WASHINGTON — 

Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a decorated Navy SEAL, was accused by other members of his unit of war crimes, including stabbing a wounded prisoner in Iraq who was awaiting medical care.

After a military trial delayed by prosecutorial misconduct, Gallagher was acquitted of murder this summer but convicted of posing for a photograph with the prisoner’s corpse. He had texted the picture with a caption: “Got him with my hunting knife.”

Gallagher said he was railroaded by subordinates who chafed under his leadership. He found a powerful ally in Fox News, which brought his case to the attention of a more powerful ally, President Trump.

Over the weekend, Trump intervened to stop the Navy from stripping Gallagher of his membership in their elite ranks and taking away his SEAL badge, the Trident.

In doing that, Trump overruled his own secretary of Defense, Mark Esper; his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley; his secretary of the Navy, Richard V. Spencer; and the SEAL commander, Rear Adm. Collin Green.

“I’m standing up for our armed forces,” Trump said.

He was blunter last month. “We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!” he tweeted.

Let’s add up the damage here.

Trump has suggested that U.S. troops shouldn’t be prosecuted for murdering civilians, even though it’s a violation of military law. In addition to Gallagher, he has pardoned three Army officers convicted in military courts of murder, including one who killed an unarmed, naked Iraqi man during an interrogation.

Trump has made clear that military justice can be derailed by anyone with well-connected backing. And he has undercut the authority of the Pentagon’s entire chain of command.

“It’s an invitation to chaos,” Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale, told me.

“The president has weaponized the administration of the armed forces. Who gets promoted? Who gets to retain their aviator’s wings? Who gets to keep their rank? It depends on whether you have influential friends or a lawyer who can call the White House.”

Trump’s personal intervention in the administration of justice extends to civilian cases, too — at least when his friends are involved.

He has pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, one of his most vociferous allies, convicted of violating a court order to stop racially profiling Latinos; conservative author Dinesh D’Souza, another supporter, convicted of directing illegal campaign donations to a U.S. Senate candidate; and Conrad Black, a former newspaper mogul convicted of fraud, who wrote an enthusiastic book titled “Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other.”

The president also commuted the sentence of a woman serving life in prison for nonviolent cocaine trafficking charges — but only after reality television star Kim Kardashian West pleaded the woman’s case in the Oval Office.

Whatever the merits, all of those cases had one thing in common: None went through the Justice Department’s formal process for pardons and clemency. All were arranged through personal appeals to the president — a patronage channel that turns justice into a question of personal favors.

By the same token, Trump has often demanded that federal authorities investigate, or even imprison, his critics, adversaries and political opponents.

He provided a handy catalog of his targets in a single tweet after a federal jury convicted his longtime confidant Roger Stone on all charges, including lying to Congress and tampering with a witness.

“So they now convict Roger Stone of lying and want to jail him for many years,” the president complained, and then named a dozen supposed enemies, from Hillary Clinton to former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. “Didn’t they lie? A double standard like never before in the history of our Country?”

It sounds as if Trump’s already planning a pardon for Stone and other loyalists convicted of federal crimes in his service, including Michael Flynn, his first national security advisor, and Paul Manafort, his 2016 campaign chairman — presumably after the 2020 presidential election.

Meanwhile, the president and his lawyers say he is immune from every kind of prosecution.

His lawyers have argued that a sitting president cannot be investigated, let alone indicted — not even if he shoots someone on Fifth Avenue. His White House counsel claims the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry is somehow “unconstitutional,” and asserts he is exempt from answering congressional subpoenas.

As usual, Trump is saying the quiet part out loud. Through his pardons, both military and civilian, he’s sending a clear message: If you’re on his side, as former Navy Secretary Spencer put it, “You can get away with things.”

Trump is often criticized for breaking “norms,” a word that makes it sound like he used the wrong fork at a state dinner.

But his abuse of the pardon power, his sweeping assertions of immunity and his demands that the Justice Department bend to his will suggest what can happen if enough norms are broken over and over.

He has done his utmost to make the administration of justice an instrument to reward his friends and harass his adversaries.

He’s seeking to replace the rule of law with the rule of Trump.

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We’re back to 18. Eighteen Democrats seeking the party’s presidential nomination, trying to get some, any, voter attention before the caucuses and primaries begin.

The latest late entry to etch his name on the roster is one of the world’s richest men, who once ran one of its richest cities — a big-B billionaire who says he will fund his own campaign, taking no donations to show he “can’t be bought” but bringing derision from rivals that he is the one doing the buying.

Michael R. Bloomberg, former New York mayor and owner of a media company that bears his name, isn’t the only billionaire in the race. California’s Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, is also spending millions in pursuit of the White House.

But Steyer’s been in the race long enough to try to make a dent in early voting states. The former mayor — late to the game after saying months earlier he would not run — is aiming to do well on Super Tuesday, March 3, when Democrats in California and 13 other states make their primary preferences known. (Republicans vote in 13 states that day.)

That gives Bloomberg three months to try to sway voters that he is best positioned to take on President Trump, and his ads are already running on television sets across California. What do voters in the state think of his candidacy?

Rick Spickelmier, 60, San Francisco

Rick Spickelmier likes Michael Bloomberg. He appreciates the millions he’s spent promoting causes like gun control and addressing climate change.

But Spickelmier doesn’t think much of the billionaire’s bid for the White House.

“I’m not a big fan of businesspeople running for president,” the 60-year-old software engineer said Monday. Why not? Just look at Trump, he said with a laugh.

“I think somebody like Bloomberg or Trump tend to be the kings within their organization,” Spickelmier said. “That doesn’t work very well when you go into government, when you have to work with people to get things done. I think it’s just the wrong mindset.”

A political independent and self-described middle-of-the-roader, Spickelmier is leaning toward former Vice President Joe Biden. But he sees a continued role for Bloomberg and his Midas fortune.

