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  • Bondi clashes with Democrats over Epstein, political retribution claims

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    WASHINGTON — U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi repeatedly sparred with lawmakers on Wednesday as she was pressed over the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and faced demands for greater transparency in the high-profile case.

    Bondi accused Democrats and at least one Republican on the House Judiciary Committee of engaging in “theatrics” as she fielded questions about redaction errors made by the Justice Department when it released millions of files related to the Epstein case last month.

    The attorney general at one point acknowledged that mistakes had been made as the Justice Department tried to comply with a federal law that required it to review, redact and publicize millions of files within a 30-day period. Given the tremendous task at hand, she said the “error rate was very low” and that fixes were made when issues were encountered.

    Her testimony on the Epstein files, however, was mostly punctuated by dramatic clashes with lawmakers — exchanges that occurred as eight Epstein survivors attended the hearing.

    In one instance, Bondi refused to apologize to Epstein victims in the room, saying she would not “get into the gutter” with partisan requests from Democrats.

    In another exchange, Bondi declined to say how many perpetrators tied to the Epstein case are being investigated by the Justice Department. And at one point, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said the Trump administration was engaging in a “cover-up,” prompting Bondi to tell him that he was suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”

    The episodes underscore the extent to which the Epstein saga has roiled members of Congress. It has long been a political cudgel for Democrats, but after millions of files were released last month, offering the most detail yet of Epstein’s crimes, Republicans once unwilling to criticize Trump administration officials are growing more testy, as was put on full display during Wednesday’s hearing.

    Among the details uncovered in the files is information that showed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had closer ties to Epstein than he had initially led on.

    Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) asked Bondi if federal prosecutors have talked to Lutnick about Epstein. Bondi said only that he has “addressed those ties himself.”

    Lutnick said at a congressional hearing Tuesday that he visited Epstein’s island, an admission that is at odds with previous statements in which he said he had cut off contact with the disgraced financier after initially meeting him in 2005.

    “I did have lunch with him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation,” Lutnick told a Senate panel about a trip he took to the island in 2012.

    As Balint peppered Bondi about senior administration officials’ ties to Epstein, the back-and-forth between them got increasingly heated as Bondi declined to answer her questions.

    “This is not a game, secretary,” Balint told Bondi.

    “I’m attorney general,” Bondi responded.

    “My apologies,” Balint said. “I couldn’t tell.”

    In another testy exchange, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) pressed Bondi on whether the Justice Department has evidence tying President Trump to the sex-trafficking crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.

    Bondi dismissed the line of questioning as politically motivated and said there was “no evidence” Trump committed a crime.

    Lieu then accused her of misleading Congress, citing a witness statement to the FBI alleging that Trump attended Epstein gatherings with underage girls and describing secondhand claims from a limo driver who claimed that Trump sexually assaulted an underage girl who committed suicide shortly after.

    He demanded Bondi’s resignation for failing to interview the witness or hold co-conspirators to account. Other Democrats have floated the possibility of impeaching Bondi over the handling of the Epstein files.

    Beyond the Epstein files, Democrats raised broad concerns about the Justice Department increasingly investigating and prosecuting the president’s political foes.

    Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Bondi has turned the agency into “Trump’s instrument of revenge.”

    “Trump orders up prosecutions like pizza and you deliver every time,” Raskin said.

    As an example, Raskin pointed to the Justice Department’s failed attempt to indict six Democratic lawmakers who urged service members to not comply with unlawful orders in a video posted in November.

    “You tried to get a grand jury to indict six members of Congress who are veterans of our armed forces on charges of seditious conspiracy, simply for exercising their 1st Amendment rights,” he said.

    During the hearing, Democrats criticized the Justice Department’s prosecution of journalist Don Lemon, who was arrested by federal agents last month after he covered an anti-immigration enforcement protest at a Minnesota church.

    Bondi defended Lemon’s prosecution and called him a “blogger.”

    “They were gearing for a resistance,” Bondi testified. “They met in a parking lot and they caravanned to a church on a Sunday morning when people were worshipping.”

    The protest took place after federal immigration agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.

    Six federal prosecutors resigned last month after Bondi directed them to investigate Good’s widow. Bondi later stated on Fox News that she “fired them all” for being part of the “resistance.” Lemon then hired one of those prosecutors, former U.S. Atty. Joe Thompson, to represent him in the case.

    Bondi also faced questions about a Justice Department memo that directed the FBI to “compile a list of groups or entities engaged in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism” by Jan. 30, and to establish a “cash reward system” that incentivizes individuals to report on their fellow Americans.

    Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) asked Bondi if the list of groups had been compiled yet.

    “I’m not going to answer it yes or no, but I will say, I know that antifa is part of that,” Bondi said.

    Asked by Scanlon if she would share such a list with Congress, Bondi said she was “not going to commit anything to you because you won’t let me answer questions.”

    Scanlon said she worried that if such a list exists, there is no way for individuals or groups included in it to dispute any charge of being domestic terrorists — and warned Bondi that this was a dangerous move by the federal government.

    “Americans have never tolerated political demagogues who use the government to punish people on an enemies list,” Scanlon said. “It brought down McCarthy, Nixon and it will bring down this administration as well.”

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    Ana Ceballos, Gavin J. Quinton

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  • Grizzlies star G Ja Morant to return vs. Magic in London

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    (Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images)

    Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant is available to return from a six-game absence in Sunday’s game against the Orlando Magic in London.

    The subject of trade rumors, Morant has been sidelined since Jan. 2 with a right calf contusion.

    Morant’s contract — a five-year, $197 million deal — expires after the 2027-28 season. He’s eligible for a three-year, $178 million extension next summer.

    Without signing him to an extension, any team taking on Morant at the February trade deadline would owe him the balance of his existing deal: the remainder of his $39.4 million salary for the current season, $42.2 million next season and $44.9 million for 2027-28.

    The No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Morant is playing fewer minutes this season, averaging a career-low 28.3 to go with 19 points and 7.6 assists per game.

    Morant, 26, has career averages of 22.4 points, 7.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and one steal per game.

    –Field Level Media

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  • Washington National Opera is leaving the Kennedy Center in wake of Trump upset

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    In what might be the most decisive critique yet of President Trump’s remake of the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera’s board approved a resolution on Friday to leave the venue it has occupied since 1971.

    “Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the company said in a statement to the Associated Press.

    Roma Daravi, Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, described the relationship with Washington National Opera as “financially challenging.”

    “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the WNO due to a financially challenging relationship,” Daravi said in a statement. “We believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.”

    Kennedy Center President Ambassador Richard Grenell tweeted that the call was made by the Kennedy Center, writing that its leadership had “approached the Opera leadership last year with this idea and they began to be open to it.”

    “Having an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety,” Grenell wrote. “We have spent millions of dollars to support the Washington Opera’s exclusivity and yet they were still millions of dollars in the hole – and getting worse.”

    WNO’s decision to vacate the Kennedy Center’s 2,364-seat Opera House comes amid a wave of artist cancellations that came after the venue’s board voted to rename the center the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. New signage featuring Trump’s name went up on the building’s exterior just days after the vote while debate raged over whether an official name change could be made without congressional approval.

    That same day, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) — an ex officio member of the board — wrote on social media that the vote was not unanimous and that she and others who might have voiced their dissent were muted on the call.

    Grenell countered that ex officio members don’t get a vote.

    Cancellations soon began to mount — as did Kennedy Center‘s rebukes against the artists who chose not to appear. Jazz drummer Chuck Redd pulled out of his annual Christmas Eve concert; jazz supergroup the Cookers nixed New Year’s Eve shows; New York-based Doug Varone and Dancers dropped out of April performances; and Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck wrote on social media that he would no longer play at the venue in February.

    WNO’s departure, however, represents a new level of artist defection. The company’s name is synonymous with the Kennedy Center and it has served as an artistic center of gravity for the complex since the building first opened.

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    Jessica Gelt

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  • Student loan borrowers in default may see wages garnished in 2026

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    The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it will begin garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers who are in default early next year.The department said it will send notices to approximately 1,000 borrowers the week of Jan. 7, with more notices to come at an increasing scale each month.Millions of borrowers are considered in default, meaning they are 270 days past due on their payments. The department must give borrowers 30 days notice before their wages can be garnished.The department said it will begin collection activities, “only after student and parent borrowers have been provided sufficient notice and opportunity to repay their loans.”In May, the Trump administration ended the pandemic-era pause on student loan payments, beginning to collect on defaulted debt through withholding tax refunds and other federal payments to borrowers.The move ended a period of leniency for student loan borrowers. Payments restarted in October of 2023, but the Biden administration extended a grace period of one year. Since March 2020, no federal student loans had been referred for collection, including those in default, until the Trump administration’s changes earlier this year.The Biden administration tried multiple times to give broad forgiveness to student loans, but those efforts were eventually stopped by courts.Persis Yu, deputy executive director for the Student Borrower Protection Center, criticized the decision to begin garnishing wages, and said the department had failed to sufficiently help borrowers find affordable payment options.”At a time when families across the country are struggling with stagnant wages and an affordability crisis, this administration’s decision to garnish wages from defaulted student loan borrowers is cruel, unnecessary, and irresponsible,” Yu said in a statement. “As millions of borrowers sit on the precipice of default, this Administration is using its self-inflicted limited resources to seize borrowers’ wages instead of defending borrowers’ right to affordable payments.”

    WASHINGTON —

    The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it will begin garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers who are in default early next year.

    The department said it will send notices to approximately 1,000 borrowers the week of Jan. 7, with more notices to come at an increasing scale each month.

    Millions of borrowers are considered in default, meaning they are 270 days past due on their payments. The department must give borrowers 30 days notice before their wages can be garnished.

    The department said it will begin collection activities, “only after student and parent borrowers have been provided sufficient notice and opportunity to repay their loans.”

    In May, the Trump administration ended the pandemic-era pause on student loan payments, beginning to collect on defaulted debt through withholding tax refunds and other federal payments to borrowers.

    The move ended a period of leniency for student loan borrowers. Payments restarted in October of 2023, but the Biden administration extended a grace period of one year. Since March 2020, no federal student loans had been referred for collection, including those in default, until the Trump administration’s changes earlier this year.

    The Biden administration tried multiple times to give broad forgiveness to student loans, but those efforts were eventually stopped by courts.

    Persis Yu, deputy executive director for the Student Borrower Protection Center, criticized the decision to begin garnishing wages, and said the department had failed to sufficiently help borrowers find affordable payment options.

    “At a time when families across the country are struggling with stagnant wages and an affordability crisis, this administration’s decision to garnish wages from defaulted student loan borrowers is cruel, unnecessary, and irresponsible,” Yu said in a statement. “As millions of borrowers sit on the precipice of default, this Administration is using its self-inflicted limited resources to seize borrowers’ wages instead of defending borrowers’ right to affordable payments.”

