure. “We are confident we’ll have the resources necessary to continue through election day.”
A spokesperson for the other main anti-Proposition 50 group agreed.
“When you’re selling a lemon, no amount of cash can change the taste. We’re confident in raising more than sufficient resources to expose Prop. 50 for the blatant political power grab that it is,” said Ellie Hockenbury, an advisor to the No on 50 – Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab campaign. Newsom “can’t change the fact that Prop. 50 is nothing more than a ploy for politicians to take the power of redistricting away from the voters and charge them for the privilege at a massive cost to taxpayers.”
The special election is expected to cost the state and the counties $282 million, according to the secretary of state’s office and the state department of finance.
If approved, Proposition 50 would have a major impact on California’s 2026 congressional elections, which will play a major role in determining whether Trump is able to continue enacting his agenda in the final two years of his tenure. The party that wins the White House frequently loses congressional seats two years later, and Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House.
After Trump urged GOP-led states, notably Texas, to redraw their congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to Congress in next year’s midterm election, Newsom and other California Democrats responded by proposing a counter-effort to boost the ranks of their party in the legislative body.
California’s congressional districts are drawn once every decade after the U.S. Census by a voter-approved independent redistricting commission. So Democrats’ proposal to replace the districts with new boundaries proposed by state lawmakers must be approved by voters. The state Legislature voted in August to put the measure before voters in a special election on Nov. 4.
Polling about the proposition is not definitive. It’s an off-year election, which means turnout is likely to be low and the electorate is unpredictable. And relatively few Californians pay attention to redistricting, the esoteric process of redrawing congressional districts.
There are more than 30 campaign committees associated with Proposition 50 registered with the secretary of state’s office, but only three have raised large amounts of money.
Newsom’s pro-Proposition 50 effort has received several large donations since its launch, including $10 million from billionaire financier George Soros, $7.6 million from House Majority PAC (the Democrats’ congressional political arm) and $4.5 million from various Service Employees International Union groups. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife have contributed $1 million to a separate committee supporting the proposition.
The opposition groups had few small-dollar donors and were largely funded by two sources — $30 million in loans from Charles Munger Jr., who for years has been a major Republican donor in California, and a $5-million donation from the Congressional Leadership Fund, the GOP political arm of House Republicans.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, a shocking act of political violence that brought widespread condemnation.
Hours after the shooting, the suspected gunman was taken into custody, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” President Trump said on Truth Social. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
Videos shared on social media show Kirk sitting under a white canopy, speaking to hundreds of people through a microphone, when a loud pop is heard; he suddenly falls back, blood gushing from his neck.
Before he was shot in the neck, he was asked about mass shootings.
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“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” an audience member asks.
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responds.
Almost immediately, Kirk is shot in the neck. One video shows blood pouring from the wound. As the crowd realizes what has taken place, people are heard screaming and running away.
A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that a bullet struck Kirk’s carotid artery.
Charlie Kirk speaks before his fatal shooting Wednesday at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Utah Valley University police said in an alert that “a single shot was fired on campus toward a visiting speaker” and that it was investigating the shooting.
Law enforcement sources said Kirk was fatally wounded from a considerable distance, perhaps 200 yards away, by a sniper-style shot.
Videos shared on X, show an older man in handcuffs on the ground whom witnesses claimed was the gunman. The man is heard saying, “I have the right to remain silent.” In another video, police escort the man while the crowd jeers him. One woman is heard screaming, “How dare you!”
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Trump posted a message about the incident on Truth Social.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” he said.
Mike Lee, a Utah senator, posted on X shortly after videos circulated online that he was “tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely.”
“Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,” he said.
The shooting drew immediate words of support and calls for prayers for Kirk from leading conservative politicians.
“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father,” Vice President JD Vance posted on X.
Crowd members react after Charlie Kirk’s shooting at Utah Valley University.
(Tess Crowley / Deseret News / AP)
Leading Democrats also moved swiftly to condemn the attack.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X. “In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”
Gabrielle Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman who survived a political assassination attempt in 2011 and is a gun violence prevention advocate, said on X that she was horrified to hear that Kirk was shot.
“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” she wrote.