“I like his ideas,” Spickelmeier said. “I’d like him to keep funding those causes — outside of government.”

– Mark Z. Barabak

Raynell Douglas, Inglewood

Raynell Douglas isn’t optimistic about the state of the nation.

“America is going down,” the cleaning-business owner said as she left Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen in Inglewood with a bag of side dishes for Thanksgiving. “People in other countries are over there laughing at us.”

Douglas voted for President Obama twice, and she voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 in hopes of helping her become the country’s first female president. The Democrat expresses no love for Trump: “I’ll pray for him. That’s all I’ll say about it.”

Douglas declined to give her age but says she’s thinking of retiring next year and is old enough to receive Medicare, a benefit she wants the next president, whoever he or she is, to protect. Douglas likes Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders but isn’t familiar enough with the junior U.S. senator from her own state, Kamala Harris, to form more than a generally positive impression of her.

Bloomberg is still mostly an unknown quantity to her. Douglas only knows he’s a billionaire with a history as a Republican. But given her fears that the country is on the wrong track, Douglas is willing to give Bloomberg a chance, especially if he’ll help the poor, the homeless and seniors — and do something to stem climate change.

“If he’s for something that’s right, I’ll think about him,” Douglas said.

– Tyrone Beason

~~~

Michael Paleno, 56, from West L.A.

Michael Paleno, 56, considers himself “semi-political” and is only somewhat following the election, he said.

“I just got burned out on it, to be honest with you,” the real estate appraiser from West L.A. said while getting coffee in Culver City. The registered Republican who has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past — Barack Obama, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton — plans on voting in the Democratic primary and is looking for a centrist candidate.

“Everything’s too far. It’s gone too far this way, and now the candidates think they have to go all the way over there to get people,” he said, spreading his arms to emphasize the gulf. “But I don’t think that’s the case.”

He said he’s unsure about Bloomberg’s candidacy and doesn’t know that much about the former mayor.

“I just know he’s a finance guy from New York. I know he just wants to beat Trump. He thinks he has what it takes,” he said.

“Here comes a guy that’s not a politician coming in, and I don’t know if it works or not, to be honest with you.”

– Melanie Mason

~~~

Jay Brown, 72, Sacramento

Jay Brown, 72, of Sacramento, said he doesn’t know too much about this presidential election because “I stopped watching TV … ever since Trump’s been in office.” Standing in his shop, where colorful African-made apparel is crammed onto racks and the walls are lined with photos of Muhammad Ali, Bob Marley and Malcolm X, Brown said that he takes voting seriously but waits until a few weeks before the election to start paying attention to candidates. Right now, “there are too many to think about,” said Brown.

King of Curls, a black hair and apparel boutique, is iconic in the state capital, known as one of the most diverse cities in the state. Its concrete block exterior is painted in Rastafarian colors, and the Martin Luther King Jr. quote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” is written on a poster board that hangs in the window.

“The last few months, I get it to what I’m going to look at, and then I decide right then,” said Brown of how he decides his vote. He said the economy and education are two of his top issues. “Education over everything I think should be free.”

But he wouldn’t give his vote to Sanders or Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both of whom support tuition-free college education and reductions of student loans, based just on that single issue. Brown is looking at “a combination of things,” including the economy, he said.

Brown said he is skeptical of Bloomberg because of his wealth. “He’s like the super-rich that was here at the beginning of this country, and he’s still from that line of thinking,” he said. “So he would have to something to show that he’s for the people.”

– Anita Chabria

~~~

Joel Perales, 34, East Los Angeles

Joel Perales was working Tuesday morning on a new fan hood at the Eggslut food stand in Grand Central Market in downtown L.A. The heating, air conditioning and ventilation technician wondered about Bloomberg’s spending choices, including his massive TV ad buy.

Perales, a 34-year-old independent who lives in East Los Angeles, voted for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein in 2016 and is leaning toward Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii in 2020.

Bloomberg carries no appeal for Perales. He knows he was New York City mayor, but otherwise does not know much about him.

“It’s suspicious that people are willing to invest all this money to become a public servant,” he said. “You don’t invest that kind of money unless there’s an outcome.”

To Perales, Bloomberg’s age is another downside. “A 77-year-old billionaire must be so out of touch with modern American culture, modern American labor, modern American food,” he said.

– Michael Finnegan

~~~

Phillip Aleman, 45, Van Nuys

Phillip Aleman, 45, wasn’t looking for another billionaire in the presidential race, but he’s keeping an open mind.

“Everyone has a right to run,” he said during a shopping trip at Westfield Century City mall on Monday evening.

The Democrat has been following the race closely and wants a candidate who works for the people and doesn’t take contributions from corporations. So far, he said, his top choice is Warren. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Harris are distant second choices.

Aleman, a national marketing director for Broadway shows, lived briefly in New York during Bloomberg’s time in office, but couldn’t recall how the mayor’s policies affected him.

The ultimate goal for 2020, he said, is to have a candidate who can beat Trump. He said he couldn’t see supporting Bloomberg in the primary, but the general election is different.

“He’s a billionaire, and I don’t feel we need another billionaire in the White House,” he said, “but if it’s him versus Donald Trump, then I will vote for Bloomberg.”