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  • Senate rejects extension of health care subsidies as costs are set to rise for millions of Americans

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    The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year.Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts — an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1.Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, “there won’t be another chance to act,” before premiums rise for many people who buy insurance off the ACA marketplaces.”Let’s avert a disaster,” Schumer said. “The American people are watching.”Republicans have argued that Affordable Care Act plans are too expensive and need to be overhauled. The health savings accounts in the GOP bill would give money directly to consumers instead of to insurance companies, an idea that has been echoed by President Donald Trump. But Democrats immediately rejected the plan, saying that the accounts wouldn’t be enough to cover costs for most consumers.Some Republicans have pushed their colleagues to extend the credits, including Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who said they should vote for a short-term extension so they can find agreement on the issue next year. “It’s too complicated and too difficult to get done in the limited time that we have left,” Tillis said Wednesday.But despite the bipartisan desire to continue the credits, Republicans and Democrats have never engaged in meaningful or high-level negotiations on a solution, even after a small group of centrist Democrats struck a deal with Republicans last month to end the 43-day government shutdown in exchange for a vote on extending the ACA subsidies. Most Democratic lawmakers opposed the move as many Republicans made clear that they wanted the tax credits to expire.The deal raised hopes for bipartisan compromise on health care. But that quickly faded with a lack of any real bipartisan talks.The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes. They also tweaked Senate rules to push past a Democratic blockade of all of Trump’s nominees. An intractable issueThe votes were also the latest failed salvo in the debate over the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature law that Democrats passed along party lines in 2010 to expand access to insurance coverage.Republicans have tried unsuccessfully since then to repeal or overhaul the law, arguing that health care is still too expensive. But they have struggled to find an alternative. In the meantime, Democrats have made the policy a central political issue in several elections, betting that the millions of people who buy health care on the government marketplaces want to keep their coverage.”When people’s monthly payments spike next year, they’ll know it was Republicans that made it happen,” Schumer said in November, while making clear that Democrats would not seek compromise.Even if they view it as a political win, the failed votes are a loss for Democrats who demanded an extension of the benefits as they forced a government shutdown for six weeks in October and November — and for the millions of people facing premium increases on Jan. 1.Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the group tried to negotiate with Republicans after the shutdown ended. But, he said, the talks became unproductive when Republicans demanded language adding new limits for abortion coverage that were a “red line” for Democrats. He said Republicans were going to “own these increases.”A plethora of plans, but little agreementRepublicans have used the looming expiration of the subsidies to renew their longstanding criticisms of the ACA, also called Obamacare, and to try, once more, to agree on what should be done.Thune announced earlier this week that the GOP conference had decided to vote on the bill led by Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, even as several Republican senators proposed alternate ideas.In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has promised a vote next week. Republicans weighed different options in a conference meeting on Wednesday, with no apparent consensus.Republican moderates in the House who could have competitive reelection bids next year are pushing Johnson to find a way to extend the subsidies. But more conservative members want to see the law overhauled.Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., has pushed for a temporary extension, which he said could be an opening to take further steps on health care.If they fail to act and health care costs go up, the approval rating for Congress “will get even lower,” Kiley said.___Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year.

    Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts — an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1.

    Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, “there won’t be another chance to act,” before premiums rise for many people who buy insurance off the ACA marketplaces.

    “Let’s avert a disaster,” Schumer said. “The American people are watching.”

    Republicans have argued that Affordable Care Act plans are too expensive and need to be overhauled. The health savings accounts in the GOP bill would give money directly to consumers instead of to insurance companies, an idea that has been echoed by President Donald Trump. But Democrats immediately rejected the plan, saying that the accounts wouldn’t be enough to cover costs for most consumers.

    Some Republicans have pushed their colleagues to extend the credits, including Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who said they should vote for a short-term extension so they can find agreement on the issue next year. “It’s too complicated and too difficult to get done in the limited time that we have left,” Tillis said Wednesday.

    But despite the bipartisan desire to continue the credits, Republicans and Democrats have never engaged in meaningful or high-level negotiations on a solution, even after a small group of centrist Democrats struck a deal with Republicans last month to end the 43-day government shutdown in exchange for a vote on extending the ACA subsidies. Most Democratic lawmakers opposed the move as many Republicans made clear that they wanted the tax credits to expire.

    The deal raised hopes for bipartisan compromise on health care. But that quickly faded with a lack of any real bipartisan talks.

    The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes. They also tweaked Senate rules to push past a Democratic blockade of all of Trump’s nominees.

    An intractable issue

    The votes were also the latest failed salvo in the debate over the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature law that Democrats passed along party lines in 2010 to expand access to insurance coverage.

    Republicans have tried unsuccessfully since then to repeal or overhaul the law, arguing that health care is still too expensive. But they have struggled to find an alternative. In the meantime, Democrats have made the policy a central political issue in several elections, betting that the millions of people who buy health care on the government marketplaces want to keep their coverage.

    “When people’s monthly payments spike next year, they’ll know it was Republicans that made it happen,” Schumer said in November, while making clear that Democrats would not seek compromise.

    Even if they view it as a political win, the failed votes are a loss for Democrats who demanded an extension of the benefits as they forced a government shutdown for six weeks in October and November — and for the millions of people facing premium increases on Jan. 1.

    Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the group tried to negotiate with Republicans after the shutdown ended. But, he said, the talks became unproductive when Republicans demanded language adding new limits for abortion coverage that were a “red line” for Democrats. He said Republicans were going to “own these increases.”

    A plethora of plans, but little agreement

    Republicans have used the looming expiration of the subsidies to renew their longstanding criticisms of the ACA, also called Obamacare, and to try, once more, to agree on what should be done.

    Thune announced earlier this week that the GOP conference had decided to vote on the bill led by Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, even as several Republican senators proposed alternate ideas.

    In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has promised a vote next week. Republicans weighed different options in a conference meeting on Wednesday, with no apparent consensus.

    Republican moderates in the House who could have competitive reelection bids next year are pushing Johnson to find a way to extend the subsidies. But more conservative members want to see the law overhauled.

    Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., has pushed for a temporary extension, which he said could be an opening to take further steps on health care.

    If they fail to act and health care costs go up, the approval rating for Congress “will get even lower,” Kiley said.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

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  • Modernizing the special education workforce is a national imperative

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    Key points:

    America’s special education system is facing a slow-motion collapse. Nearly 8 million students now receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), but the number of qualified teachers and related service providers continues to shrink. Districts from California to Maine report the same story: unfilled positions, overworked staff, and students missing the services they’re legally entitled to receive.

    “The promise of IDEA means little if there’s no one left to deliver it.”

    The data tell a clear story. Since 2013, the number of children ages 3–21 served under IDEA has grown from 6.4 million to roughly 7.5 million. Yet the teacher pipeline has moved in the opposite direction. According to Title II reports, teacher-preparation enrollments dropped 6 percent over the last decade and program completions plunged 27 percent. At the same time, nearly half of special educators leave the field within their first five years.

    By 2023, 45 percent of public schools were operating without a full teaching staff. Vacancies were most acute in special education. Attrition, burnout, and early retirements outpace new entrants by a wide margin.

    Why the traditional model no longer works

    For decades, schools and staffing firms have fought over the same dwindling pool of licensed providers. Recruiting cycles stretch for months, while students wait for evaluations, therapies, or IEP services.

    Traditional staffing firms focus on long-term contracts lasting six months or more, which makes sense for stability, but ignores an enormous, untapped workforce: thousands of credentialed professionals who could contribute a few extra hours each week if the system made it easy.

    Meanwhile, the process of credentialing, vetting, and matching candidates remains slow and manual, reliant on spreadsheets, email, and recruiters juggling dozens of openings. The result is predictable: delayed assessments, compliance risk, and burned-out staff covering for unfilled roles.

    “Districts and recruiters compete for the same people, when they could be expanding the pool instead.”

    The hidden workforce hiding in plain sight

    Across the country, tens of thousands of licensed professionals–speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, special educators–are under-employed. Many have stepped back from full-time work to care for families or pursue private practice. Others left the classroom but still want to contribute.

    Imagine if districts could tap those “extra hours” through a vetted, AI-powered marketplace. A system that matched real-time school requests with qualified providers in their state. A model like this wouldn’t replace full-time roles; it would expand capacity, reduce burnout, and bring talent back into the system.

    This isn’t theoretical. The same “on-demand” concept has already modernized industries from medicine to media. Education is long overdue for the same reinvention.

    What modernization looks like

    1. AI-driven matching: Districts post specific service needs (evaluations, IEP meetings, therapy hours). Licensed providers choose opportunities that fit their schedule.
    2. Verified credentials and provider profiles: Platforms integrate state licensure databases and background checks to ensure compliance and provide profiles with all candidate information including on-demand, video interviews so schools can make informed hiring decisions immediately.
    3. Smart staffing metrics: Schools track fill-rates, provider utilization, and service delays in real time.
    4. Integrated workflows: The system plugs into existing special education management tools. No new learning curve for administrators.

    A moment of urgency

    The shortage isn’t just inconvenient; it’s systemic. Each unfilled position represents students who lose therapy hours, districts risking due-process complaints, and educators pushed closer to burnout.

    With IDEA students now representing nearly 15 percent of all public school enrollment, the nation can’t afford to let a twentieth-century staffing model dictate twenty-first-century outcomes.

    We have the technology. We have the workforce. What we need is the will to connect them.

    “Modernizing special education staffing isn’t innovation for innovation’s sake, it’s survival.”

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    Kevin Eberly, FillerB

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  • Miami investment advisor faces prison after pleading guilty to $94 million swindle

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    A former investment advisor who lived in a Coconut Grove luxury high-rise condo has pleaded guilty to directing a Ponzi scheme that fleeced $94 million from Venezuelan investors and Catholic dioceses in the South American country over the past two decades.

    Andrew H. Jacobus, 64, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and money laundering this month. He now faces 15 years or more in prison at his sentencing in early February in Miami federal court after admitting that he bilked dozens of Venezuelans living in South Florida and abroad, according to his plea agreement and other court records.

    Jacobus, who was granted a bond after his arrest in July and now lives in a Fort Lauderdale apartment, must repay the victims of his investment scheme and assist federal investigators in tracking down their stolen funds, but it’s unclear from court records how much the former investment advisor still has available in assets.

    Jacobus induced the various Venezuelans — including a nonprofit group that supports the retirement and healthcare of Catholic priests — to invest tens of millions of dollars by promising them high-yield returns on fixed-income funds under his companies’ control, says a factual statement filed with his plea agreement. Jacobus admitted that he used those funds to pay off some investors while stealing from others to enrich himself between 2004 and 2024, the statement says.

    Jacobus, who operated two Coral Gables-based businesses, Finser International Corp. and Kronus Financial Corp., promised yearly investment returns of 12% to 15% on certificates of deposit and other fixed-income securities as he secretly swindled investors until some learned of his theft in 2022 and complained to federal authorities, leading to an Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation and grand jury indictment filed in Miami this year.

    Fictitious account statements

    The factual statement, underscoring Jacobus’ guilty pleas to two counts in the indictment, notes that one Venezuelan investor transferred $1 million to a Kronus bank account in July 2020 “based on the defendant’s false representations that the money would be used for investment purposes.” Instead, Jacobus moved $120,000 from that account to another so that he could pay other investors to perpetuate his international Ponzi scheme.

    “To conceal his fraud, Jacobus would create and provide to the victims fictitious account statements or balances purporting to show the investment portfolio and related balances, when in fact the victims’ accounts had significantly smaller balances,” Jacobus admitted in the factual statement signed by him, his defense attorney, Bruce Lehr, and federal prosecutor Robert Moore.

    In addition to the indictment, the Securities and Exchange Commission also sued Jacobus and his companies, alleging he committed the same fraud scheme in a civil lawsuit.

    The Venezuelan investors — 10 people are listed by their initials and two others as faith-based organizations in the indictment — turned to the United States as a safe haven to protect their money as their country collapsed economically during the administrations of the late President Hugo Chavez and current leader Nicolas Maduro.

    At least five lawsuits in Miami-Dade

    In recent years, several investors sued Jacobus and his firm, accusing them of fraud and civil theft involving tens of millions of dollars, according to civil court filings. They also notified the SEC, which had sanctioned Jacobus over pocketing exorbitant fees in a cease-and-desist order in 2020 when he and his firm, Finser International Corp., managed about $79 million in investment funds.

    Among Jacobus’ investment victims: a wealthy businessman who owns a crane business, a plastic surgeon and a renowned sculptor, all from Venezuela, according to court records.

    Jacobus’ investors accused the investment advisor of withholding and misappropriating their funds after they demanded he return their money, according to at least five lawsuits filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

    Miami attorney Michael Padula, who filed three of those suits against the former investment advisor, said Jacobus “preyed on churches and hard-working entrepreneurs and investors and cost people their life savings.”

    The first two cases accusing Jacobus of fraud and other civil violations were brought in 2022 by Padula, a former prosecutor at the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office who had focused on white-collar crime. Padula accused Jacobus of running a “Ponzi scheme” by using newer investors’ money to pay off older ones — an allegation that caught the attention of other Venezuelans who invested millions of dollars with Jacobus.