Kirk, a conservative political activist, was in Utah for his American Comeback Tour, which held its first stop at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
The tour, as with many of his events, had drawn both supporters and protesters. Kirk’s wife and children were at the university when he was shot, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted on X.
Kirk, 31, was one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers.
The founder of the influential conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, Kirk had a vast online reach: 1.6 million followers on Rumble, 3.8 million subscribers on YouTube, 5.2 million followers on X and 7.3 million followers on TikTok.
During the 2024 election, he rallied his online followers to support Trump, prompting conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly to say: “It’s not an understatement to say that this man is responsible for helping the Republicans win back the White House and the U.S. Senate.”
Just after Trump was elected for a second time to the presidency last November, Kirk frequently posted to social media from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he had first-hand influence over which MAGA loyalists Trump named to his Cabinet.
Kirk was known for melding his conservative politics, nationalism and evangelical faith, casting the current political climate as a state of spiritual warfare between a righteous right wing and so-called “godless” liberals.
He declared that God was on the side of American conservatives and that there was “no separation of church and state.” And in a speech to Trump supporters in Georgia last year, he said that “the Democrat Party supports everything that God hates” and that “there is a spiritual battle happening all around us.”
Kirk was also known for his memes and college campus speaking tours meant to “own the libs.” Videos of his debates with liberal college students have racked up tens of millions of views.
Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, has written a forthcoming book about Christian nationalism that prominently features Kirk and his influence. The book, “The Seven Mountains Mandate,” comes out Sept. 30.
“Today is a tragedy,” Boedy said in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “It is a red flag for our nation.”
Boedy said the shooting — following the two assassination attempts against Trump on the campaign trail last year — was a tragic reminder of “just how divisive we have become.”
In June, a shooter posing as a police officer fatally shot Minnesota state House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in an incident that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called “a politically motivated assassination.”
Another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were also injured at their residence less than 10 miles away.
In April, a shooter set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, forcing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to flee during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
In July 2024, Trump himself survived a hail of bullets, one of which grazed his ear, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Two months later, a man with a rifle was arrested by Secret Service agents after he was spotted amid shrubs near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort.
Kirk’s presence at the Utah campus was preceded by petitions and protests. But, Boedy noted, that was typical with his appearances.
“Charlie Kirk is, I would say, the most influential person who doesn’t work in the White House,” he said.
Boedy said Kirk reached a vast array of demographics through his radio show and social media accounts and was “in conversation with President Trump a lot.”
Kirk had said his melding in recent years of faith and politics was influenced by Rob McCoy, the pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park in Ventura County. Kirk called McCoy, who often spoke at his events, his personal pastor.
Boedy said McCoy turned Kirk toward Christian nationalism, specifically the Seven Mountains Mandate — the idea that Christians should try to influence the seven pillars of cultural influence: arts and religion, business, education, family, government, media and religion.
Boedy said Kirk “turned Turning Point USA into an arm of Christian nationalism. There’s a strategy called the Seven Mountains Mandate, and he has put his TPUSA money into each of those.”
Boedy said Kirk was a vocal 2nd Amendment supporter and that the shooting likely would further the desire among his conservative followers who tout the idea of having good guys with guns “to have more guns everywhere, which is sad.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was closely monitoring reports of the shooting.
“Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected,” he said on X. “Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
Meanwhile, 345 miles to the east, at least three students were in critical condition following a shooting at a high school in Colorado.
The shooting happened earlier in the afternoon at Evergreen High School in Jefferson County. A fourth person may have been hurt as well. Among those injured was the shooter, who was described by authorities only as a juvenile. No other details were provided on the shooting.
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
Rudolph W. Giuliani is recovering from a fractured vertebra and other injuries following a car crash in New Hampshire, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said Sunday.
Giuliani was being driven in a rented Ford Bronco by his spokesperson Ted Goodman when their vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V driven by a 19-year-old woman late Saturday evening, New Hampshire State Police said in a statement.
Troopers witnessed the crash, which caused both vehicles to hit the highway median and left them “heavily damaged,” the State Police said. Goodman and the 19-year-old suffered “non-life-threatening injuries” and were taken to hospitals for treatment, the agency added.
The State Police said it was investigating the crash and no charges have been filed.