– Melissa Gomez

~~~

Kaitlin Overturf, 22, Riverside

Kaitlin Overturf, 22, of Riverside, supports former Housing Secretary Julián Castro’s presidential bid but has been discouraged by his meager showing in the polls — and even more discouraged by the fact that Steyer was on the most recent Democratic debate stage and Castro was not.

“You’re here because you have a lot of money,” Overturf said she thought of Steyer.

So Overturf was not exactly thrilled to learn that another self-funding billionaire had just entered the race and was announcing his arrival with an expensive series of television advertisements.

“I saw his ad 15 minutes ago on my TV. I’m not a fan,” Overturf, a college student, said of Bloomberg while sitting at a cafe inside a Barnes and Noble in Riverside on Monday afternoon. “I was sitting next to my mom on the couch — we both just looked at each other and rolled our eyes.”

Overturf doesn’t mind if a billionaire runs for president, and she’s not bothered by his age, either.

But she didn’t like Bloomberg’s late arrival, which she sees as opportunistic, and she’s bothered by what little she knows of his tenure as New York’s mayor. Last weekend, she watched a “Saturday Night Live” segment about Bloomberg newly apologizing for his “stop and frisk” policy as mayor, which she saw as self-serving, given his past defenses of the policing strategy that disproportionately affected people of color.

It didn’t help that the “SNL” segment came right after she watched another Steyer ad — the only other candidate whose TV ads she’s seen. “They’re not endearing themselves to me by running for president when there are other things they can be doing with their money.”

– Matt Pearce

~~~

Matthew Gomez, 28, Sacramento

Mathew Gomez, a computer science student at Sacramento City College, says he is “in between” Republican and Democrat and likes Harris so far. “She seems really promising,” Gomez, 28, said of the California senator. “She means what she says, and I think she’s probably going to stick to it.”

He was not impressed by Bloomberg.

“Yeah, you got money, you can just jump in the race like Donald Trump did, just buy your way into it,” he said.

“Be like everyone else. Earn your votes.”

When it comes to the next president, Gomez is looking for “someone who can do the job without putting up … red flags and making us look bad like Trump.”

– Anita Chabria

~~~

Jessica Lorenzo, 30, Long Beach

Jessica Lorenzo of Long Beach said she’ll start doing research on candidates as the March 3 primary nears.

“The most important thing is getting Trump out of office. That’s number one,” said the former doula and stay-at-home mom of three.

Lorenzo, 30, said she liked several candidates, including Harris: “She’s honest; she seems hardworking to me.”

But what she’d really like is another Obama in the White House. “I was very happy when Obama was president. … If Michelle would run that would be great!”

She had never heard of Bloomberg, but after being told he planned to not accept donations, she said, “That’s interesting. That seems good.”

She said as the election gets closer she will examine the candidates’ records. “What they stand for and what party they’re in. Is he a Democrat?”

– Seema Mehta

~~~

Morgan McGlothan, 23, Inglewood

For barista Morgan McGlothan, 23, the problem with the primary race isn’t just too many candidates, but that they’re all running to lead a federal government that she believes is out of touch with average working people.

“It’s so chaotic at this point and there’s no flashy, stand-out candidate,” she said. “So it’s been easy to tune out.”

McGlothan, who lives in Inglewood, considers herself a “radically liberal” independent, but she votes Democratic.

Bloomberg’s Republican Party roots take him out of contention as a possible candidate to support, she said. And as for his late entry into the crowded field: “We’re already so far into the race. Get over yourself.”

“I know I live in a bubble,” McGlothan said of the progressive political world she dwells in, “but no one that I know is even talking about him.”

McGlothan is taking a wait-and-see approach to the primary, but one thing is certain: “I don’t like Joe Biden,” she said. The former vice president, she added, “represents that old-school Democrat,” much the way Hillary Clinton did in 2016.

– Tyrone Beason

~~~

Matthew Berdiago, 20, Loyola Marymount University

Matthew Berdiago hadn’t heard that Bloomberg was running for president, or anything else about him.

Berdiago, 20, was waiting at Loyola Marymount University in L.A. for his Monday afternoon class to start. He plans to attend medical school and wants to support a candidate who advocates for access to affordable healthcare. He is leaning more toward candidates like Sanders and Warren.

He did like the fact that Bloomberg said he would not be taking campaign contributions.

“That’s something I feel like I’ve never heard about from a candidate,” Berdiago said, adding that Bloomberg’s decision gives him a reason to research his platform.

– Melissa Gomez

~~~

Archie Mendoza, 50, Santa Clarita

Archie Mendoza was a registered Republican for about 25 years. Now, the Santa Clarita resident said, he is “disgusted” with the Republican Party and by elected officials making excuses for Trump. Mendoza, 50, is now an independent.

The real estate agent said the last Republican presidential candidate he voted for was George H.W. Bush. Next year, he will vote for anyone who can beat Trump, he said. “I just want a candidate who’s going to win.”

For a while, Mendoza said, he believed that was Biden, until the former vice president’s campaign took hits from Trump and didn’t return them. The progressive candidates have gone too far left, Mendoza said.

Bloomberg helped transform New York while he was mayor, Mendoza said. The mayor’s stop-and-frisk directive was a problem, he said, but he credited Bloomberg for at least addressing crime in the city.

“He’s good. I’m interested to see what he does,” Mendoza said. “He can go toe to toe with Trump, I believe it.”

– Melissa Gomez

~~~

Zane Lowry, 27, Culver City

Zane Lowry and James Smith sipped coffee drinks from oversized mugs outside the Conservatory coffee shop in Culver City. They share progressive politics — both are not registered with a political party, voted for Sanders in the 2016 primary and are leaning toward backing Sanders or Warren next year.

Lowry said he was aware Bloomberg was flirting with a run, but hadn’t heard that he had officially jumped in.

“I’d imagine that he’s bigger on the East Coast, being from New York and everything,” Lowry said. “But I don’t know a whole lot about him, and I’ve also heard of him being discussed as one of the more moderate candidates in this race, trying to fill a vacuum left by Biden defectors. Personally, I’m not very interested.”

Smith was skeptical about Bloomberg’s self-funding pitch.

“Honestly, the way he’s jumped in and the language he’s used has sounded a lot like Trump’s campaign in 2016. That was the exact campaign that Trump ran on — he was going to spend his own money, he wasn’t going to take a salary, he was going to donate his salary,” Smith said. Trump, who has a fraction of Bloomberg’s wealth, ultimately did not self-fund his campaign.

He said he was not impressed with Bloomberg’s decision to jump in so late in the game.

“It really didn’t sound too genuine for me,” he said. “The language that he’s used has been primarily, ‘We just need to beat Trump, we need to beat Trump.’ That’s not my only agenda.”

– Melanie Mason

~~~

Fariba Beighlie, Seal Beach

Seal Beach architect Fariba Beighlie is an ardent supporter of Warren.