    Padula’s clients, Fermin Suarez, a wealthy Venezuelan crane business owner, and Tubalcain Morales, who lives in Venezuela and Spain, reached respective settlements with Jacobus totaling about $18.5 million and $650,000, according to court records. Jacobus made a few payments to both men, then defaulted, Padula said.

    Padula’s third client, Manuel Egea, a plastic surgeon residing in Venezuela, also filed suit in Miami, claiming he invested his “life savings” of about $9.5 million with Jacobus. The surgeon’s money was mostly placed in fixed-income investment funds that regularly yielded substantial monthly returns for years, his lawsuit states. But in 2023, Egea claims in his suit, the payments stopped, despite “several written requests to withdraw portions of [his] investment.”

    Egea received a final judgment for his loss against Jacobus’ entities for $30 million, Padula said. But recovering funds from Jacobus or his companies has proven difficult, he said.

    ‘Jacobus had cleaned out her account’

    Court records show other victims: Beatriz Aleman, an investment manager herself, and her husband, James Mathison, a sculptor whose work has been exhibited at shows in Miami, Venezuela and Europe, had an investment relationship with Jacobus dating back to 2012.

    In their lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, the couple said they invested about $2 million with Jacobus through the fall of 2022 and Aleman herself referred more than 20 investors to him over the past decade.

    The couple’s lawyer, Clarissa Rodriguez, said that before filing suit, she sent a letter to Jacobus demanding that he return the couple’s money — but he refused. The couple pursued legal action against Jacobus after they initially asked him to turn over about $760,000 in savings that he invested with the discount online firm, Interactive Brokers.

    According to the couple’s suit, Aleman grew suspicious of Jacobus when she asked him to transfer $200,000 from her Interactive account to her bank in May 2023.

    In an email, Aleman gave him instructions on where to wire the money, but Jacobus gave her excuses about transferring it, according to the suit. She then asked for a conference call with Jacobus, and he responded in an email that he was tired of repeating himself “ad nauseum” on the phone about the reasons for the delay. But they had never talked on the phone about the money transfer, leading Aleman to believe Jacobus “gaslighted” her, according to the couple’s suit.

    Aleman learned from Interactive that her log-in credentials no longer existed and that the email address on file for her account had been changed to Jacobus’, the suit states. She found out that “Jacobus had cleaned out her account,” leaving Aleman with only $15,000 in savings at Interactive. A representative told Aleman that the monthly statements Jacobus had sent her showing her savings intact were “fake.”

    On June 21, 2023, Jacobus admitted that he took her money for his own personal needs.

    “I want to begin this note by asking for your forgiveness,” Jacobus emailed Aleman in Spanish, which was translated in the couple’s court filing. “I needed to make an urgent payment and without consulting you first, I boldly borrowed funds in your account at Interactive, with all the intention of returning them to you with a 15% return and without causing you any loss.”

    But Aleman and her husband, Mathison, never got back their money, according to their lawyer.

    Jay Weaver writes about federal crime at the crossroads of South Florida and Latin America. Since joining the Miami Herald in 1999, he’s covered the federal courts nonstop, from Elian Gonzalez’s custody battle to Alex Rodriguez’s steroid abuse. He was part of the Herald teams that won the 2001 and 2022 Pulitzer Prizes for breaking news on Elian’s seizure by federal agents and the collapse of a Surfside condo building killing 98 people. He and three Herald colleagues were 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalists for explanatory reporting on gold smuggling between South America and Miami.

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  • 100 Learning Spaces Transformed, $5 Million Invested: School Specialty and College Football Playoff Foundation Celebrate Impact Across Schools Nationwide

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    New media center at North Dade Middle School marks milestone in initiative revitalizing learning environments to benefit the entire learning community

    GREENVILLE, WI– November 21, 2025 – School Specialty and the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation today announced the completion of a media center makeover at North Dade Middle School, marking the 100th learning space transformed in collaboration with the Extra Yard Makeover initiative. As a part of their nationwide effort to enhance learning environments for students and educators alike, the two organizations have now invested over $5 million into reinvigorating classrooms across the country.

    Miami will host the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship in January, and as part of its legacy work in the community, the CFP Foundation has committed to delivering more than 30 Extra Yard Makeovers alongside School Specialty to revitalize innovation spaces across schools in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. With this latest round of makeovers, the CFP Foundation will have helped enrich learning environments in every Miami-Dade middle school.

    “Changing our middle school libraries into modern learning spaces has had a tremendous impact on engagement and learning outcomes,” said Dr. Jose L. Dotres, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. “In addition to renovation, the transformation is an investment in our teachers, our students and our future. These new innovative spaces support hands-on learning for students of today and tomorrow, so they can develop greater curiosity for learning and lifelong skills.”

    These makeovers transform static spaces into flourishing learning environments, providing upgrades like flexible furniture, technology, supplies and even fresh paint or murals. Each school receives the School Specialty proprietary Projects by DesignⓇ experience, which includes comprehensive consultations to determine the type of space that best supports students, educators and the broader school community. Past rooms made over include STEM labs, broadcast classrooms, libraries, media centers, makerspace rooms, teachers lounges, wellness spaces, sensory rooms, multi-purpose rooms, an esports room and a mariachi room.

    “The transformation of our media center is truly invaluable to our students and staff,” said Nicole Fama, Executive Director at Phalen Leadership Academies, which received a makeover in 2024. “We are profoundly grateful to the College Football Playoff Foundation and School Specialty for this investment. Before the media center, we lacked a space that truly fostered community. Now, everything happens here—from senior breakfasts and college athlete signing days to family game nights and teacher appreciation events. It has become the heart of our community, a space we didn’t realize we needed until it was here.”

    These makeovers serve to benefit both students and teachers, allowing schools to improve their offerings, inspire innovation and modern learning, and directly counter some of the top issues in education today.

    “Addressing teacher burnout and maximizing student engagement starts with the physical environment,” said Jeremy Westbrooks, Director of Strategic Account Development at School Specialty. “The physical classroom is an educator’s primary tool, and by modernizing these spaces, the CFP Foundation and School Specialty are delivering a critical resource that empowers teachers to stay focused on their students’ growth and long-term success.”

    “We’re proud to work alongside School Specialty to bring these meaningful makeover projects to life,” said Britton Banowsky, Executive Director College Football Playoff Foundation. “Their expertise in the design of the spaces and incredible generosity make it possible for us to turn vision into impact for teachers and students.”

    In addition to the CFP Foundation and School Specialty, these makeovers have been supported over the years by Bowl Games, Conference partners, Sponsors and host committees of each College Football Playoff National Championship. To date, makeovers have taken place in 18 states across 58 counties.

    To learn more about the College Playoff Foundation’s Extra Yard Makeover initiative, click here.

    To learn more about School Specialty, click here.

    About School Specialty, LLC 

    With a 60-year legacy, School Specialty is a leading provider of comprehensive learning environment solutions for the infant-K12 education marketplace in the U.S. and Canada. This includes essential classroom supplies, furniture and design services, educational technology, sensory spaces featuring Snoezelen, science curriculum, learning resources, professional development, and more. School Specialty believes every student can flourish in an environment where they are engaged and inspired to learn and grow. In support of this vision to transform more than classrooms, the company applies its unmatched team of education strategists and designs, manufactures, and distributes a broad assortment of name-brand and proprietary products. For more information, go to SchoolSpecialty.com.

    About the College Football Playoff Foundation

    The College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation is the 501(c)3 non-profit organization serving as the community engagement arm of the College Football Playoff and works in partnership with institutions of higher education, sports organizations, corporations and non-profits to support educators and improve student outcomes. The purpose of the CFP Foundation lies in supporting PK-12 education by elevating the teaching profession. The CFP Foundation inspires and empowers educators by focusing its work in four areas: recognition, resources, recruitment and retention, and professional development. To learn more, visit cfp-foundation.org and follow Extra Yard for Teachers (@CFPExtraYard) on social media.

    Media Contact
    Jon Kannenberg
    SchoolSpecialty@finnpartners.com

    eSchool News Staff
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    ESchool News Staff

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  • Farmers’ Almanac will cease publication

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    A 208-year-old publication that farmers, gardeners and others keen to predict the weather have relied on for guidance will be publishing for the final time. Farmers’ Almanac said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last, citing the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today’s “chaotic media environment.” Access to the online version will cease next month. Video above: Farmer’s Almanac predicts cold, wet winterThe Maine-based publication, not to be confused with the even older Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire, was first printed in 1818. For centuries, it’s used a secret formula based on sunspots, planetary positions and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts.The almanac also contains gardening tips, trivia, jokes and natural remedies, like catnip as a pain reliever or elderberry syrup as an immune booster. But its weather forecasts make the most headlines. “It is with a heavy heart that we share the end of what has not only been an annual tradition in millions of homes and hearths for hundreds of years, but also a way of life, an inspiration for many who realize the wisdom of generations past is the key to the generations of the future,” Editor Sandi Duncan said in a statement. In 2017, when Farmers’ Almanac reported a circulation of 2.1 million in North America, its editor said it was gaining new readers among people interested in where their food came from and who were growing fresh produce in home gardens. Many of these readers lived in cities, prompting the publication to feature skyscrapers as well as an old farmhouse on its cover.

    A 208-year-old publication that farmers, gardeners and others keen to predict the weather have relied on for guidance will be publishing for the final time.

    Farmers’ Almanac said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last, citing the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today’s “chaotic media environment.” Access to the online version will cease next month.

    Video above: Farmer’s Almanac predicts cold, wet winter

    The Maine-based publication, not to be confused with the even older Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire, was first printed in 1818. For centuries, it’s used a secret formula based on sunspots, planetary positions and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts.

    The almanac also contains gardening tips, trivia, jokes and natural remedies, like catnip as a pain reliever or elderberry syrup as an immune booster. But its weather forecasts make the most headlines.

    “It is with a heavy heart that we share the end of what has not only been an annual tradition in millions of homes and hearths for hundreds of years, but also a way of life, an inspiration for many who realize the wisdom of generations past is the key to the generations of the future,” Editor Sandi Duncan said in a statement.

    In 2017, when Farmers’ Almanac reported a circulation of 2.1 million in North America, its editor said it was gaining new readers among people interested in where their food came from and who were growing fresh produce in home gardens.

    Many of these readers lived in cities, prompting the publication to feature skyscrapers as well as an old farmhouse on its cover.

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  • President Trump urges Republicans to reopen government as shutdown marks longest in US history

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    The government shutdown has reached its 36th day, the longest in U.S. history, as President Donald Trump pressures Republicans to end the Senate filibuster in order to reopen the government.”It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that’s terminate the filibuster. It’s the only way you can do it,” Trump told senators Wednesday at the White House.The filibuster is a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. Ending the filibuster would allow Republicans to pass a bill with a simple majority, but several Republicans warn that when Democrats are in power, they’d be able to do the same thing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after breakfast at the White House, “It’s just not happening.”The president also said the shutdown was a “big factor, negative” in Tuesday’s election results.”Countless public servants are now not being paid and the air traffic control system is under increasing strain. We must get the government back open soon and really immediately,” Trump said.The shutdown is hitting home for many Americans, with lines stretching at food banks across the country as SNAP benefits are delayed and reduced for more than 40 million Americans. After-school programs that depend on federal dollars are closing. The Transportation Secretary said, starting Friday, there will be a 10% reduction in flights at 40 airports across the country.Republicans have pushed to reopen the government with a short-term spending bill. Democrats have rejected those bills, arguing that Republicans are leaving out a key provision: restoring expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that help millions of Americans lower their health-insurance costs. Democrats say passing a short-term bill without those subsidies would leave families facing sudden premium spikes.”The election results ought to send a much needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “The American people have spoken last night. End the shutdown, end the healthcare crisis, sit down and talk with us.”Republicans have said they’re willing to negotiate ACA subsidies, but only after the shutdown is over.See more government shutdown coverage from the Washington News Bureau:

    WASHINGTON —

    The government shutdown has reached its 36th day, the longest in U.S. history, as President Donald Trump pressures Republicans to end the Senate filibuster in order to reopen the government.