Giuliani, 81, was taken to a nearby trauma center and was being treated for injuries including “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg,” according to a statement posted on X by Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s head of security.
Giuliani “sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Ragusa said, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Before the accident, Giuliani had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police assistance on her behalf, Ragusa said. After police arrived, Giuliani continued on his way and his vehicle was hit shortly after pulling onto the highway in a crash that was “entirely unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Ragusa told The Associated Press in an emailed statement.
State police said troopers were investigating a domestic violence report on the southbound Interstate 93 shortly before 10 p.m. and observed the crash, which occurred on the northbound lanes. Troopers and fire personnel quickly crossed to provide help.
New Hampshire State Police declined to comment on whether Giuliani had contacted the agency regarding the account of a domestic violence incident.
Goodman did not respond to requests for comment and Giuliani’s team did not provide additional details about the circumstances surrounding the crash.
“Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father,” Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, wrote in post on X. “Your prayers mean the world.”
The crash follows some rocky years for the onetime Republican presidential candidate, who was dubbed “America’s mayor” in light of his leadership in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
Giuliani later became President Trump’s personal attorney for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump’s false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.
Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $148-million defamation judgment against Giuliani for issues related to his 2020 election fabrications.
As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets. He ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.
Brook writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this report.
Millions of dollars began flowing into campaigns supporting and opposing an effort to redraw California’s congressional districts on the November ballot, notably $10 million from independent redistricting champion Charles Munger Jr.
The checks, reported Friday in state campaign finance disclosures, were made on Thursday, the day the state Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special election to replace the congressional districts drawn by an independent commission in 2021 with new districts that would boost the number of Democrats elected to Congress in next year’s midterm election.
Munger, a GOP donor and the son of a billionaire who was Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, bankrolled the 2010 ballot measure that created independent congressional redistricting in California. He donated $10 million to the “No on Prop. 50 – Protect Voters First” campaign,” which opposes the proposed redistricting.
“Charles Munger Jr. is making good on his promise to defend the reforms he passed,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for the Voters First Coalition, which opposes the ballot measure and includes Munger.
A spokesperson for the campaign supporting the redrawing of congressional boundaries accused Munger of trying to boost the GOP under the guise of supporting independent redistricting.
“It’s no surprise that a billionaire who has given extensively to help Republicans take the house and [former Republican House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy would be joining forces to help Donald Trump steal five House seats and rig the 2026 midterm before a single American has voted,” said Hannah Milgrom, spokesperson for “Yes on 50: the Election Rigging Response Act.” “Prop 50 is America’s best chance to fight back – vote yes on November. 4.”
The campaign backing the ballot measure received $1 million on Thursday from a powerful labor group, SEIU’s state council; $300,000 from businessman Andrew Hauptman; and a flurry of other donations, according to the California secretary of state’s office. That is on top of the $5.8 million the campaign reported having in the bank as of July 30, including millions of dollars in contributions from House Majority PAC, which is focused on electing Democrats to Congress, and Newsom’s 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign.
Redistricting typically happens once a decade after the U.S. census. Trump asked Texas lawmakers to redraw their congressional districts earlier this year, arguing that the GOP was entitled to five more members from the state. In response, California Democrats have pitched new district boundaries that could result in five more Democrats being elected to Congress.
NEW YORK — A former top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams was hit Thursday with a second wave of bribery charges in a swirling corruption investigation of City Hall, with prosecutors alleging she exchanged political favors for cash, home renovations and a speaking role on a TV show.
Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ former chief of staff and closest confidant, her son Glenn D. Martin, former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton and two of Adams’ political donors, siblings Tony and Gina Argento, are among those facing new charges.
Lewis-Martin and the other defendants were expected to appear in court on Thursday.
Adams himself has not been charged, but the case will thrust the corruption allegations that have dogged the Democrat back into focus as he seeks to regain voters’ trust ahead of a contested election in November. A spokesperson for Adams did not immediately return a request for comment.
On Thursday, Lewis-Martin was charged with four additional counts of conspiracy and bribe receiving in a series of indictments Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described as “classic bribery conspiracies that had a deep and wide-ranging impact on city government.”