“I like everything about her. She’s strong. She’s well educated. She’s compassionate,” said Beighlie, who said she is in her 50s. “And I think she stands a good chance.”

She doesn’t think the rest of the field is strong enough to compete with Trump. She has heard about Bloomberg entering the race, but said she doesn’t know much about him.

“I just know that he’s a smart guy who knows how to make money. … I don’t know if he can represent everybody. I want somebody who’s more of a human, more in touch.”

She was thrilled, however, to hear that he would not accept donations.

“I think that’s awesome. And he can do it, he has the money to do it. He can probably get the votes,” she said. “If it comes to the point that I have to choose him over Elizabeth to make sure we get elected, as Democrats, then I would choose him.”

– Seema Mehta

~~~

Daniel Pearce, 20, Yucaipa

The news of Bloomberg entering the race came as a surprise to Daniel Pearce, 20, of Yucaipa, Calif.

Largely because Bloomberg’s existence was a surprise to Pearce.

“Never heard of him,” said Pearce, a college student and retail worker, as he hung out in the Galleria at Tyler mall in Riverside. “I know that sounds bad.”

This will be Pearce’s first time voting in a presidential election, and he plans to vote in the Democratic primary, though he hasn’t been paying close attention yet. He didn’t see any of Bloomberg’s massive ad buy because he doesn’t watch TV, and he didn’t like learning Bloomberg is 77 years old — “People don’t like to vote for somebody who’s not peak health.”

But the billionaire thing doesn’t necessarily bother him, as long as Bloomberg donates his money to causes Pearce supports, such as gun control and protecting the environment — “as long as they’re using their money for more than just themselves.”

Kristen Linares, 20, a college student from Yucaipa hanging out with Pearce who is currently interested in Harris, Warren and Sanders, said the wealth of “Bloomfield” or Steyer didn’t bother her, and she was pleased to learn about their large contributions to liberal causes.

“That is something important to me,” said Linares, whose top issues are gun control and climate change.

Pearce agreed. The big political spending “wouldn’t be the thing that makes us not for him,” Pearce said, adding, “If everybody’s a billionaire running, does it really matter?”

– Matt Pearce

~~~

David Hauschild, 75, Minneapolis

Members of the Hauschild and Norby families — most in town from Minnesota and Virginia and happily soaking up the Culver City sun — were eager to delve into politics during a morning coffee outing.

Lois Hauschild said she was following the presidential primary “very closely,” as her relatives laughed in agreement. “Every day. It’s like overload. I used to not to be into politics, but now since Trump has destroyed us, I’m into it every day.”

The family said they were well aware there was a new entrant in the race.

“I think he’s a centrist,” said Kristen Norby, reciting what she knew about Bloomberg. “Billionaire. I think he can stick it to Trump a little bit too. I think he can compete on the same level with Trump.”

“He said he would spend whatever it takes,” chimed in her father, David Hauschild. “If it’s successful, I like it. I don’t like the idea of someone buying the presidency or the nomination, but it’s so important that this man be defeated that I would bend my morals and my ethics in order to see that happen.”

But the family wasn’t ready to pronounce that Bloomberg would be the best positioned to beat Trump. “I don’t think we know enough about his stance on things,” Kristen Norby said.

But Bloomberg, like other septuagenarian candidates, will have to contend with his age weighing on the minds of voters, the family said.

“It’s important. Very important,” David Hauschild said. “Whatever age someone is today, they’re going to be at least five years older before they finish their term if they’re elected. That would make them one of, if not the oldest, president serving. And by the way, I’m elderly too. I’m not prejudiced against elderly people. But the rule of averages….”

Reese Norby, youngest in the group at 19, said, “For me, I can relate to Pete [Buttigieg, age 37] more than I can relate to Biden,” who is 77.

“The elderly?” California relative Andrew Hauschild suggested. “The elderly,” Reese repeated in agreement.

– Melanie Mason

~~~

Rey Camoras, 52, San Diego

Rey Camoras, 52, a San Diego software developer, was visiting downtown L.A. on Tuesday morning while his wife was at a medical appointment. Camoras is an independent who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and is leaning toward Warren or Buttigieg in 2020. Camoras is looking for a candidate “who is rational, non-impulsive, not corrupt.”

Camoras is familiar with Bloomberg’s record, and he won’t vote for him, “mostly because of his racist stop-and-frisk program that he expanded in New York City.”

“It didn’t really affect the crime rate,” he said. “All it did was make the lives of people of color more difficult in the city.”

Bloomberg reminds Camoras of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who flirted with the idea of running for president.

“He’s just a rich guy trying to buy his way into the White House,” Camoras said of Bloomberg. And he’s turned off by the candidate’s age: “That’s probably too old.”

Camoras does appreciate Bloomberg’s spending on gun control and the fight against climate change, both mentioned in a Bloomberg ad he saw Monday night. “That’s important, but it wouldn’t get me to vote for him,” he said.

– Michael Finnegan

~~~

John Cook, Ventura

“Choice is a really good thing, but when you’re trying to settle down to a candidate that will run against Trump, it’s almost too much now,” said Ventura Democrat John Cook said of the Democratic primary field as he took his dog, Finnegan, out for a walk Tuesday.