    “It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that’s terminate the filibuster. It’s the only way you can do it,” Trump told senators Wednesday at the White House.

    The filibuster is a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. Ending the filibuster would allow Republicans to pass a bill with a simple majority, but several Republicans warn that when Democrats are in power, they’d be able to do the same thing.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after breakfast at the White House, “It’s just not happening.”

    The president also said the shutdown was a “big factor, negative” in Tuesday’s election results.

    “Countless public servants are now not being paid and the air traffic control system is under increasing strain. We must get the government back open soon and really immediately,” Trump said.

    The shutdown is hitting home for many Americans, with lines stretching at food banks across the country as SNAP benefits are delayed and reduced for more than 40 million Americans. After-school programs that depend on federal dollars are closing.

    The Transportation Secretary said, starting Friday, there will be a 10% reduction in flights at 40 airports across the country.

    Republicans have pushed to reopen the government with a short-term spending bill. Democrats have rejected those bills, arguing that Republicans are leaving out a key provision: restoring expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that help millions of Americans lower their health-insurance costs. Democrats say passing a short-term bill without those subsidies would leave families facing sudden premium spikes.

    “The election results ought to send a much needed bolt of lightning to Donald Trump that he should meet with us to end this crisis,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “The American people have spoken last night. End the shutdown, end the healthcare crisis, sit down and talk with us.”

    Republicans have said they’re willing to negotiate ACA subsidies, but only after the shutdown is over.

    See more government shutdown coverage from the Washington News Bureau:

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  • Big wave machine — by the sea — rolling into El Segundo

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    The coastal city of El Segundo is an unlikely location for a massive, new artificial surf park.

    Other California surf parks with machine-powered wave pools are inland, far from natural waves in places like Palm Springs and Lemoore in the San Joaquin Valley.

    This summer, an owner of one of those parks, Palm Springs Surf Club, bought 10 acres of land on a former aerospace campus in El Segundo. The location is near a bonanza of sports enterprises that have sprung up in recent years, including a Topgolf entertainment complex and the training facility and headquarters of the Los Angeles Chargers football team.

    A company tied to billionaire Vinny Smith’s Toba Capital paid $54 million for the site, said Colin O’Byrne, president of Inland Pacific Cos., the development partner of Toba Capital.

    Smith, a tech mogul and surfer, and a major investor in the Palm Springs Surf Club, reportedly got involved after testing a wave prototype.

    Surfers wait their turn at The Palm Springs Surf Club.

    (David Fouts/For The Times)

    The El Segundo surf park, which has yet to be named, will hold about 5 million gallons of water in a 2.2-acre lagoon, O’Byrne said. He hopes to secure city approval to start work on the project, valued at $175 million, in about six months.

    El Segundo is already a legit surfing town, known for its custom surfboard shapers and waves at El Segundo Beach Jetty.

    “El Segundo has been a mecca for surf culture since the 1950s,” City Councilman and surfer Drew Boyles said. “But frankly, the surf out front is consistently poor-to-fair and it’s, like, absolutely crowded. So, this wave pool is going to be incredible.”

    Boyles likened the potential appeal of the surf park to Topgolf, which makes a point in its advertising of putting beginners at ease with swinging a club for fun while also appealing to experienced golfers.

    “Topgolf basically lowered the barriers to entry for people to get into the game of golf,” Boyles said. “Wave pools are doing the same thing, lowering the barrier to entry for people to get into surfing in a controlled, safe environment that’s not as intimidating as the ocean, that’s predictable and consistent.”

    Boyles, a real estate developer, is working on developing a surf park of his own in Phoenix.

    O’Byrne, who has been learning to surf in Palm Springs, said the vibe in a man-made lagoon can be more pleasant than competing with other surfers at sea.

    “You have the ability to have your own wave, and everybody’s rooting for you to make your wave as opposed to getting yelled at in the lineup as a beginner or intermediate level surfer.”

    The wave pool at The Palm Springs Surf Club.

    The wave pool at The Palm Springs Surf Club.

    (David Fouts/For The Times)

    In Newport Beach, the city is considering approval of the Snug Harbor Surf Park Project, which would redevelop the center portion of the Newport Beach Golf Course with approximately five acres of surf lagoons. It would replace the driving range and downsize the course to 15 holes.

    The centerpiece of a typical surf park is a large pool holding millions of gallons of water and a machine that can generate as many as 1,000 waves per hour. Developers also typically add restaurants, shops and other attractions to broaden the park’s appeal.

    DSRT Surf, expected to open in summer 2026 at the Desert Willow Golf Resort in the Coachella Valley, is set to offer pickleball courts, a swimming pool, yoga classes, a restaurant and a skate bowl. Future plans call for a 139-room hotel and 57 luxury villas.

    Inland Pacific and Smith are also working on a 45-acre mixed-use development around a surf park in Oceanside valued at $275 million, O’Byrne said. It is to include shops and restaurants along with a hotel adjacent to a 2.5-acre lagoon.

    In Las Vegas, the company acquired 66 acres of land on Las Vegas Boulevard just south of the airport for a surf-centric development.

    Now that engineers have figured out how to create consistent waves in a controlled environment, there is potential demand for many more surf parks in the world, O’Byrne said.

    “This has been attempted since the 1980s,” OByrne said. “We’re really at a point where the technology has advanced to be able to do these more economically and allow for more consistency and longer waves.”

    Vistors watch surfers from dry land at The Palm Springs Surf Club.

    Vistors watch surfers from dry land at The Palm Springs Surf Club.

    (David Fouts/For The Times)

    Inland Pacific acquired the El Segundo site from Continental Corp., a California landlord with millions of square feet of commercial properties along the South Bay coast, real estate data provider CoStar said.

    Continental bought the 30-acre corporate campus from Raytheon in 2021 and launched plans to redevelop it into a 600,000-square-foot mixed-use complex with office, retail and media production space.

    Los Angeles and Orange counties have the largest concentration of surfers in the world at more than 2 million, according to an estimate by Surf Lakes Socal, which is looking for investors to fund the development of more wave pools.

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    Roger Vincent

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  • Jane Fonda, derided as ‘Hanoi Jane’ and a traitor during the Vietnam War, is a modern-day force in Democratic politics

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    Celebrated for decades as Hollywood royalty, Jane Fonda could easily be living a comfortable life of extravagance and leisure.

    Instead, the 87-year-old actor and Vietnam War-era provocateur is as likely to be seen knocking on voters’ doors in Phoenix on a balmy summer afternoon as sashaying down a red carpet at a glitzy movie premiere.

    Politically active for more than a half-century, Fonda is now focusing her energy, celebrity, connections and resources on fighting climate change and combating the “existential crises” created by President Trump.

    Calling fossil fuels a threat to humanity, Fonda created JanePAC, a political action committee that has spent millions on candidates at the forefront of that fight.

    “Nature has always been in my bones, in my cells,” Fonda said in a recent interview, describing herself as an environmentalist since her tomboy youth. “And then, about 10 years ago … I started reading more, and I realized what we’re doing to the climate, which means what we’re doing to us, what we’re doing to the future, to our grandchildren and our children.

    “Our existence is being challenged all because an industry, the fossil-fuel industry, wants to make more money,” she said. “I mean, I try to understand what, what must they think when they go to sleep at night? These men, they’re destroying everything.”

    Rather than hosting fancy political fundraisers or headlining presidential campaign rallies, Fonda devotes her efforts to electing like-minded state legislators, city council members, utility board officials and candidates in other less flashy but critical races.

    Fonda said her organization took its cue from successful GOP tactics.

    “I hate to say this, but you know, in terms of playing the long game, the Republicans have been better than the Democrats,” she said. “They started to work down ballot, and they took over state legislatures. They took over governorships and mayors and city councils, boards of supervisors, and before we knew what had happened, they had power on the grassroots level.”

    Fonda said her PAC selects candidates to back based on their climate-change record and viability. The beneficiaries include candidates running for state legislature and city council. Some of the races are often obscure, such as the Silver River Project board (an Arizona utility), the Port of Bellingham commission in Washington and the Lane Community College board in Oregon.

    “Down ballot, if you come in, especially for primaries, you can really make a difference. You know, not all Democrats are the same,” she said. “We want candidates who have shown public courage in standing up to fossil fuels. We want candidates who can win. We’re not a protest PAC. We’re in it to win it.”

    Since her birth, Fonda’s life has been infused by political activism.

    Her father, the late actor Henry Fonda, witnessed the lynching of a Black man during the 1919 Omaha race riots when he was 14, casting him into becoming a lifelong liberal.

    Though such matters were not discussed at the dinner table, Fonda’s father raised money for Democratic candidates and starred in politically imbued films such as “The Grapes of Wrath,” about the exploitation of migrant workers during the Dust Bowl, and “12 Angry Men,” which focused on prejudice, groupthink and the importance of due process during the McCarthy era.

    But his daughter Jane did not become politically active until her early 30s.

    “Before then, I kind of led a life of ignorance, somewhat hedonistic,” she said. “Maybe deep down, I knew that once I know something, I can’t turn away.”

    In “Prime Time,” Fonda’s 2011 memoir, she describes the final chapter of her life as a time of “coming to fruition rather than simply a period of marking time, or the absence of youth.”

    “Unlike during childhood, Act III is a quiet ripening. It takes time and experience, and yes, perhaps the inevitable slowing down,” she wrote. “You have to learn to sort out what’s fundamentally important to you from what’s irrelevant.”

    In 1972, Fonda appeared in Jean-Luc Godard’s film “Tout Va Bien,” about workers’ rights in the aftermath of widespread street protests in France four years earlier. It was her first role in a political movie and coincided with her off-screen move into activism.

    Fonda’s most noteworthy and reviled political moment occurred the same year, when she was photographed by the North Vietnamese sitting atop an antiaircraft gun.

    A woman

    Actor and political activist Jane Fonda at a news conference in New York City on July 28, 1972. Fonda spoke about her trip to North Vietnam and interviews with American prisoners in Hanoi, Vietnam.

    (Marty Lederhandler / Associated Press)

    The images led to Fonda being tarred as “Hanoi Jane” and a traitor to the United States, which had deployed millions of American soldiers to Southeast Asia, many of whom never returned. Fonda says it is something she “will regret to my dying day.”

    “It is possible that it was a setup, that the Vietnamese had it all planned,” Fonda wrote in 2011. “I will never know. But if they did, I can’t blame them. The buck stops here. If I was used, I allowed it to happen. It was my mistake.”

    Fonda married liberal activist Tom Hayden in 1973. He served in the California Legislature for 18 years and was a force in Democratic politics until his death in 2016.

    Fonda’s political beliefs have been a through line in her Hollywood career.

    In 1979, she played a reporter in “The China Syndrome,” a film about a fictional meltdown at a nuclear power plant near Los Angeles. The movie’s theatrical release occurred less than two weeks before the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

    The 1980 movie “9 to 5,” starring Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, was a biting comedy that highlighted the treatment of women in the workplace and income inequality long before such issues were routinely discussed in workplaces.

    Three women at a bar.

    Dolly Parton, left, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are harassed office workers in the 1980 movie “9 to 5.”

    (20th Century Fox)

    Two years later, as home VCRs grew popular, Fonda created exercise videos that shattered sales records.

    She urged women to “feel the burn,” and revenue from the videos funded the Campaign for Economic Democracy, a political action committee founded by Fonda and Hayden.

    This year, Fonda offered signed copies to donors to JanePAC, which she created in 2022.

    “I’m still in shock that those leg warmers and leotards caught on the way they did,” Fonda wrote to supporters in April. “If you’ve ever done one of my leg lifts, or even thought about doing one, now’s your chance to own a piece of that history.”

    UCLA lecturer Jim Newton, a veteran Los Angeles Times political journalist and historian of the state’s politics, described Fonda as confrontational, controversial and unapologetic.