“As alleged, Lewis-Martin consistently overrode the expertise of public servants so she could line her own pockets. While she allegedly received more than $75,000 in bribes and an appearance on a TV show, every other New Yorker lost out,” Bragg said in a statement.
Lewis-Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, vowed to fight the charges, saying, “This is not justice — it is a distortion of the truth and a troubling example of politically motivated ‘lawfare.’”
She resigned last December ahead of her indictment in a separate case in which she and her son are accused of taking bribes in exchange for speedy approval of construction projects. That case is still pending. She has continued to volunteer for the Adams campaign while awaiting trial.
The fresh round of indictments brought against Adams’ close allies could add to political headwinds already facing the mayor, whose own indictment on federal bribery charges was abandoned by President Trump’s administration earlier this year.
The corruption scandals have opened the door to challengers in the upcoming election, including the Democratic primary winner, Zohran Mamdani, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Adams is running as an independent, claiming the case brought against him — in which he was accused of accepting bribes and travel perks from foreign interests — had prevented him from campaigning in the Democratic primary. Those charges were dismissed in April following an extraordinary intervention by U.S. Justice Department officials, who said the case was impeding Adams from assisting in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In the months since, the status of other federal probes linked to Adams’ key allies, including his former police commissioner and several deputy mayors, has remained uncertain. The new charges were brought by Bragg, who prosecuted Trump last year and who is also running for reelection.
Both federal and state investigators seized Lewis-Martin’s phone at Kennedy Airport last September as she returned from a trip to Japan with several colleagues.
Hours later, Lewis-Martin appeared on her attorney’s radio show, denying that she had “done anything illegal to the magnitude or scale that requires the federal government and the DA’s office to investigate us.”
Both she and her son pleaded not guilty to charges of accepting improper gifts worth more than $100,000 in exchange for speeding construction approvals for two real estate investors.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Adams’ campaign, Todd Shapiro, said the mayor would stand with Lewis-Martin.
“Ingrid has dedicated her life to the people of New York City,” Shapiro said, “and she deserves the presumption of innocence and the support of those who know her best.”
Last week, federal prosecutors wrapped up their two remaining Adams-related cases.
Mohamed Bahi, who served as the mayor’s chief liaison to the Muslim community, pleaded guilty to soliciting straw donations to Adams’ campaign, and Brooklyn construction magnate Erden Arkan was sentenced to a year of probation for his involvement in a straw donor scheme.
Offenhartz, Sisak and Izaguirre write for the Associated Press.
President Trump on Tuesday accused Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of committing mortgage fraud by intentionally misleading lenders about his primary residence being in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., rather than California, in order to “get a cheaper mortgage and rip off America.”
Schiff, who led a House impeachment of Trump during the president’s first term and has remained one of his most vocal and forceful political adversaries since joining the Senate, dismissed the president’s claims as a “baseless attempt at political retribution.”
A spokesperson for Schiff said he has always been transparent about owning two homes, in part to be able to raise his children near him in Washington, and has always followed the law — and advice from House counsel — in arranging his mortgages.
In making his claims, Trump cited an investigation by the Fannie Mae “Financial Crimes Division” as his source.
A memorandum reviewed by The Times from Fannie Mae investigators to William J. Pulte, the Trump-appointed director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, does not accuse Schiff of mortgage fraud. It noted that investigators had been asked by the FHFA inspector general’s office for loan files and “any related investigative or quality control documentation” for Schiff’s homes.
Investigators said they found that Schiff at various points identified both his home in Potomac, Md., and a Burbank unit he also owns as his primary residence. As a result, they concluded that Schiff and his wife, Eve, “engaged in a sustained pattern of possible occupancy misrepresentation” on their home loans between 2009 and 2020.
The investigators did not say they had concluded that a crime had been committed, nor did they mention the word “fraud” in the memo.
The memo was partially redacted to remove Schiff’s addresses and information about his wife. Fannie Mae did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to denying any wrongdoing, Schiff also suggested that Trump’s accusation was an effort to distract from a growing controversy — important to many in the president’s MAGA base — over the administration’s failure to disclose more investigative records into child sex abuse by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a former acquaintance of Trump’s.
