Newsletter: Today: Mueller Has Spoken. Now What?

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, on his way out the door, pointedly refused to clear President Trump of a possible crime.

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Mueller Has Spoken. Now What?

After nearly two years of letting the indictments and his 448-page report do the talking, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III finally spoke in front of cameras to the American public to deliver a few messages: His investigation did not exonerate President Trump of a crime. Justice Department guidelines prevent indicting a sitting president. The threat of foreign meddling in elections needs to be taken more seriously. Read the redacted report. (No, really, read it here.) “If we had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller declared in a raspy baritone. As for Russia’s intervention in the 2016 campaign, he cited “insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy” with the Trump campaign. Hardly the “no collusion, no obstruction” mantra that Trump has recited. Though Mueller did not significantly expand on the text of his report in his comments, some Democratic presidential candidates responded by calling for impeachment for the first time. That is ramping up the pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open an impeachment process that she has resisted.

More Politics

-- Pelosi sharply criticized Facebook for not taking down a doctored video of her, suggesting that the company’s refusal indicates it “wittingly” allowed similarly false information to circulate during the 2016 election.

-- Alabama Republican Roy Moore is insisting he can win a Senate rematch in 2020 and says he won’t be influenced by Trump’s tweets urging him not to try.

A ‘King’ No More?

It was just seven weeks ago that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s supporters shouted “Bibi, King of Israel!” after an election appeared to secure a fifth term for him. Now, Israel is in political chaos, after the scandal-ridden leader failed in his efforts to form a new coalition government — and moved to make sure his main rival wouldn’t get to try to do so. That means a second election this year, unprecedented in Israel, is now on the horizon. The developments cast a cloud not only over Netanyahu’s future but also the already dim prospects for a Mideast peace deal spearheaded by Trump’s son-in-law (and Netanyahu family friend) Jared Kushner.

A Skid Row Settlement

In a pivotal legal settlement, the city of Los Angeles won’t limit the total amount of property that homeless people can keep on skid row — but it will throw away sofas, refrigerators and other large items crowding the downtown area. The agreement applies only to skid row, which encompasses 50 blocks, and adjoining streets. Homeless advocates say it will force a human response to the crisis, but nearby businesses object that it hampers the city too much.

An Uncharted Galaxy

Unless you’ve been living under a rock on Tatooine, you probably know Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is opening this weekend at Disneyland in Anaheim. It’s a 14-acre land that is the park’s largest expansion themed to a single franchise. What you might not know is how interactive it aims to be. Or how Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is like a large-scale, walk-in, user-malleable arcade game. Or what it’s like to build your own lightsaber. Or what costumes you can’t wear. Now, you know.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

On this date in 1966, a grand opening ceremony for the “It’s a Small World” ride was held. “Walt Disney joined Bank of America officials,” as The Times reported on the front page the next day, “in opening the newest attraction at Disneyland – a musical journey by boats through enchanted foreign lands where animated dolls perform.”

May 30, 1966: Walt Disney pours water into a channel through the new Disneyland attraction, “It’s a Small World.”

(John Malmin / Los Angeles Times Archive / UCLA)

CALIFORNIA

-- The state Assembly has passed a police use-of-force bill that could create one of the toughest standards in the nation, after changes pacified law enforcement but caused some of the bill’s earliest supporters to abandon it.

-- An effort to temporarily protect tenants from steep rent increases has cleared a major hurdle in the Legislature after tenant advocates agreed to make changes to significantly weaken the legislation.

-- Ashton Kutcher testified in the trial of Michael Gargiulo, whom prosecutors have called a “serial sexual-thrill killer.”

-- Artist Beau Stanton has agreed to make changes to a mural in Koreatown that’s attracted criticism from some activists but that also inspired many others opposed to political censorship to come to his defense.

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HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Georgia’s long-standing and lucrative relationship with the Walt Disney Co. could be headed for a break-up over the state’s new, restrictive abortion law.

-- The TV series “Deadwood” ended abruptly a decade ago. It returns to HBO as a film, and stars Ian McShane and Timothy Olyphant discussed its legacy with us.

-- “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek says his pancreatic-cancer tumors are shrinking at a “mind-boggling” pace.

-- Theater critic Charles McNulty explains why “Constitution” and not “The Ferryman” should win the Tony Award for best play.

NATION-WORLD

-- Over the last month, about 500 tornadoes have struck the central United States. Is it because of climate change? Experts say a lack of data on tornadoes makes it hard to conclude whether it is a contributing factor.

-- Louisiana lawmakers have passed a new abortion ban prohibiting the procedure before some women know they are pregnant. Gov. John Bel Edwards, the Deep South’s only Democratic governor, plans to sign it into law.

-- Ethnic violence in Ethiopia has forced nearly 3 million people from their homes.

-- A British judge has ruled that former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will be summoned to court over allegations that he lied and misled the public during the Brexit referendum campaign in 2016.

-- A Council of Europe report has called for an independent public inquiry into the car bomb assassination of a leading Maltese investigative journalist, criticizing the “glacial” pace of the investigation so far.

BUSINESS

-- The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has found the December 2017 tax cuts by Republicans and the Trump administration have had virtually no positive economic impact. Columnist Michael Hiltzik takes a look.

-- The sluggish Southern California housing market showed signs of perking up in April, as prices ticked up one month after they fell for the first time since 2012.

SPORTS

-- Tyler Blevins, known as the immensely popular game streamer “Ninja,” wants to be seen as more than just that Fortnite guy. In the world of esports, he typically makes more than $500,000 per month streaming.

-- No pitcher in baseball has been more effective than Hyun-Jin Ryu this season. The Dodgers have learned to accept his “fascinating” routine between starts.

OPINION

-- Mueller is a man of too few words about Trump and obstruction.

-- How Indian Americans came to dominate the National Spelling Bee.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- The White House wanted the U.S. Navy to move the warship USS John S. McCain “out of sight” ahead of Trump’s visit to Japan, according to an email. In response to the story, Trump denied knowledge of it on Twitter. (Wall Street Journal)

-- First person: For Chinese scientists who immigrated to the U.S., where do their hearts and bodies belong? (SupChina)

-- Bidding on a laptop packed with some of the world’s most dangerous malware closed at $1.345 million. It’s intended as (what else?) an art piece. (Engadget)

ONLY IN L.A.

You may know Roy Choi from the Kogi Korean BBQ food truck, Kogi taqueria, A-Frame, the Alibi Room or his new Las Vegas restaurant, Best Friend. Now, the L.A. chef finds finds himself at the center of not one but two television series. In some ways, it closes a circle for him. When he was at rock bottom in the mid-1990s, watching Emeril Lagasse’s Food Network series “Essence of Emeril” saved his life.

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