    “She’s remarkable, utterly admirable, a principled person who has devoted her life to fighting for what she believes in,” said Newton, who quotes Fonda in his new book, “Here Beside the Rising Tide: Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, and an American Awakening.”

    Newton added that Fonda’s outspoken nature certainly harmed her career.

    “I’m sure that there are directors, producers, whatnot, especially in the ‘70s and ‘80s, who passed on chances to work with her because of her politics,” he said. “And I’m sure she knew that, right? She did it. It’s not been without sacrifice. She’s true to herself, like very few people.”

    A year after Fonda and Hayden divorced in 1990, she married CNN founder and philanthropist Ted Turner, who she once described as “my favorite ex-husband.” Though Fonda largely paused her acting career during their decade-long marriage, she remained politically active.

    In 1995, Fonda founded a Georgia effort dedicated to reducing teenage pregnancy. Five years later, she launched the Jane Fonda Center for Reproductive Health at Emory University.

    After Fonda and Turner divorced, she worked with Tomlin on raising the minimum wage in Michigan and then launched Fire Drill Fridays — acts of civil disobedience — with Greenpeace in 2019.

    A woman speaks into a bullhorn.

    Jane Fonda speaks during a rally before a march from the U.S. Capitol to the White House as part of her “Fire Drill Fridays” rally protesting against climate change on Nov. 8, 2019.

    (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

    Fonda said she decided to create her political action committee after facing headwinds persuading Gov. Gavin Newsom to create setbacks for oil wells in 2020.

    “He wasn’t moving on it, and somebody very high up in his campaign said to us, ‘You can have millions of people in your organization all over California, but you don’t have a big enough carrot or stick to move the governor. … You don’t have an electoral strategy,’” Fonda recalled. “Since we’ve started the PAC, it’s interesting how politicians deal with us differently. They know that we’ve got money. They know that we have tens of thousands of volunteers all over the country.”

    Initially concentrated on climate change, JanePAC has expanded its focus since Trump was reelected in November.

    “We’re facing two existential crises, climate and democracy, and it’s now or never for both,” Fonda said. “We can’t have a stable democracy with an unstable climate, and we can’t have a stable climate unless we have a democracy, And so we have to fight both together.”

    Fonda’s PAC has raised more than $9 million since its creation through June 30, according to the Federal Election Commission.

    In 2024, JanePAC supported 154 campaigns and won 96 of those races. The committee gave nearly $700,000 directly to campaigns and helped raise more than $1.1 million for their endorsed candidates and ballot measures. In 2025, they have endorsed 63 campaigns and plan to soon launch get-out-the-vote efforts in support of Proposition 50, Newsom’s ballot measure to redraw California’s congressional districts that will appear on the November ballot.

    Arizona state Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, the minority leader in the state’s House of Representatives, recalled Fonda’s support during the 2024 election, not only for his reelection bid but also a broader effort to try to win Democratic control of the state Legislature.

    In addition to raising $500,000 at a Phoenix event for candidates, De Los Santos recalled the actor spending days knocking on Arizona voters’ doors.

    “It is a moral validator to have Jane Fonda support your campaigns, especially at a time when corporate interests have more money and more power than ever, having somebody in your corner who’s been on the right side of history for decades,” said De Los Santos, who represents a south Phoenix district deeply affected by environmental justice issues.

    Voters are often stunned when Fonda shows up on their doorstep.

    “I’ve had people walking out of their laundry room and dropping all the laundry,” Fonda said with a laugh.

    But others don’t know who she is and Fonda doesn’t tell them.

    A woman

    Jane Fonda

    (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

    “It’s amazing. You wouldn’t think that in just a few minutes on someone’s doorstep, you can really find out a lot,” Fonda said, recalling discovering her love of canvassing when she was married to Hayden.”I loved talking to people and finding out what they care about and what they’re scared of and what they’re angry about.”

    Fonda does not walk in lockstep with the Democratic party. In 2023, she joined other climate-change activists protesting a big-money Joe Biden fundraiser. They argued that the then-president had strayed from the environmental promises he made when he ran for election, such as by approving a massive oil drilling project on the North Slope of Alaska.

    Fonda said she supported Biden’s 2024 reelection despite disagreeing with some of his policies because of the threat she believed Trump poses.

    “When you see what the choice was, of course you’re going to vote,” she said. “I get so mad at people who say, you know, ‘I don’t like him, so I’m not going to vote.’ [A] young person said to me, we already have fascism. They don’t know history. You know, we don’t teach civics anymore, so they don’t understand that what’s happening now is leading to fascism. I mean, this is real tyranny.”

    But she also faulted Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris after she became the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, as well as 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, for failing to speak to the economic pain being experienced by Americans who backed Trump.

    “They’re not all MAGA,” she said.

    Many were just angry and hurting, she said, because they couldn’t afford groceries or pay medical bills. Fonda believes many now have buyer’s remorse.

    Fonda reflected on the parallels between the turmoil in the 1960s and today. In the interview, which took place before the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, she argued that today’s political climate is more perilous.

    “I’m not sure that what we have right now in the U.S. is a democracy,” she said. “It’s far graver. Far, far graver now than it was.”

    Fonda said she remains driven, not by blind optimism, but by immersing herself in work that she believes makes a difference.

    “This is what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life,” she said.

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    Seema Mehta

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  • California voters were mailed inaccurate guides ahead of November special election

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    Californians were mailed inaccurate voter guides about the November special election asking them whether to redraw congressional district boundaries, according to the secretary of state’s office. The state agency announced that it would mail postcards correcting the information to voters, which is likely to cost millions of dollars.

    “Accuracy in voter information is essential to maintaining public trust in California’s elections,” said Secretary of State Shirley Weber. “We are taking swift, transparent action to ensure voters receive correct information. This mislabeling does not affect proposed districts, ballots, or the election process; it is solely a labeling error. Every eligible Californian can have full confidence that their vote will be counted and their representation is secure.”

    The voter guide was sent to California registered voters about Proposition 50, a ballot measure championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state Democrats to try to boost the number of Democrats in Congress. The proposal was in response to Texas and other GOP-led states trying to increase the number of Republicans in the House at the behest of President Trump to enable him to continue to enact his agenda during his final two years in office.

    The special election will take place on Nov. 4, but voters will begin receiving mail ballots in early October.

    On page 11 of the voter guide, a proposed and hotly contested congressional district that includes swaths of the San Fernando and Antelope valleys and is currently represented by Rep. George Whitesides (D-Agua Dulce) was mislabeled as Congressional District 22. However, on more detailed maps in the voter guide, the district is properly labeled as District 27.

    “It is unfortunate that it was incorrect on the statewide map in the voter guide,” said Paul Mitchell, the Democratic redistricting expert who drew the new proposed congressional districts. “But the important thing is it is correct in the L.A. County and the Southern California maps,” allowing people who live in the region to accurately see their new proposed congressional district.

    There are 23 million registered voters in California, but it’s unclear whether the postcards will be mailed to each registered voter or to households of registered voters. The secretary of state’s office did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

    Even if the corrective notices are mailed to voter households rather than individual voters, the postage alone is likely to be millions of dollars, in addition to the cost of printing the postcards. The special election, which the Legislature called for in August, was already expected to cost taxpayers $284 million.

    Opponents of Proposition 50 seized upon the error as proof that the measure was hastily placed on the ballot.

    “When politicians force the Secretary of State to rush an election, mistakes are bound to happen,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for one of the campaigns opposing the effort. “It’s unfortunate that this one will cost taxpayers millions of dollars.”

    Former state GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson, who leads another anti-Proposition 50 campaign supported by congressional Republicans, added that such mistakes were inevitable given how quickly the ballot measure was written and the special election was called.

    “The Prop. 50 power grab was rushed through so fast by greedy politicians that glaring mistakes were made, raising serious questions about what else was missed,” she said. “California taxpayers are already on the hook for a nearly $300 million special election, and now they’re paying to fix mistakes too. Californians deserve transparency, not backroom politics. Secretary Weber should release the cost of issuing this correction immediately.”

    The campaign supporting the ballot measure did not respond to requests for comment.

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    Seema Mehta

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  • Secret Service thwarts massive telecom threat near UN General Assembly

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    Secret Service thwarts massive telecom threat near UN General Assembly

    The Secret Service thwarted a massive telecom threat near the United Nations that could have disrupted New York City’s communications.

    Updated: 2:39 PM PDT Sep 23, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ


    White House Correspondent

    The Secret Service stopped a massive telecom threat near the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Tuesday, just as world leaders gathered for meetings.Agents described the threat as one of the most sweeping communications threats ever found on U.S. soil, involving a hidden network capable of knocking out cell service across the city. Investigators discovered more than 300 SIM servers containing over 100,000 SIM cards within 35 miles of the U.N. headquarters. These servers had the potential to send out millions of fake calls and messages, which could cripple cell towers, jam 911 calls, and flood networks with chaos. An agent compared the potential impact to the blackouts following 9/11 and the Boston Marathon, noting that this system could trigger such a shutdown on demand.Experts warn that the threat extends beyond phones, as banking, emergency services, and even the power grid rely on telecom networks. Matt Pearl from the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “A lot of this traffic goes over telecom networks, and in some cases, specifically, wireless networks. And so just literally everything in modern life could be hampered or taken down by this.”The investigation is ongoing, with the Secret Service indicating that the operation was highly organized, costing millions, and early signs suggest foreign actors may be involved. Experts say building such a system is not particularly difficult, with the main challenge being financial rather than technical expertise. They are also hard to detect, raising concerns that similar networks could exist in other cities.

    WASHINGTON —

    The Secret Service stopped a massive telecom threat near the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Tuesday, just as world leaders gathered for meetings.

    Agents described the threat as one of the most sweeping communications threats ever found on U.S. soil, involving a hidden network capable of knocking out cell service across the city. Investigators discovered more than 300 SIM servers containing over 100,000 SIM cards within 35 miles of the U.N. headquarters.

    These servers had the potential to send out millions of fake calls and messages, which could cripple cell towers, jam 911 calls, and flood networks with chaos. An agent compared the potential impact to the blackouts following 9/11 and the Boston Marathon, noting that this system could trigger such a shutdown on demand.

    Experts warn that the threat extends beyond phones, as banking, emergency services, and even the power grid rely on telecom networks.

    Matt Pearl from the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “A lot of this traffic goes over telecom networks, and in some cases, specifically, wireless networks. And so just literally everything in modern life could be hampered or taken down by this.”

    The investigation is ongoing, with the Secret Service indicating that the operation was highly organized, costing millions, and early signs suggest foreign actors may be involved.

    Experts say building such a system is not particularly difficult, with the main challenge being financial rather than technical expertise. They are also hard to detect, raising concerns that similar networks could exist in other cities.