There has long been rumors of a “client list” of Epstein’s that could expose other powerful men as predators. Trump promised to release such a list as a candidate, and at one point Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi appeared to say such a list was on her desk. However, the administration has since said no such list exists, and Trump has begged his followers to move on.
Schiff drew a direct line between that controversy and Trump’s accusations against him Tuesday.
“This is just Donald Trump’s latest attempt at political retaliation against his perceived enemies. So it is not a surprise, only how weak this false allegation turns out to be,” Schiff wrote on X. “And much as Trump may hope, this smear will not distract from his Epstein files problem.”
A spokesperson for Schiff echoed the senator’s denial of any wrongdoing.
According to the spokesperson, Schiff made a decision routine for Congress members from states far from Washington to buy a home in Maryland so he could raise his children nearby. He also maintained a home in California, living there when not in Washington.
The spokesperson said all of Schiff’s lenders were aware that he intended to live in both as he traveled back and forth from Washington to his district — making neither a vacation home.
Trump’s own post about Schiff, on his social media platform, was thin on details and heavy on insults, calling Schiff “a scam artist” and “crook.”
Trump alleged that Schiff reported his primary residence being in Maryland, when “he must LIVE in CALIFORNIA” as a congressman from the state.
Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, has for years laid out detailed arguments against the president — and for why his actions violated the law and warranted his permanent removal from office. Those have included Trump’s first presidential campaign’s interactions with Russian assets, his pressuring Ukraine to investigate his rival Joe Biden while U.S. military aid was being withheld from the country, and his incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and storming of the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Biden’s 2020 electoral win over him.
Schiff also has criticized the president — and his businesses, family members and political appointees — for their own financial actions.
He recently sponsored legislation that would restrict the ability of politicians and their family members from getting rich off of digital currencies of their own creation, as Trump and his family have done. He also has repeatedly demanded greater financial transparency from various Trump appointees, accusing them of breaking the law by not filing disclosures of their assets within required time frames.
Others have accused Trump for years of financial fraud. Last year, a judge in New York ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties in a civil fraud case after finding that the president and others in his business empire inflated his wealth to trick banks and insurers. Trump denied any wrongdoing and has appealed the decision.
All along the way, Trump has attacked Schiff personally, accusing him of peddling hoaxes for political gain and repeatedly suggesting that he should be charged with treason. During a presidential campaign stop in California last year — when Schiff was running for Senate — Trump called Schiff “one of the sleaziest politicians in history.”
Schiff made mention of Trump’s treason claims in his response to the new allegation of mortgage fraud Tuesday, writing, “Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason. So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown.”
Before leaving office, President Biden preemptively pardoned Schiff and the other members of the committee that investigated Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, anticipating that Trump would seek to retaliate against them for their work.
Schiff was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. He now splits his time between a two-story home in Potomac, Md., which he bought in 2003, according to property records, and a one-bedroom condo in a shopping area in downtown Burbank, which he bought in 2009.
In 2023, amid a bruising primary race for his Senate seat, CNN reported on Schiff’s two mortgages, citing experts who said the arrangement did not put Schiff in legal jeopardy — even if it could raise tough political questions.
CNN reported that deed records showed Schiff had designated his Maryland home as his primary residence, including while refinancing his mortgage over the years. In 2020, the outlet reported, Schiff again refinanced his mortgage and indicated that the Maryland home was his second.
CNN also reported that Schiff for years has taken a California homeowner’s tax exemption for his Burbank home, also designating it as his primary address. CNN said that exemption amounted to “roughly $70 in annual savings.” Schiff’s spokesperson confirmed that estimate in annual savings in California, and noted that Schiff did not claim such an exemption in Maryland.
It seems Elmo’s world recently included vitriolic racist, antisemitic and foul-mouthed social media posts.
“Sesame Street’s” perpetually 3½-year-old mascot caught his social media fans off guard over the weekend as he seemingly traded in his wholesome tweets on X for hateful posts, including calling for violence against the Jewish community and others using lewd language to demand that President Trump release Jeffrey Epstein’s “client list,” alleging he was involved in the late financier’s sex trafficking operation. The obscenity-laden posts shared Sunday went viral, with screenshots also making the rounds. As of Monday morning, the posts had been scrubbed from Elmo’s page.