Cook said he knew of Bloomberg as a former mayor and his support for a soda tax. But he said Bloomberg choosing to self-finance his campaign worried him. “Money in politics concerns me in a huge way,” he said.

Bloomberg’s age also concerns him, Cook said, the same with Sanders, now 78, whom he supported in the 2016 primary. But he said he’s willing to look into Bloomberg by examining his policies and talking to his friends in New York about his time as mayor. “I have to do more studying.”

– Melissa Gomez

~~~

Todd Covington, 38, Long Beach

Todd Covington lived in New York during part of Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor and doesn’t have fond memories of his leadership.

“Everything was a mess,” Covington said, recalling what he described as Bloomberg’s tepid response to a work-stoppage among city workers that left New York’s streets poorly tended after a particularly bad snowstorm.

“He’s not available and he’s not accountable,” the chiropractor said. “We need someone who can stand up and say, ‘Maybe what I did last week didn’t work… Here’s what we need to do to get it right.’”

Now Covington lives in Long Beach, and he talked about the Democratic field during his weekly visit to Sip & Sonder coffeehouse on Inglewood’s historic main strip.

He could be open to voting for Bloomberg if the former mayor ran a transparent campaign and vowed to hold himself more answerable as president — and if he championed issues such as prison and education reform.

But Covington, 38, feels uneasy about Democrats’ prospects for defeating Trump. “They lack one common voice,” he said.

– Tyrone Beason

~~~

Michael Muir, 60, San Diego

The Democratic field did not need another billionaire to jump into the race, said Michael Muir of San Diego.

“We already have a billionaire [running], Tom Steyer, and he’s a very good philanthropist, and he’s done a lot,” said Muir, 60, a retired construction worker now in sales. “What I worry about Bloomberg, he was previously a Republican.”

One thing that does not concern Muir about Bloomberg: his age.

“He’s a wiser old fellow,” Muir said. “If someone takes care of themselves, they’re still sharp, I don’t see a problem with that.”

– Celina Tebor and Hafsa Fathima

~~~

Esther Brombart, 70, of San Diego

Retired preschool teacher Esther Brombart said she believes Warren is the best candidate to represent and work for the people.

“I just think that she is down to earth,” said Brombart, a San Diego resident who was walking around downtown Ventura with her family on Tuesday.

She doesn’t think as much of Bloomberg. “I’m not impressed right at the moment.”

The 70-year-old said she would research his platform to see what kind of candidate he would be, but she believes Bloomberg is wasting his money on his campaign.

“I just wish his money would go to help the poor, the homeless, the hungry,” she said.

– Melissa Gomez

Ben Garcia, 53, Azusa

Ben Garcia of Azusa stopped to eat a persimmon Tuesday on a bench across from the Angels Flight funicular in downtown L.A. Garcia, 53, an administrator at the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office, is a political independent who has not made up his mind on a 2020 presidential candidate, but he won’t support Trump. He voted in 2016 for a third-party candidate, but can’t remember which one.

The Navy veteran has heard very little about Bloomberg, but is open to supporting him once he finds out more; he doesn’t see Bloomberg’s spending as disqualifying.

“Now the naysayers are claiming he shouldn’t be able to buy the presidency.” Garcia is skeptical. “Says who? The guy who’s already in the race trying to win the presidency?”

As for Bloomberg’s age, Garcia said: “It concerns me, his age, but I think our median age is going up exponentially as we go on. If he’s still upright, if he still moves, he still has the mobility, let him take it.”

– Michael Finnegan

~~~

Christopher Macy, 65, Berkeley

“There’s something very insidious about most of this billionaire class,” said Christopher Macy, 65.

Macy was on a walk through downtown Berkeley with his border collie mix, Daisy, and had stopped to examine a house. He thought he might offer to repair its broken garage door if he could rent the garage to use for his home-repair business.

An independent who voted for Stein in 2016, Macy has been following this election cycle closely.

“I think the Earth is at stake. There’s a great silver lining with Trump to make a big change because he is sort of showing the level of corruption that already exists, because he’s so blatant about it.”

Protecting the environment and preserving democracy, at home and abroad, are Macy’s top concerns. Although he leans toward supporting Sanders now, that doesn’t mean Bloomberg’s billionaire status is disqualifying to Macy, who has also been impressed by Steyer and Gabbard.

“Mainstream Democrats are really selling us out, and there’s an opportunity to move beyond that entrenched power,” he said.