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  • Who is Charlie Kirk? The conservative activist shot at Utah Valley University

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    Who is Charlie Kirk? The conservative activist shot at Utah Valley University

    Press conference we will first hear from Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Be Mason. Then we’ll hear from the FBI special agent in charge, Robert Bowles. Uh, we’ll then hear from Utah Valley University Vice President Val Peterson, who’s been in touch with President Timenez. And then we’ll hear from Governor Cox, turn the time over to Commissioner Mason. Hello everyone I’m Bo Mason, commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety. Today at approximately 12:20 Mountain Standard Time. Political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot in an event at the Utah Valley University. He was taken by private vehicle to Timpanoga’s Hospital where he later passed. The Utah Department of Public Safety will be co-leading this criminal investigation to find this killer along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We’re working in unison with the county sheriff’s office, the local police department, and the university police department, all of which have been very cooperative and fully engaged in this process. Shortly after the shooting, we did have *** suspect in custody, George Zinn. But he was released from custody after we identified that he did not match the shooting suspect, um, and was not an accurate person of interest. However, he has been booked into the uh county jail by Utah Valley University Police Department for obstruction of justice. We do still have an active investigation for the person of interest. This incident occurred with *** large crowd around. There was one shot fired and 11 victim. While the suspect is at large, we believe this was *** targeted attack towards one individual. This is *** tragic moment in our state and in our country. As we heal, we encourage everyone who’s struggling with news of the incident to call 988, our state mental health crisis line. In addition to that, our partners with the FBI will also be discussing other ways we can communicate through the public for tips and other information. Thank you. Good afternoon On behalf of the FBI, we extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. Our thoughts are also with the people who witnessed this traumatic event. We know that you, what you experienced was very difficult. Our thoughts are with you as well. As soon as we heard about the shooting, special agents and personnel from the Salt Lake Field Office. Responded immediately. We have full resources devoted to this investigation, including tactical, operational, investigative, and intelligence. To be clear, the FBI will fully support and co-lead this investigation alongside with our partners. We’re working on setting up *** digital media tip line and as soon as it’s established, we’ll get that information out to everyone. I know there’s *** lot of questions. This is very much an active case and this investigation is in its early stages. We are following all the leads and all the evidence. If anyone has any information, please report it to the FBI or local law enforcement. Thank you. On behalf of President Tenez, who we’ve been communicating with and she’s on her way back right now, I, um, say that on behalf of Utah Valley University we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk. We express our sincere condolences to the Kirk family. We grieve with our students, faculty and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy. He was invited by the student group Turning Point USA to speak on our campus. We firmly believe that UVU is *** place to share ideas and to debate openly and respectfully. Any attempt to infringe on those rights has no place here. We do not condone any form of violence at UVU and seek to make our campus *** safe place for all. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on this uh on this dark and and tragic occasion. I wanna thank our law enforcement officers who are leading this investigation, starting with Chief Long, uh, and, and his, uh, his response here with the UVU police department. Um, we’re grateful for your leadership and, uh, and your team, and again to the, the speakers that you’ve just heard from who are are co-leading this investigation. I also want to uh recognize Sheriff Mike Smith who has been an invaluable partner as uh as this investigation moves forward. I’ve been in touch with uh with with President Trump, with FBI Director Cash Patel, um, we are completely aligned with our state and federal partners as uh as we work through this case now. This is *** dark day for our state. It’s *** tragic day for our nation. I want to be very clear that this is *** political assassination. We are. Celebrating 250 years of the founding of this great nation. That founding document, the Declaration of Independence. That this this great experiment on which we embarked together 250 years ago that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. The first one of those is life. And today, *** life was taken. Charlie Kirk was first and foremost. *** husband and *** dad to two young children. He was also Very much politically involved and that’s why he was here on campus. Charlie believed in the power of free speech and debate. To shape ideas. And to persuade people. Historically Our university campuses in this nation and here in the state of Utah have been the place where truth and ideas are formulated and debated. And that’s what he does. He comes on college campuses and he debates. That is foundational to the formation of our country. To our most basic constitutional rights. And when someone takes the life of *** person. Because of their ideas or their ideals. Then that very constitutional foundation is threatened. Now we have *** person of interest in custody. The investigation is ongoing. But I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this. We will find you. We will try you And we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law. And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah. Our nation is broken. We’ve had Political assassinations recently in Minnesota. We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania. And we had an attempted assassination. On *** presidential candidate and former president of the United States and now current president of the United States. Nothing I say can unite us as *** country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken. Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk. Our hearts are broken. We mourn. With his wife, his children, his family, his friends, we mourn as *** nation. If anyone in the sound of my voice. Celebrated even *** little bit at the news of this shooting. I would beg you To look in the mirror. And to see if you can find *** better angel in there somewhere. I don’t care what his politics are. I care that he was an American. We desperately need our country. We desperately need leaders in our country, but more than the leaders we just need every single person in this country. To think about where we are and where we want to be. To ask ourselves, is this, is this it? Is this what 250 years has wrought on us? I pray that that’s not the case. I pray that those who hated. What Charlie Cook stood for. We put down their social media and their pens. And pray for his family. And that all of us. All of us will try to find *** way to stop hating our fellow Americans. With that we’re happy to take *** few questions. The FBI director is posting that *** that *** suspect is in custody. I would just like clarification. Do you or do you not have *** suspected shooter? We have *** person of interest in custody that is being interviewed right now. We do not that is not George Zim. That is correct. Are you still searching or looking for another shooter or anybody else related to this? Yes, we are actively looking for anyone and everyone who has any any possible information relating to the shooting. Can you tell us details about the suspect being taken into custody, where, you know, how long ago. We, we cannot at this point, but we will get you that information when when we can. Is there believed to be *** second individual involved in the shooting? At this point there is no information that would lead us to believe that there is *** second person involved. Can you guys talk. Um, we. Do you want to talk about what we know there? Yeah. The only information we have on on the suspect, uh, the possible shooter is taken from closed circuit TV here on campus. Um, we do have that we’re, we’re analyzing it, um, but it is security camera footage so you can, you can, uh, kind of guess what the, what the quality of that is, um, but we do know, uh, dressed in, in all, all dark clothing, uh, but we don’t have *** much better description other than that. The shot came from here on campus, um, from, uh, *** location, um. And *** Uh, potentially from *** roof, yes, and longer distance shot from *** roof. So to clarify with the security camera footage you have and the personal interest that’s in custody, do those, does that match up? That’s what we’re trying to decipher right now. Did the FBI or DHS have anything on the threat for this morning? I can’t speak I’ll just say that the investigation is ongoing and as soon as we have further information, we will be sure to release it. Any indications of foreign intelligence involvement? As of now I can’t comment on any of that. Can you talk *** little about the security of the event itself, but who was there security wise and, and what happens on these kind of events. So my name is Jeff Long. I’m the police chief here at UVU, and I’ll tell you right now we’re devastated. We’re *** small, uh, small police department. Uh, we have *** very large campus. We have over 40,000 students, and we love our students. Uh, we love our visitors and we’re, we’re devastated by what happened today. This is the police chief’s nightmare. Um, I’m, I’m very saddened for the Kirk family. um, I know his, uh. His wife and parents, uh, found out about this, you know, obviously he’s away from home. He’s here in Utah they find out, uh, by police officer, uh, that that visits their home. That’s tragic. Nobody wants that, but I can tell you about our venue today. This was an open venue. This is outside. Uh, we did have, um, 6 officers working in that event. Um, we had, uh, probably over 3000 people that were in attendance, um, it sat down in kind of *** bowl area here on the central campus. We have *** waterfall area. And so he was uh kind of in *** *** lower area, uh, surrounded by uh by buildings, um, you know, we, we had, um, uh, some plain clothes police officers that were in the crowd as well, you know, we trained for these things and and you think you, you, you have things covered and um. You know, these things, um, you, you know, unfortunately they happen. You try to get, you try to get your bases covered and unfortunately today we didn’t and because of that we had this tragic incident, so we did have officers there. We had, uh, Charlie Kirk’s team, um, he has *** security team that travels with him and they were here with him when, when he, when he was shot. I’m sorry, the recovered. Um, I, at this point, I, I, I can’t disclose that. I was shot. There was *** question being asked about mass shooting. Was that person apprehended? And do you know who asked that question? Say the question again. I don’t know if I understand what you’re saying. When Charlie Kirk was shot, he was answering *** question about mass shootings specifically. Was that person apprehended and do you know who asked that question? Uh, I do not, we do not have that at this moment. ladies and gentlemen, we have time for just one more question, so thank you. Yeah, um, *** question for the chief as well, um, was it your team or Kirk’s team or *** combination of both that kind of set the security protocol for the event? So we worked together, you know, he has his team and and they do this all over the country we all know that this is not uncommon for them uh they’re very comfortable on campuses and I was coordinating with his lead security guy and, um, uh, so yeah, we were working together. Was this *** sharpshooter type shot? Ladies and gentlemen, that’s that’s, um, those are all the questions that will be answered today um again, thank you for for covering this. uh, we will be, uh, we’ll be updating you as soon as we have additional information through uh through normal channels working with law enforcement again our. Our deepest condolences uh to the uh to the Kirk family and uh and to the students who were who were there today um and uh I would, I would just ask everyone everywhere to please pray for their family and uh and to pray for our country and we need it now more than ever thank you.

    Who is Charlie Kirk? The conservative activist shot at Utah Valley University

    Updated: 12:10 AM EDT Sep 11, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and Donald Trump ally, was fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Trump confirmed.Video above: Utah officials give first news conference after Charlie Kirk shootingKirk is a well-known political activist who helped found conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. He has millions of followers on social media and is considered one of the most popular conservative media personalities. A backer of Trump during the president’s initial 2016 run, Kirk took Turning Point from one of a constellation of well-funded conservative groups to the center of the right-of-center universe.Turning Point’s political wing helped run get-out-the-vote for Trump’s 2024 campaign, trying to energize disaffected conservatives who rarely vote. Trump won Arizona, Turning Point’s home state, by five percentage points after narrowly losing it in 2020. The group is known for its flamboyant events that often feature strobe lighting and pyrotechnics. It claims more than 250,000 student members.Kirk is known for attending events at high schools and colleges across the country while advocating for conservative views.Because of this, Kirk is seen by some as a controversial figure, as he tends to argue with people who do not agree with his points of view. He often records these arguments and posts them to social media for people to discuss. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and Donald Trump ally, was fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Trump confirmed.

    Video above: Utah officials give first news conference after Charlie Kirk shooting

    Kirk is a well-known political activist who helped found conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. He has millions of followers on social media and is considered one of the most popular conservative media personalities.

    A backer of Trump during the president’s initial 2016 run, Kirk took Turning Point from one of a constellation of well-funded conservative groups to the center of the right-of-center universe.

    Turning Point’s political wing helped run get-out-the-vote for Trump’s 2024 campaign, trying to energize disaffected conservatives who rarely vote. Trump won Arizona, Turning Point’s home state, by five percentage points after narrowly losing it in 2020. The group is known for its flamboyant events that often feature strobe lighting and pyrotechnics. It claims more than 250,000 student members.

    Kirk is known for attending events at high schools and colleges across the country while advocating for conservative views.

    Because of this, Kirk is seen by some as a controversial figure, as he tends to argue with people who do not agree with his points of view. He often records these arguments and posts them to social media for people to discuss.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Who is Charlie Kirk? The conservative activist shot at Utah Valley University

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    Who is Charlie Kirk? The conservative activist shot at Utah Valley University