A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop, the organization behind “Sesame Street” and Elmo, told the Associated Press in a statement, “Elmo’s X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages including antisemitic and racist posts.”
“We are working to restore full control of the account,” the spokesperson added.
A representative for X did not immediately confirm the alleged hack or provide additional information to The Times on Monday.
In addition to the problematic tweets, the alleged hacker left a mysterious link on the beloved puppet’s page. The link, which has since been removed, redirected followers and internet sleuths to a user’s Telegram channel. On Telegram, the user appears to take credit for the hack. “Thanks Elmo,” reads one Telegram message shared Sunday, the same day Elmo’s odd posts hit the timeline.
In another Telegram message, the user praises Adolf Hitler and rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West), who has his own handful of controversies involving antisemitism and hateful comments.
The since-deleted tweets presented a very dramatic tone shift in the red furball’s online presence. Elmo, whose X activity mostly consists of photos with friends and wholesome greetings, notably broke the internet last year with an innocuous post: “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?”
The tweet, which is pinned to the top of Elmo’s profile, prompted some brutal honesty from a range of followers. “Resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I am kinda sad,” replied “West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler.
Fielding online confessions of existential dread and general anxiety, Elmo responded to fans that he “learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing.”
He added: “Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.”
In the wake of the viral tweet, Sesame Workshop also offered fans and followers a mental health resource guide on its website, reminding users on X that “Mental health is health!”
Clearly, the alleged hacker didn’t get the memo on Elmo’s longstanding agenda of kindness and compassion.
Former Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
Michael Madsen, the actor who was a staple in numerous Quentin Tarantino films including “Kill Bill” and “Reservoir Dogs,” has died. He was 67
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to The Times that deputies responded to the actor’s Malibu home Thursday morning and found him unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at 8:25 a.m. The spokesperson did not reveal a cause of death, adding that foul play is not suspected and Madsen seemingly died of natural causes.
Influencer Liver King says he still has his sights on Joe Rogan, even after he was arrested in Texas earlier this week for making online threats toward the popular podcaster.
The 47-year-old social media personality known for his carnivorous and “primitive” lifestyle was released from Travis County Jail Wednesday afternoon on $20,000 bail, officials confirmed to The Times. He was arrested Tuesday in Austin on suspicion of one count of misdemeanor terroristic threat. Court records show that the influencer — born Brian Johnson — must stay at least 200 yards away from and must not contact Rogan and his family. Johnson is also prohibited from possessing firearms and must undergo a mental health evaluation within a week of his release.
Johnson addressed his release and its terms in a video posted Thursday to his Instagram and Facebook pages. Standing on a vibrating exercise plate, Johnson seemingly hints at plans to confront Rogan — namedropping a Hollywood star to sidestep mentioning the podcaster’s name — while respecting the terms of his restraining order.
“If anybody knows where Seth Rogen is — the other version of him that rhymes with ‘blow’… where his family’s gonna be today, if you can let my team know so that we can stay away from them,” he said, before immediately walking back his request.
“Don’t do anything to their family,” Johnson continues, before contradicting himself and asking fans again to alert him and his team if they are near anyone with “the last name Rogan.” He pans the camera down to display his ankle monitor and rambles about his plans to appear at the state capitol building.
He adds, naming the wrong celebrity: “I’m picking a fight. Who’s it with? Seth Rogen. It’s with Seth Rogen. What’s it for? Family.”
Neither representatives for Johnson nor Rogan immediately responded to The Times’ request for comment on Friday.
Liver King booking image.
(Austin Police Department)
A spokesperson for the Austin Police Department told The Times on Wednesday that detectives learned Tuesday morning that Johnson, 47, had “made threats against the “Joe Rogan Experience” host on his Instagram profile.” Detectives reviewed the posts and saw that Johnson was en route to Austin, where Rogan lives, “while continuing to make threatening statements,” the spokesperson said.
Detectives contacted the podcaster who claimed he never interacted with Johnson and felt threatened by Liver King’s online posts. The spokesperson said officials obtained an arrest warrant for Johnson and detained the social media star at an Austin hotel.