– Jeff Bercovici

~~~

Catherine Schoenherr of Ventura

Catherine Schoenherr of Ventura said she knew Bloomberg had entered the race, but he isn’t a candidate she would support.

She plans to back Sanders in the primary. “He’s had the same message unwaveringly for what, 30, 40 years. I really admire that,” the Democrat said.

Bloomberg’s status as a billionaire isn’t disqualifying, she said, but it comes down to his policies. She said she did not like that he backed the stop-and-frisk mandate in New York City, which she called “horrible.”

“I understand people can change,” she said of Bloomberg apologizing for the policing strategy, which disproportionately affected people of color. But she found the timing of his apology suspect.

“I know enough to know I won’t support him,” she said. “I wouldn’t vote for him over Bernie or Elizabeth.”

– Melissa Gomez

Sabina Mahavni, 19, Berkeley

As an environmental economics major planning a career in environmental law, UC Berkeley sophomore Sabina Mahavni, 19, expects to cast her first vote for Sanders in California’s primary.

Mahavni does not know much about Bloomberg’s background or positions, she said during a break from her shift at the Berkeley Student Food Collective. Having gone through active-shooter drills as a high school student in Granite Bay, Calif., she was glad to hear the three-term New York mayor had spent some of his wealth pushing gun control legislation

But that wealth itself is cause for skepticism in her eyes, even if it allows him to turn down money from special interests.

“I’m all in favor of not taking any campaign contributions, but I do have a little issue, maybe an internal bias, against billionaires, just in terms of the way they made their money in corporate America,” she said. “So it’s not really a plus for me.”

– Jeff Bercovici

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WASHINGTON — 

The effort to impeach President Trump still has months to run, but already has produced at least one clear winner: Rep. Adam B. Schiff has emerged from two weeks of public hearings as a rising star among Democrats, one with enhanced power to aid his House colleagues even as he bedevils the president.

With no special counsel involved in investigating Trump’s actions toward Ukraine, Schiff, a federal prosecutor before he won his Burbank-based congressional seat, has taken the role of lead inquisitor and public face of the probe. He’s the Kenneth Starr of the Trump impeachment — or to use the comparison he would prefer, the Leon Jaworski, special prosecutor during Watergate.

Republicans from Trump on down accuse him of unfairness and bias. Schiff’s fellow Democrats, however, have heaped praise on the way he kept Republicans at bay and maintained control during the impeachment hearings while generating enough news to keep the inquiry — and his name — in headlines for weeks on end.

“Most members of Congress from Los Angeles have a very low profile,” said Democratic strategist Rose Kapolczynski, noting the dozens of lawmakers who compete for attention in Southern California. “That all changed in the Trump era for Adam Schiff.”

Even before the hearings got underway, Schiff had emerged as one of the Democrats’ leading figures. He’s the top House Democratic fundraiser this year — bringing in $4.4 million through the third quarter, according to federal filings.

Schiff’s haul bested even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and powerhouse freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Those totals don’t include additional money Pelosi raises through the House Democrats’ campaign committee.

Schiff hasn’t had a serious election challenge since his first race in 2000, giving him latitude to spread that money widely. So far, he’s given to 44 vulnerable freshmen. Pelosi also tasked him with leading the fundraising for the “frontliners,” the freshman members who face the most electoral risk next year.

Schiff has helped those members even more with his management of the probe into whether Trump tried to strong-arm Ukrainian officials into helping him battle his domestic political rivals.

When the inquiry began, many Democrats feared — and a lot of Republicans hoped — it would follow the path of the Republican effort in 1998 to remove President Clinton based on Starr’s charge that he lied about sexual contact with a White House intern. A majority of the public rejected that effort, and it became increasingly unpopular as it wore on, harming the GOP.

That hasn’t happened this time. Polls show the impeachment inquiry has changed few minds — the country remains closely divided on whether to remove Trump from office. But Democrats have emerged more unified and have suffered no backlash, vindicating the decision by Pelosi, with whom Schiff is close, to give him and the Intelligence Committee the lead role.

Pelosi and Schiff share a similarly cautious approach that has sometimes frustrated colleagues on the party’s left but has won praise from Democrats in more conservative districts whose jobs would be on the line if the inquiry were viewed as overly partisan.

Schiff has long aspired to higher office, but has been stymied by the difficulty of using a position in the House as a springboard in a state as big as California. In 2015, when he thought about running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Barbara Boxer, a USC-Dornsife Los Angeles Times poll found only 19% of California voters recognized his name.

By contrast YouGov polling this year found him with 63% name recognition nationwide, putting him on par with former Gov. Jerry Brown and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York.

Now, a Senate vacancy might not be his only route upward: His role in the impeachment hearings has built a case among House colleagues that he could one day succeed Pelosi as speaker.

“Certainly if he wanted to throw his hat into the ring, I think he’d have a great deal of support,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough). “He’s obviously become a mega fundraiser and is known around the country.”

Several other Democrats have made louder overtures for the job, which is not expected to open up until after the 2020 election at the earliest. And House Democrats, keen on diversity, might balk at electing a white male — and another Californian — as Pelosi’s successor. But the impeachment process has significantly improved his prospects.

“I have personally seen and heard nothing but praise for him from the Democratic establishment,” said Margaret L. Taylor, a Brookings Institution scholar who previously worked for Senate Democrats.

Schiff, himself, is tight-lipped about any such speculation. In an interview shortly after last week’s hearings ended, he said he hasn’t thought beyond the investigation.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I’ve literally been saying to myself every day, I just need to get through the day.”

Democratic praise for Schiff is matched by his dramatically lowered stock among Republicans, who once considered him relatively bipartisan.

Trump and Republicans such as Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York have used their opposition to Schiff as a rallying cry for their own fundraising.

Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, a retiring Republican who worked closely with Schiff during the Russia investigation, criticized Schiff’s impeachment process as “very dictatorial.”

Schiff used the impeachment rules “to his full advantage, which created an un-level played field,” Conaway said.

“It’s great to be in the majority,” he added, sarcastically. “From time to time, the tyranny of the majority does work.”

Indeed, Schiff went into the inquiry with clear hopes of blunting Republicans’ ability to divert the proceedings as they were able to do in other high-profile congressional hearings this year, such as those with former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III or former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Through hours of hearings stretched across five days, Schiff sat stone-faced as Republicans sought to disrupt his plans, staring straight at witnesses or toward the back of the hearing room, seldom even looking at Rep. Devin Nunes of Tulare, his GOP counterpart on the panel.