    Press conference we will first hear from Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Be Mason. Then we’ll hear from the FBI special agent in charge, Robert Bowles. Uh, we’ll then hear from Utah Valley University Vice President Val Peterson, who’s been in touch with President Timenez. And then we’ll hear from Governor Cox, turn the time over to Commissioner Mason. Hello everyone I’m Bo Mason, commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety. Today at approximately 12:20 Mountain Standard Time. Political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot in an event at the Utah Valley University. He was taken by private vehicle to Timpanoga’s Hospital where he later passed. The Utah Department of Public Safety will be co-leading this criminal investigation to find this killer along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We’re working in unison with the county sheriff’s office, the local police department, and the university police department, all of which have been very cooperative and fully engaged in this process. Shortly after the shooting, we did have *** suspect in custody, George Zinn. But he was released from custody after we identified that he did not match the shooting suspect, um, and was not an accurate person of interest. However, he has been booked into the uh county jail by Utah Valley University Police Department for obstruction of justice. We do still have an active investigation for the person of interest. This incident occurred with *** large crowd around. There was one shot fired and 11 victim. While the suspect is at large, we believe this was *** targeted attack towards one individual. This is *** tragic moment in our state and in our country. As we heal, we encourage everyone who’s struggling with news of the incident to call 988, our state mental health crisis line. In addition to that, our partners with the FBI will also be discussing other ways we can communicate through the public for tips and other information. Thank you. Good afternoon On behalf of the FBI, we extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. Our thoughts are also with the people who witnessed this traumatic event. We know that you, what you experienced was very difficult. Our thoughts are with you as well. As soon as we heard about the shooting, special agents and personnel from the Salt Lake Field Office. Responded immediately. We have full resources devoted to this investigation, including tactical, operational, investigative, and intelligence. To be clear, the FBI will fully support and co-lead this investigation alongside with our partners. We’re working on setting up *** digital media tip line and as soon as it’s established, we’ll get that information out to everyone. I know there’s *** lot of questions. This is very much an active case and this investigation is in its early stages. We are following all the leads and all the evidence. If anyone has any information, please report it to the FBI or local law enforcement. Thank you. On behalf of President Tenez, who we’ve been communicating with and she’s on her way back right now, I, um, say that on behalf of Utah Valley University we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk. We express our sincere condolences to the Kirk family. We grieve with our students, faculty and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy. He was invited by the student group Turning Point USA to speak on our campus. We firmly believe that UVU is *** place to share ideas and to debate openly and respectfully. Any attempt to infringe on those rights has no place here. We do not condone any form of violence at UVU and seek to make our campus *** safe place for all. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on this uh on this dark and and tragic occasion. I wanna thank our law enforcement officers who are leading this investigation, starting with Chief Long, uh, and, and his, uh, his response here with the UVU police department. Um, we’re grateful for your leadership and, uh, and your team, and again to the, the speakers that you’ve just heard from who are are co-leading this investigation. I also want to uh recognize Sheriff Mike Smith who has been an invaluable partner as uh as this investigation moves forward. I’ve been in touch with uh with with President Trump, with FBI Director Cash Patel, um, we are completely aligned with our state and federal partners as uh as we work through this case now. This is *** dark day for our state. It’s *** tragic day for our nation. I want to be very clear that this is *** political assassination. We are. Celebrating 250 years of the founding of this great nation. That founding document, the Declaration of Independence. That this this great experiment on which we embarked together 250 years ago that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. The first one of those is life. And today, *** life was taken. Charlie Kirk was first and foremost. *** husband and *** dad to two young children. He was also Very much politically involved and that’s why he was here on campus. Charlie believed in the power of free speech and debate. To shape ideas. And to persuade people. Historically Our university campuses in this nation and here in the state of Utah have been the place where truth and ideas are formulated and debated. And that’s what he does. He comes on college campuses and he debates. That is foundational to the formation of our country. To our most basic constitutional rights. And when someone takes the life of *** person. Because of their ideas or their ideals. Then that very constitutional foundation is threatened. Now we have *** person of interest in custody. The investigation is ongoing. But I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this. We will find you. We will try you And we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law. And I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah. Our nation is broken. We’ve had Political assassinations recently in Minnesota. We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania. And we had an attempted assassination. On *** presidential candidate and former president of the United States and now current president of the United States. Nothing I say can unite us as *** country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken. Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk. Our hearts are broken. We mourn. With his wife, his children, his family, his friends, we mourn as *** nation. If anyone in the sound of my voice. Celebrated even *** little bit at the news of this shooting. I would beg you To look in the mirror. And to see if you can find *** better angel in there somewhere. I don’t care what his politics are. I care that he was an American. We desperately need our country. We desperately need leaders in our country, but more than the leaders we just need every single person in this country. To think about where we are and where we want to be. To ask ourselves, is this, is this it? Is this what 250 years has wrought on us? I pray that that’s not the case. I pray that those who hated. What Charlie Cook stood for. We put down their social media and their pens. And pray for his family. And that all of us. All of us will try to find *** way to stop hating our fellow Americans. With that we’re happy to take *** few questions. The FBI director is posting that *** that *** suspect is in custody. I would just like clarification. Do you or do you not have *** suspected shooter? We have *** person of interest in custody that is being interviewed right now. We do not that is not George Zim. That is correct. Are you still searching or looking for another shooter or anybody else related to this? Yes, we are actively looking for anyone and everyone who has any any possible information relating to the shooting. Can you tell us details about the suspect being taken into custody, where, you know, how long ago. We, we cannot at this point, but we will get you that information when when we can. Is there believed to be *** second individual involved in the shooting? At this point there is no information that would lead us to believe that there is *** second person involved. Can you guys talk. Um, we. Do you want to talk about what we know there? Yeah. The only information we have on on the suspect, uh, the possible shooter is taken from closed circuit TV here on campus. Um, we do have that we’re, we’re analyzing it, um, but it is security camera footage so you can, you can, uh, kind of guess what the, what the quality of that is, um, but we do know, uh, dressed in, in all, all dark clothing, uh, but we don’t have *** much better description other than that. The shot came from here on campus, um, from, uh, *** location, um. And *** Uh, potentially from *** roof, yes, and longer distance shot from *** roof. So to clarify with the security camera footage you have and the personal interest that’s in custody, do those, does that match up? That’s what we’re trying to decipher right now. Did the FBI or DHS have anything on the threat for this morning? I can’t speak I’ll just say that the investigation is ongoing and as soon as we have further information, we will be sure to release it. Any indications of foreign intelligence involvement? As of now I can’t comment on any of that. Can you talk *** little about the security of the event itself, but who was there security wise and, and what happens on these kind of events. So my name is Jeff Long. I’m the police chief here at UVU, and I’ll tell you right now we’re devastated. We’re *** small, uh, small police department. Uh, we have *** very large campus. We have over 40,000 students, and we love our students. Uh, we love our visitors and we’re, we’re devastated by what happened today. This is the police chief’s nightmare. Um, I’m, I’m very saddened for the Kirk family. um, I know his, uh. His wife and parents, uh, found out about this, you know, obviously he’s away from home. He’s here in Utah they find out, uh, by police officer, uh, that that visits their home. That’s tragic. Nobody wants that, but I can tell you about our venue today. This was an open venue. This is outside. Uh, we did have, um, 6 officers working in that event. Um, we had, uh, probably over 3000 people that were in attendance, um, it sat down in kind of *** bowl area here on the central campus. We have *** waterfall area. And so he was uh kind of in *** *** lower area, uh, surrounded by uh by buildings, um, you know, we, we had, um, uh, some plain clothes police officers that were in the crowd as well, you know, we trained for these things and and you think you, you, you have things covered and um. You know, these things, um, you, you know, unfortunately they happen. You try to get, you try to get your bases covered and unfortunately today we didn’t and because of that we had this tragic incident, so we did have officers there. We had, uh, Charlie Kirk’s team, um, he has *** security team that travels with him and they were here with him when, when he, when he was shot. I’m sorry, the recovered. Um, I, at this point, I, I, I can’t disclose that. I was shot. There was *** question being asked about mass shooting. Was that person apprehended? And do you know who asked that question? Say the question again. I don’t know if I understand what you’re saying. When Charlie Kirk was shot, he was answering *** question about mass shootings specifically. Was that person apprehended and do you know who asked that question? Uh, I do not, we do not have that at this moment. ladies and gentlemen, we have time for just one more question, so thank you. Yeah, um, *** question for the chief as well, um, was it your team or Kirk’s team or *** combination of both that kind of set the security protocol for the event? So we worked together, you know, he has his team and and they do this all over the country we all know that this is not uncommon for them uh they’re very comfortable on campuses and I was coordinating with his lead security guy and, um, uh, so yeah, we were working together. Was this *** sharpshooter type shot? Ladies and gentlemen, that’s that’s, um, those are all the questions that will be answered today um again, thank you for for covering this. uh, we will be, uh, we’ll be updating you as soon as we have additional information through uh through normal channels working with law enforcement again our. Our deepest condolences uh to the uh to the Kirk family and uh and to the students who were who were there today um and uh I would, I would just ask everyone everywhere to please pray for their family and uh and to pray for our country and we need it now more than ever thank you.

    Who is Charlie Kirk? The conservative activist shot at Utah Valley University

    Updated: 6:46 PM PDT Sep 10, 2025

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    Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and Donald Trump ally, was fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Trump confirmed.Video above: Utah officials give first news conference after Charlie Kirk shootingKirk is a well-known political activist who helped found conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. He has millions of followers on social media and is considered one of the most popular conservative media personalities. A backer of Trump during the president’s initial 2016 run, Kirk took Turning Point from one of a constellation of well-funded conservative groups to the center of the right-of-center universe.Turning Point’s political wing helped run get-out-the-vote for Trump’s 2024 campaign, trying to energize disaffected conservatives who rarely vote. Trump won Arizona, Turning Point’s home state, by five percentage points after narrowly losing it in 2020. The group is known for its flamboyant events that often feature strobe lighting and pyrotechnics. It claims more than 250,000 student members.Kirk is known for attending events at high schools and colleges across the country while advocating for conservative views.Because of this, Kirk is seen by some as a controversial figure, as he tends to argue with people who do not agree with his points of view. He often records these arguments and posts them to social media for people to discuss. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and Donald Trump ally, was fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Trump confirmed.

    Video above: Utah officials give first news conference after Charlie Kirk shooting

    Kirk is a well-known political activist who helped found conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. He has millions of followers on social media and is considered one of the most popular conservative media personalities.

    A backer of Trump during the president’s initial 2016 run, Kirk took Turning Point from one of a constellation of well-funded conservative groups to the center of the right-of-center universe.

    Turning Point’s political wing helped run get-out-the-vote for Trump’s 2024 campaign, trying to energize disaffected conservatives who rarely vote. Trump won Arizona, Turning Point’s home state, by five percentage points after narrowly losing it in 2020. The group is known for its flamboyant events that often feature strobe lighting and pyrotechnics. It claims more than 250,000 student members.

    Kirk is known for attending events at high schools and colleges across the country while advocating for conservative views.

    Because of this, Kirk is seen by some as a controversial figure, as he tends to argue with people who do not agree with his points of view. He often records these arguments and posts them to social media for people to discuss.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Top immigration court rules judges can deny bond to millions of migrants

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    A Trump administration policy to deny bond hearings to immigrants who entered the country without authorization was upheld by an immigration appellate board Friday, expanding mandatory detention to thousands of people already behind bars and potentially millions more nationwide.

    Although the policy is being challenged in federal court, the ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals is likely to send an immediate chill through immigration courts where judges for decades have released individuals on bond whom they did not deem a flight risk or danger.

    Those judges are now bound by the board’s decision. Immigration courts are not part of the judicial branch but fall under the Department of Justice.

    Immigrant rights attorneys say holding immigrants throughout their cases — a process that can sometimes take years — is intended to break the spirit of many and force them to sign their own deportation orders.

    “This is an effort to increase the number of people in detention significantly,” said Niels W. Frenzen, director of the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic, who is part of a team of attorneys who have filed habeas petitions for dozens of immigrants picked up during the summer raids in Los Angeles.

    “Literally millions of people are now subject to being held without bond,” he said.

    One of those is Ana Franco Galdamez, a mother of two U.S. citizens who has been in the country for two decades. She was getting treatment for breast cancer when she was arrested in a June 19 raid in Los Angeles County, where nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants reside, according to estimates.

    She was denied bond and missed treatment, but she was eventually released after a lawyer filed a habeas case.

    “Detention conditions are horrific, and they’ve gotten even worse,” Frenzen said. “The goal of the administration is to make it difficult for people to fight their cases and to give up.”

    Federal judges have ruled in several cases that denying bond violated federal statues and constitutionally protected due process. The group is now seeking to block the no-bond policy in a class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Other lawsuits are also pending.

    The Trump administration introduced the no-bond policy nationally in a memo in July — paving the way for the mandatory detention of immigrants.

    The move came after Congress authorized expanding immigration detention and enforcement amid a crackdown inside courtrooms and at immigration check-ins.

    Immigrants, most of whom had been following the rules to adjust, maintain or gain legal status, were arrested and detained.

    For months now, those inside the immigration courts system have been pressed to implement Trump Administration policies. Judges have been fired, and the Pentagon has said it is identifying military lawyers and judges to temporarily sit on the bench.

    The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the immigration courts, did not answer specific questions from The Times — but pointed out that the ruling was a precedent.

    “It strips judicial discretion in many cases,” said Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former senior official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “It basically says, if you entered illegally, only ICE can decide if you get out of detention.”

    The Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision stems from the case of a Venezuelan immigrant who crossed the border in November 2022 near El Paso, Texas, and was later granted temporary protected status. That status expired on April 2 after the Trump administration terminated the program, a decision that is also tied up in litigation.

