After nine women came forward to accuse opera star Plácido Domingo of sexual harassment, the Los Angeles Opera announced on Tuesday afternoon it will "engage outside counsel" to look into the allegations.
Domingo has been the L.A. Opera's general director since 2003. In an article published Tuesday morning by The Associated Press, the women — eight singers and a dancer — said Domingo sexually harassed them, with some incidents dating back to the late 1980s. They said Domingo pressured them into sexual relationships, and when they rebuffed his advances, he would sometimes punish them professionally. AP interviewed nearly three dozen additional singers, dancers, administrators, and orchestra musicians who said they saw Domingo act inappropriately.
Domingo, 78, told AP the allegations are "deeply troubling and, as presented, inaccurate," and he "believed that all of my interactions and relationships were always welcomed and consensual." Since the article's publication, the Philadelphia Orchestra has rescinded an invitation for Domingo to appear at its opening night concert in September, and the San Francisco Opera has canceled a concert scheduled for Oct. 6, which would have marked the 50th anniversary of Domingo performing with the company. Catherine Garcia
In a new legal memo, the Office of Management and Budget says the agency often puts temporary holds on money already signed into law, and did nothing wrong when it withheld security aid to Ukraine, The Washington Post reports.
After President Trump questioned the spending, the aid was delayed eight times over the summer, before he finally released it on Sept. 11. Trump's dealings with Ukraine and the delay in getting aid to the country have been central in his impeachment probe.
Several OMB officials have said freezing the aid was unusual, but OMB general counsel Mark Paoletta disagrees, writing in the memo that this was a routine matter. "Often, in managing appropriations, OMB must briefly pause an agency's legal ability to spend those funds for a number of reasons, including to ensure that the funds are being spent efficiently, that they are being spent in accordance with statutory directives, or to assess how or whether funds should be used for a particular activity," he said. Paoletta wrote the memo after the U.S. Government Accountability Office asked why the aid was delayed. Catherine Garcia
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) made a prediction on Wednesday night, one that he hopes will steer Democrats when they vote on whether to impeach President Trump.
Buck sits on the House Judiciary Committee, which debated the articles of impeachment on Wednesday night. When it was his turn to speak, Buck declared that Democrats were looking for "any excuse" to impeach Trump, and that won't end well for them.
"Democrats are so righteous in their belief the president must be impeached that they ignore plain facts," he said. "I tell my colleagues: Go ahead, vote to impeach President Trump tomorrow. But when you walk out of this hearing room, call your freshmen colleagues and tell them they're not coming back and you hope they've had their fun. Say goodbye to your majority status and please join us in 2021 when President Trump is inaugurated again." Catherine Garcia
Starting in 2020, Major League Baseball will begin testing players for opioids, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A person with knowledge of the matter told the Times the league and its players' union have agreed to the new policy, and they expect it will be formally announced on Thursday.
Major league players have not had to undergo opioid or marijuana testing, unless there is reasonable cause or they are in a treatment program, the Times reports. Minor league players have been subject to marijuana testing, but under the new policy, all players will be able to use pot for medicinal purposes.
In July, Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs was found dead in his Texas hotel room while on the road, and tests found he had opioids in his bloodstream. Catherine Garcia
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday said in a court filing that Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas has misrepresented his income and failed to disclose that he received $1 million from Russia in September.
Parnas, they said, poses "an extreme risk of flight" that is "only compounded by his continued and troubling misrepresentations." Parnas was arrested in October and charged with campaign finance violations, and prosecutors have asked the judge to revoke his bail and send him to jail.
Prosecutors said the $1 million was put into a bank account belonging to his wife, Svetlana Parnas, and this seemed "to be an attempt to ensure that any assets were held in Svetlana's, rather than Lev's, name."
Parnas and another indicted Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, went to Ukraine to try to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidates. They have also been accused of working on behalf of Ukrainian government officials to get Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine known for her anti-corruption efforts, removed from her post. Beyond that, not much is known about who the pair worked for and what they did, Bloomberg notes, and this court filing rises new questions about their clients. Catherine Garcia
With a 377-48 vote, the House on Wednesday passed a $738 billion defense policy bill that authorizes the creation of a Space Force as the sixth branch of the military and gives federal workers 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
The bill also gives troops a 3 percent pay raise. The House passed a version of the bill in July, and negotiators spent the last several months working out details and making concessions. The compromise bill does not include any provisions related to President Trump's border wall, and also drops several items touted by progressive Democrats, including blocking Trump from taking military action against Iran and banning the sale of certain munitions to Saudi Arabia.
The bill still has to pass in the Senate. Trump tweeted that he will sign it "immediately." Catherine Garcia