He did muster a smile when Nunes handed control of the microphone back to Schiff at one point while warning parents to put their children to bed before the chairman spoke.

“I was glad we were able to maintain decorum even though my colleagues made for some very unpleasant listening from time to time,” he said in an interview after the hearings ended.

In the interview, Schiff refused to say whether he has made a final decision about impeachment, but left little to the imagination.

“We are going to have to make a decision about whether we’re prepared to say the kind of conduct that has been demonstrated in these hearings is compatible with the office of the presidency,” he said. “Are we willing to accept that kind of flagrant misconduct?”

The committee is preparing a report on its findings, which would then be passed along to the House Judiciary Committee, which would be empowered to draft an impeachment resolution on which the full House would vote, likely in late December.

Even as the inquiry leaves his panel, the spotlight is likely to remain on Schiff. He’s widely expected to be the Democrats’ lead messenger on impeachment through a House vote and as a leader of the House’s case when a trial is conducted in the Senate.

Schiff refused to speculate on his future role, saying it would be up to Pelosi.

One possibility is for him to present the case to the Judiciary Committee as Starr did in 1998, although he would probably face pointed questions from Republicans about his and his committee’s interactions with the whistleblower whose anonymous complaint kicked off the scandal.

Republicans have consistently criticized Schiff for indicating early on that his committee had not had direct contact with the whistleblower. In fact, the person did speak to a member of the committee’s staff before filing the complaint.

The staff member advised the whistleblower to get an experienced lawyer and follow the process set out in federal law, Schiff subsequently said, admitting that he should have made that clear from the outset.

Trump has also repeatedly attacked Schiff for his words in a September hearing in which the congressman recited a fictionalized version of the call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, using the tone of a Mafia boss.

While the president has denounced that as a lie, Democrats chalked it up as a minor misstep, a mere “blip” as one lawmaker described it.

Still, Schiff has embraced the enmity from Trump, who once dubbed him “Little Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff.”

His campaign website has taken to selling pencils as a fundraising gimmick.

The inscription offers a promise: “This pencil neck won’t break.”

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WASHINGTON — 

Michael Volkov ran his client, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, through a “murder board” in preparation for his recent testimony under the glare of TV lights in the House impeachment hearings.

Over more than a dozen intense days, Volkov and Vindman reviewed facts, dates and conversations and practiced answering meandering or bellicose questions from lawmakers.

As a final touch, the attorney tried to rattle the decorated Army officer and National Security Council staff member. Glaring menacingly over reading glasses, Volkov launched a harangue.

“I pulled my best Jim Jordan,” Volkov said, referring to the Ohio Republican known for his rapid-fire, high-decibel questioning of witnesses. “But I couldn’t throw him off. That is what you have to do in cases like this.”

Their labors paid off: Vindman came across as knowledgeable and unflappable in his Nov. 19 testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, part of the Democratic-led chamber’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to launch politically beneficial investigations.

For lawyers like Volkov, the impeachment proceedings provide the latest in a string of high-profile investigations that over the last few years have been a boon for Washington’s criminal defense bar.

Whether representing witnesses in the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, probes into scandals at various federal agencies or the Hillary Clinton email saga, white-collar defense attorneys in Washington say they have never been this consistently busy.

Such probes require a specialized blend of skills — finesse and the ability to navigate the intersection of law and polarized politics in an age in which social media amplifies every comment, every mistake, every accusation.

Lawyers for witnesses said much of their time has been spent helping clients navigate that fraught partisan landscape.

“This isn’t like answering questions in a witness box next to a federal judge,” said Ken Wainstein, a former top Justice Department official who represents a staffer at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.

“In situations like this, you spend a lot of time preparing for the political lines of attack and anticipating the political agenda behind them. You want to make sure your answers cannot be intentionally or unintentionally misconstrued for political purposes.”

While such investigations often raise a lawyer’s profile, they are generally money losers. Most government witnesses are either reimbursed by their agencies or through insurance programs that cap payments at about $300 an hour, far short of rates that can exceed $1,000 an hour.

“We do not make money on these types of cases,” said Charles Cooper, a legend in conservative legal circles who represents one of the impeachment’s most sought-after witnesses, John Bolton, the former national security advisor.

“They take a lot of time,” Cooper said. “They require extensive preparation.”

Barbara “Biz” Van Gelder represents two clients who have been questioned by House lawmakers: Timothy Morrison, the former senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, and Mark Sandy, a career employee at the Office of Management and Budget.

As a former federal prosecutor, Van Gelder said, she felt compelled to help government workers.

“If you are served with one of these subpoenas,” she said, “it can be a daunting process, especially on a government salary.”

Her clients, she said, were caught in a tough situation: Congress was demanding they testify; the White House was telling them not to show up.

Van Gelder counseled Morrison and Sandy that based on her reading of the law, they should appear if subpoenaed. She would fight back if questions strayed into areas of executive or other privileges.

During Morrison’s closed-door deposition last month, Van Gelder fended off questions about his conversations with the president, arguing such queries would have to be litigated in court on a question-by-question basis, according to a transcript of the proceeding.

“At this point it’s a hard stop,” Van Gelder told Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), chairman of the committee, cutting short one line of inquiry.

Van Gelder and several other lawyers said the impeachment proceedings were especially daunting because the White House and agencies would not grant lawyers or Congress access to witnesses’ notes, emails, records and call logs. The House was also working very quickly, she and other lawyers said.

Morrison had two weeks to prepare for his deposition and only a few days to review the transcript of that testimony before his public hearing on Nov. 20. Sandy had even less time — 11 days to prep for his deposition, she said.

“In cases like this,” Van Gelder said, “you are always sitting beside your client or behind your client and thinking, ‘I wish I had a few more hours to prepare.’ But you have to rely on your instincts and get them as prepared as you can.”