Johnson on Monday posted an Instagram video of himself bear-crawling as he calls out Rogan: “I challenge you man-to-man to a fight.” Johnson rambled in his video about his weight, the stakes of this would-be battle and the “real tension” he has with Rogan. Johnson continued to post Instagram videos — some still name-dropping Rogan and some filmed while he’s in a shower — throughout the day, even after he arrived at the hotel in Austin.
Johnson’s Instagram account also posted several lengthy videos documenting the moments prior to his arrest Tuesday. In one clip, Johnson can be seen getting dressed in a burgundy sweatsuit, including a hoodie featuring a design that essentially pits his brand logo against that of the “Joe Rogan Experience.” Videos also see Johnson haphazardly picking up dishes and various items — including a screwdriver and a multi-tool — as he instructs someone off-camera to keep recording.
A second video shows Johnson huddling and praying with his family in the hotel room before officers escort him down a hallway and into an elevator. In another video posted to Johnson’s account, the person off-screen explains to the influencer’s wife that her husband will be “in and out” and will “need to see a judge before he is dismissed.” They exit the hotel and approach the law enforcement vehicle, where officers are seen securing Johnson into the back seat.
In court documents reviewed by The Times on Friday, a detective noted that Johnson’s social media posts featured “long rants that didn’t appear to make much sense.”
“Affiant knows that behavior such as that can indicate some sort of mental health episode, indicating that Brian Johnson could be a danger to himself and others,” the detective wrote before detailing other videos from Johnson that raised concern.
The detective also wrote of their correspondences with Rogan, who spoke of Johnson’s alleged “significant drug issue” and said he feels “Johnson appears to be significantly unstable and seems like he needs help,” according to the court filing.
WASHINGTON — Immigration agents have arrested 330 immigrants in Los Angeles and surrounding regions of Southern California since Friday, the White House confirmed Wednesday.
The numbers came from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who also slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, saying they — President Trump — “fanned the flames” of violence in Los Angeles.
The “area of responsibility” for the Los Angeles field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the Central Coast, as well as Orange County to the south, Riverside County to the east and up the coast to San Luis Obispo County.
During a press briefing, Leavitt said 157 people have also been arrested on assault and obstruction-related charges. That includes a man charged Wednesday with the attempted murder of a police officer for throwing a Molotov cocktail. Overall, Leavitt said that 113, or about a third, of those detained had prior criminal convictions.
The White House and the Department of Homeland Security have touted the arrests of specific individuals in recent days, including people from Vietnam, Mexico and the Philippines who had previously been convicted of crimes, such as second-degree murder, rape and child molestation.
Leavitt condemned the protests in Los Angeles against raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“These attacks were aimed not just at law enforcement, but at American culture and society itself,” she said. “Rioters burned American flags, chanted death to ICE and spray-painted anti-American slogans on buildings.”
Echoing sentiments Trump has relayed, Leavitt criticized Newsom and Bass, branding them as radical Democrats.
Bass, she said, “embarked on one of the most outrageous campaigns of lies this country has ever seen from an elected official, blaming President Trump and brave law enforcement officers for the violence.”
“The mob violence is being stomped out,” she said. “Criminals responsible will be swiftly brought to justice, and the Trump administration’s operations to arrest illegal aliens are continuing unabated.”
But Trump’s top border policy advisor, Tom Homan, told NBC on Tuesday that the protests in Los Angeles are making immigration enforcement “difficult” and more “dangerous.”
Leavitt issued a stark warning to protesters in other cities.
“Let this be an unequivocal message to left-wing radicals in other parts of the country who are thinking about copycatting the violence in an effort to stop this administration’s mass deportation efforts: You will not succeed,” she said.
WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday officially asked Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved spending, taking funding away from programs targeted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
It’s a process known as “rescission,” which requires President Donald Trump to get approval from Congress to return money that had previously been appropriated. Trump’s aides say the funding cuts target programs that promote liberal ideologies.
The request, if it passes the House and Senate, would formally enshrine many of the spending cuts and freezes sought by DOGE. It comes at a time when Musk is extremely unhappy with the tax cut and spending plan making its way through Congress, calling it on Tuesday a “disgusting abomination” for increasing the federal deficit.
White House budget director Russ Vought said more rescission packages and other efforts to cut spending could follow if the current effort succeeds.