    The board determined that immigration judges had no authority to issue bonds because immigrants “who are present in the United States without admission … must be detained for the duration of their removal proceedings.”

    In other words, the board’s decision treats people who have been in the U.S. for years the same as newly arriving immigrants at the border, who can be quickly deported without bond.

    “We’ve had clients that are pregnant, we’ve had clients that are breastfeeding. We’ve had clients who have never been arrested, let alone commit, convicted of any crime ever, who’ve never missed an ICE check in — they’re all being told, ‘You’re subject to mandatory detention because of this new interpretation by the Trump administration,’” said Jordan Wells, an attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. “This now solidifies that as the law of the land, unless and until [the] federal circuit court rules otherwise.”

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    Rachel Uranga

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  • Federal government sues California utility, alleging equipment sparked deadly Eaton Fire in LA

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    The federal government filed two lawsuits Thursday against Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked fires including January’s Eaton Fire in the Los Angeles area, which destroyed more than 9,400 structures and killed 17 people.“The lawsuits filed today allege a troubling pattern of negligence resulting in death, destruction, and tens of millions of federal taxpayer dollars spent to clean up one utility company’s mistakes,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference Thursday.(Video above: LA, Maui wildfires tied to hundreds more deaths, new studies show.)The filings allege that Edison failed to properly maintain its power and transmission infrastructure in the area where the Eaton Fire ignited on Jan. 7. It asks for more than $40 million in damages to the federal, state and local governments. Edison spokesperson Jeff Monford said the utility is reviewing the lawsuits.“We continue our work to reduce the likelihood of our equipment starting a wildfire,” Monford said. “Southern California Edison is committed to wildfire mitigation through grid hardening, situational awareness and enhanced operational practices.”The company has stated it operates three transmission towers in the Eaton Canyon area overlooking the unincorporated area of Altadena, which was ravaged by the fire. In early reports to the California Public Utility Commission, Edison has said it detected a “fault” on one of its transmission lines around the time that the Eaton Fire started.In a July 31 report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the utility said while it has “not conclusively determined” its equipment was responsible for the fire, there was “concerning circumstantial evidence” that suggests its transmission facilities in the area could have been associated with the starting of the fire.It also said it was “not aware of evidence pointing to another possible source of ignition,” according to the report cited in the lawsuit.Though the investigation into the fire is still ongoing, Essayli said the government is confident moving forward with the lawsuit, especially with fire season quickly approaching.“There’s no reason to wait,” Essayli said. “We believe that the evidence is clear that Edison is at fault, and by their own admissions, no one else is at fault.” A second lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that Edison’s negligence led to the sparking of the Fairview Fire in September 2022, which scorched the San Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County.According to the filing, a sagging power line in Hemet, California, operated by Edison came into contact with a Frontier Communications messenger cable, which created sparks and ignited the vegetation below.That fire burned more than 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) of forest, killing two people and destroying 44 structures. The government is seeking $37 million in damages incurred by the U.S. Forest Service.Essayli said he will seek terms that prevent Edison from paying for the lawsuits by raising their utility rates.Several Altadena residents who lost their homes sued Edison in January, days after the fire broke out. Their attorneys said at the time they believed Edison’s equipment caused it, pointing to video taken during the fire’s early minutes that showed a large blaze directly beneath electrical towers.Los Angeles County sued Edison in March, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for costs and damages sustained from the blaze.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    LOS ANGELES —

    The federal government filed two lawsuits Thursday against Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked fires including January’s Eaton Fire in the Los Angeles area, which destroyed more than 9,400 structures and killed 17 people.

    “The lawsuits filed today allege a troubling pattern of negligence resulting in death, destruction, and tens of millions of federal taxpayer dollars spent to clean up one utility company’s mistakes,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference Thursday.

    (Video above: LA, Maui wildfires tied to hundreds more deaths, new studies show.)

    The filings allege that Edison failed to properly maintain its power and transmission infrastructure in the area where the Eaton Fire ignited on Jan. 7. It asks for more than $40 million in damages to the federal, state and local governments.

    Edison spokesperson Jeff Monford said the utility is reviewing the lawsuits.

    “We continue our work to reduce the likelihood of our equipment starting a wildfire,” Monford said. “Southern California Edison is committed to wildfire mitigation through grid hardening, situational awareness and enhanced operational practices.”

    The company has stated it operates three transmission towers in the Eaton Canyon area overlooking the unincorporated area of Altadena, which was ravaged by the fire. In early reports to the California Public Utility Commission, Edison has said it detected a “fault” on one of its transmission lines around the time that the Eaton Fire started.

    In a July 31 report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the utility said while it has “not conclusively determined” its equipment was responsible for the fire, there was “concerning circumstantial evidence” that suggests its transmission facilities in the area could have been associated with the starting of the fire.

    It also said it was “not aware of evidence pointing to another possible source of ignition,” according to the report cited in the lawsuit.

    Though the investigation into the fire is still ongoing, Essayli said the government is confident moving forward with the lawsuit, especially with fire season quickly approaching.

    “There’s no reason to wait,” Essayli said. “We believe that the evidence is clear that Edison is at fault, and by their own admissions, no one else is at fault.”

    A second lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that Edison’s negligence led to the sparking of the Fairview Fire in September 2022, which scorched the San Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County.

    According to the filing, a sagging power line in Hemet, California, operated by Edison came into contact with a Frontier Communications messenger cable, which created sparks and ignited the vegetation below.

    That fire burned more than 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) of forest, killing two people and destroying 44 structures. The government is seeking $37 million in damages incurred by the U.S. Forest Service.

    Essayli said he will seek terms that prevent Edison from paying for the lawsuits by raising their utility rates.

    Several Altadena residents who lost their homes sued Edison in January, days after the fire broke out. Their attorneys said at the time they believed Edison’s equipment caused it, pointing to video taken during the fire’s early minutes that showed a large blaze directly beneath electrical towers.

    Los Angeles County sued Edison in March, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for costs and damages sustained from the blaze.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • $2.4 million for a rental: Rich tourists are already booking mega-mansions for the Olympics

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    Three years from now, millions of tourists will pour into L.A. for the 2028 Olympics. For most of them, a hotel room or Airbnb will suffice.

    Some require a more extravagant stay.

    Ten bedrooms. Twenty bathrooms. A private movie theater and infinity pool overlooking the city. A battalion of chefs, butlers and drivers catering to the smallest of whims.

    The Earth’s elite — not just the athletes, but the royals, oligarchs and uber-wealthy families coming to watch them — won’t be here for three summers. And the market for mega-mansion rentals is already getting competitive.

    “We’re getting five to 10 inquiries per week,” said Hank Stark, founder of LuxJB.

    (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

    “We’re getting five to 10 inquiries per week,” said Hank Stark, founder of ultra-luxury vacation rental company LuxJB. “There are only so many homes of this size in L.A., and people want to secure their spot as early as possible.”

    LuxJB owns 14 mansions around L.A., including in Beverly Hills, the Hollywood Hills and West Hollywood. Three of them have already been secured for the Olympics — not just for the last two weeks of July while the Games are taking place, but for most of the year.

    “If you’re an Olympic federation from a specific country, you’ll be here all year training athletes before the Games begin,” Stark said. “If you’re a major sports brand, you’ll want a presence in L.A. before and after July.”

    The crown jewel of LuxJB’s collection is a 39,000-square-foot behemoth complete with nine bedrooms, four kitchens, a gym, spa, movie theater, pickleball court, basketball court and a team of three maids. A client just rented it out from January to August 2028 for $300,000 per month.

    That’s $2.4 million total. Pre-paid.

    It’s an eye-popping price, but there’s a bit of savings to be found since LuxJB covers utilities. They run about $25,000 per month once you factor in heating the pool.

    The home is on the pricier end of LuxJB’s offerings, which start at $1,900 per night for smaller five-bedroom villas and $150,000 per month for larger mansions.

    A backyard and pool

    The backyard and pool of a LuxJB mansion.

    (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

    Stark said the rentals make sense for many. For example, a superstar athlete who travels with an entourage and wants some privacy.

    “You can’t put [Cristiano] Ronaldo in a hotel room surrounded by strangers. He’s the most valuable player in the world,” Stark said. “Plus, our place has a $6,000 zero-gravity massage chair.”

    LuxJB is currently fielding interest from two Olympic committees looking for a large enough place to hold news conferences and host media outlets, as well as U.S. companies wanting to book houses for their top brass.

    A gaming room

    The mansion’s downstairs gaming room.

    (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

    Stark said it’s common for companies to rent their mansions for months at a time, and far in advance. Studios rent them for red carpet season during the fall and spring to host celebrities nominated for Emmys, Grammys and Oscars. Nine of LuxJB’s 14 homes are already booked for next summer, when the 2026 World Cup brings a handful of major matches to L.A.

    But bookings three years out?

    “It’s rare,” Stark said. “But rentals are disappearing, especially after the [January] fires, when so many were leased to house victims long-term. So I don’t think demand will slow down any time soon.”

    The main reason why the market isn’t hotter is because there aren’t that many rooms or houses available yet. Most hotels don’t accept reservations more than a year in advance, and rental companies such as Airbnb and VRBO typically don’t accept bookings more than two years out.

    There’s a reason for such policies: A lot can change in three years. Homeowners can sell their homes, take them off the market, or die.

    Hank Stark

    “There are only so many homes of this size in L.A., and people want to secure their spot as early as possible,” Stark said.

    (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

    Stark doesn’t have to worry about major changes, since LuxJB owns its homes. But other luxury rental companies, such as the Nightfall Group, rent out homes on behalf of owners, so three years out can be a bit too soon for some.

    That hasn’t stopped the calls from coming, though.

    Nightfall founder Mokhtar Jabli said he has received a steady stream of inquiries since the company created a 2028 Olympics landing page on its site highlighting available rentals. They’ve already booked one: a 10,000-square-foot home with six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a movie theater and infinity pool in the Hollywood Hills.

    For the month of July 2028, the guest paid $160,000.

    “That house rents for around $110,000 during a typical year, but they paid a premium to book it so far in advance,” Jabli said.

    It came from a longtime client who knew which house they wanted and locked it in before it was blocked by a long-term lease. The owner typically doesn’t take bookings so far out but was willing to make an exception — as long as the guest was willing to pay more.

    Jabli said prices for Olympic bookings are around 40% higher than usual, but he expects that number will go up as the Games get closer.

    Nightfall has rentals in luxury markets across the globe, and around 100 in Los Angeles. Its homes typically start at $50,000 per month, but the company also offers concierge services, so the house is only the start. Jabli said some clients pay $500,000 per month for swanky add-ons such as private jets, yacht rentals, security guards, drivers, chefs and housekeepers.

    The company regularly hosts international athletes: soccer stars Ibrahima Konate from France and Amine Adli from Morocco, most recently. Jabli expects wealthy Olympic athletes in more lucrative sports, such as basketball or soccer, to book homes to share with their families rather than staying in the Olympic Village on UCLA’s campus.

    A master bathroom

    One of the bathrooms in a LuxJB mansion.

    (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

    Another factor in the Olympic rental market is Southern California’s uneven, sporadic enforcement of short-term rental regulations. Rules change from year to year and city to city, and a legal booking today could be outlawed by 2028.

    For example, on Aug. 5, Beverly Hills banned short-term rentals entirely, requiring initial leases to be at least 12 months. Los Angeles beefed up its Home-Sharing Ordinance in March, calling for increased fines and more staff to monitor violations. But the city’s scaled-back budget has put many of those enforcement plans on pause.

    It’s unclear whether exceptions will be made for the Olympics, when millions of visitors will descend on a region already starved for housing.

    Either way, the glut of deep-pocketed tourists should serve as a shot in the arm to a luxury market that has been waning since the COVID-19 pandemic. Homes will rent for thousands per day. Millions per year.

    “L.A. is going through a crisis, both in the high-end luxury rental business and beyond,” Jabli said. “Hopefully, 2028 brings it back to the L.A. we know.”

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    Jack Flemming

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