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Here’s what to know about the rescissions request:
Will the rescissions make a dent in the national debt?
The request to Congress is unlikely to meaningfully change the troublesome increase in the U.S. national debt. Tax revenues have been insufficient to cover the growing costs of Social Security, Medicare and other programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the government is on track to spend roughly $7 trillion this year, with the rescission request equaling just 0.1% of that total.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at Tuesday’s briefing that Vought would continue to cut spending, hinting that there could be additional efforts to return funds.
“He has tools at his disposal to produce even more savings,” Leavitt said.
Vought said he can send up additional rescissions at the end of the fiscal year in September “and if Congress does not act on it, that funding expires.”
“It’s one of the reasons why we are not putting all of our expectations in a typical rescissions process,” he added.
What programs are targeted by the rescissions?
A spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview some of the items that would lose funding, said that $8.3 billion was being cut from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. NPR and PBS would also lose federal funding, as would the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR.
The spokesperson listed specific programs that the Trump administration considered wasteful, including $750,000 to reduce xenophobia in Venezuela, $67,000 for feeding insect powder to children in Madagascar and $3 million for circumcision, vasectomies and condoms in Zambia.
Is the rescissions package likely to get passed?
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., complimented the planned cuts and pledged to pass them.
“This rescissions package reflects many of DOGE’s findings and is one of the many legislative tools Republicans are using to restore fiscal sanity,” Johnson said. “Congress will continue working closely with the White House to codify these recommendations, and the House will bring the package to the floor as quickly as possible.”
Members of the House Freedom Caucus, among the chamber’s most conservative lawmakers, said they would like to see additional rescission packages from the administration.
“We will support as many more rescissions packages the White House can send us in the coming weeks and months,” the group said in a press release.
Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, gave the package a less optimistic greeting.
“Despite this fast track, the Senate Appropriations Committee will carefully review the rescissions package and examine the potential consequences of these rescissions on global health, national security, emergency communications in rural communities, and public radio and television stations,” the Maine lawmaker said in a statement.
NEW YORK — The Trump administration is accusing Columbia University of violating the civil rights of Jewish students by “acting with deliberate indifference” toward what it describes as rampant antisemitism on campus.
The finding was announced late Thursday by the Health and Human Services Department, marking the latest blow for an Ivy League school already shaken by federal cutbacks and sustained government pressure to crack down on student speech.
It comes hours after the Department of Homeland Security said it would revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, a major escalation in the administration’s monthslong attack on higher education.
The civil rights division of HHS said it had found Columbia in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which blocks federal funding recipients from discrimination based on race, color or national origin. That final category, the press release notes, includes “discrimination against individuals that is based on their actual or perceived Israeli or Jewish identity or ancestry.”
The announcement did not include new sanctions against Columbia, which is already facing $400 million in federal cuts by the Trump administration over its response to pro-Palestinian campus protests.
A spokesperson for Columbia said the university is currently in negotiations with the government about resolving its claims of antisemitism.
“We understand this finding is part of our ongoing discussions with the government,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Columbia is deeply committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of harassment and discrimination on our campus.”
The civil rights investigation into Columbia was based on witness interviews, media reports and other sources, according to HHS. The findings were not made public. A spokesperson did not response to a request for further information.
“The findings carefully document the hostile environment Jewish students at Columbia University have had to endure for over 19 months, disrupting their education, safety, and well-being,” Anthony Archeval, acting director of the HHS civil rights office, said in a statement.
Last spring, Columbia became the epicenter of protests against the war in Gaza, spurring a national movement of campus demonstrations that demanded universities cut ties with Israel.
At the time, some Jewish students and faculty complained about being harassed during the demonstrations or ostracized because of their faith or their support of Israel.
Those who participated in Columbia’s protests, including some Jewish students, have said they are protesting Israel’s actions against Palestinians and have forcefully denied allegations of antisemitism.
Many have also accused the university of capitulating to the Trump administration’s demands — including placing its Middle East studies department under new leadership — at the expense of academic freedom and protecting foreign students.
At a commencement ceremony earlier this week, a speech by Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, was met with loud boos by graduates and chants of “free Palestine.”