Lee Wolosky, an attorney for Fiona Hill, the NSC’s Russia expert, said he had never faced a situation so harried.

In the days before her public hearing, Wolosky and Hill were watching live television coverage of impeachment testimony.

“The ground was shifting even as we were preparing,” Wolosky said.

Volkov and Vindman tried to leave nothing to chance. As they reviewed depositions that seemed to be released daily by Democrats, Volkov surmised that Republicans would pounce on Morrison’s closed-door testimony that he had concerns about Vindman’s judgment. Morrison had testified that Hill had similar worries.

When Jordan pressed Vindman at his public hearing about Morrison’s critique, Volkov was ready. The attorney slid Vindman a piece of paper. It was a performance review, signed by Hill.

“I guess I’ll start by reading Dr. Hill’s own words,” Vindman testified, looking down at the evaluation.

“She attested to, in my last evaluation that was dated middle of July right before she left, ‘Alex is a top 1% military officer and the best army officer I’ve worked with in my 15 years of government service. He is brilliant, unflappable and exercises excellent judgment.’”

Jordan immediately shifted to another line of questioning.

“It was a beautiful moment,” Volkov said.

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Over the last year and a half, retailers have watched the dizzying pace of the U.S.-China trade war with a growing sense of trepidation.

When the Trump administration announced this year that consumer goods such as shoes and clothing could face a 15% duty, companies chose to get ahead of the tariff price hikes and stocked up on items as early as the summer. That means shoppers shouldn’t see higher prices reflected on their receipts on Black Friday or during this holiday season.

But if a new round of tariffs goes into effect in mid-December as planned, people could begin paying more for toys or big-ticket items such as laptops and smartphones by early next year.

“In 2020, it will be a big deal,” said James Bohnaker, economist at research and analysis firm IHS Markit.

Earlier rounds of tariffs levied by the Trump administration on Chinese goods largely targeted so-called intermediate goods, such as aluminum and plastic sheets, which are not finished products that can be bought in stores.

The Trump administration originally intended to subject consumer goods such as toys, laptops, smartphones and digital cameras to a 15% duty by Sept. 1, but put that off until Dec. 15, citing the potential effect on American shoppers during the holiday season.

Even with the delay, the impending tariffs have still been a major concern for the consumer electronics industry.

Since the tit-for-tat trade war began in spring of last year between the U.S. and China, that industry was hit by $15.5 billion in tariff costs that were either absorbed by manufacturers or passed on to consumers. The higher costs mostly applied to components and tech accessories such as cables and cellphone cases, said Rick Kowalski, senior manager of industry and business intelligence at the Consumer Technology Assn. trade group. In September alone, the consumer tech industry shouldered $2 billion in tariff costs.

If the new tariffs on consumer goods go into effect Dec. 15, companies up and down the supply chain, as well as retailers, will have to decide how they’ll handle the additional costs.

“Everybody is in a pinch,” Kowalski said. “That $15 billion has to come from somewhere.”

For some companies, that might mean passing the cost on to the consumer. JLab Audio Chief Executive Win Cramer told CNBC in August that the Carlsbad, Calif., company’s headphones would probably cost more as a result of tariffs. He also predicted that discounting would not be as strong this holiday season as it has been in the past.

“We’ve never seen this before,” Cramer said. “We don’t have a playbook to follow.”

The toy industry is also grappling with how to plan for the unpredictable. Companies have held off on investing in new product lines because of uncertainties over tariffs and pricing, said Rebecca Mond, vice president of federal government affairs for the Toy Assn. trade group.

In some cases, companies have chosen to absorb the cost of the tariffs, rather than risk losing customers.

Tom’s Model Inc., a 39-year-old toy company in downtown Los Angeles, upped its orders for a signature product, a battery-operated canine called the Lucky Dog, and ate a 10% price increase. The company has sold the $5.99 toy since its early days and it has nostalgic appeal, said Tommy Yip, owner of Tom’s Model and son of the founder.

“My father was known for that specific piece of toy,” he said. “I do want to retain our customer loyalty.”

Sometimes, though, negotiations with other players in the supply chain don’t go as expected.

Eric Tung of Torrance-based Fera, a ski clothing specialty company, thought he was in the clear when he ordered this year’s batch of insulated apparel from his vendors in China. The goods were in transit before Sept. 1, when the first round of tariffs on consumer goods was implemented.

But his items were hit with the 15% markup anyway. Tung tried negotiating with retailers in hopes that they would share the burden but was told they didn’t want their margins affected.

As a small, niche company, Tung said, Fera was forced to absorb some of the cost and pass the rest to consumers. A ski jacket that would cost $200 at wholesale is now priced for retail at $220, a 3% to 5% price increase, Tung said.

“I’m not Patagonia or North Face,” he said. “I can’t say I’m raising my prices and you’ll still buy from me. It’s not good for anyone — consumer or business — when you have big dramatic price increases.”

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WASHINGTON — 

Moving to offset the impact his trade war has had on rural America, President Trump has bypassed Congress to send some $20 billion in aid to farmers, mostly going to a bundle of states that are essential to his reelection chances next year.

The payments have ranged from as little as $2 for some small-scale farmers to more than $1 million each for some corporate agricultural enterprises.

To sidestep Congress, which has long considered price supports for farmers its exclusive domain, the administration cited an obscure law from the 1940s that was passed in the aftermath of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.

Until Trump, no president had ever used that law to make direct payments to farmers, let alone tens of billions.

The strategy bears some resemblance to the one Trump used to shift millions of dollars that Congress appropriated for the military to pay for sections of his border wall. Unlike the border wall money, however, the farm aid has not drawn challenges from Congress, perhaps because Democrats have their own political reasons for not wanting to oppose help for rural areas in politically important states.

The payments are likely to reach nearly $25 billion by early next year, making them roughly twice the net cost to taxpayers of President Obama’s auto industry bailout during the Great Recession of 2008. Even so, they may fall short of fully covering farmers’ losses from the trade war with China or fully mitigating the political fallout Trump has faced in some Midwestern communities.

It’s not that farmers are in open revolt against Trump. Surveys and interviews suggest most are sticking with him and hoping for the best. But the trade war’s impact — especially the uncertainty about future policies — could dampen enthusiasm come election day next year.

“Turnout is the key question: Are they just going to stay home or are they going to vote for Trump?” asked Katherine Cramer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin who has researched rural attitudes and the political and cultural divide between rural and urban Americans.

If farmers feel too pinched by the trade conflict, “the greatest impact will be a lack of enthusiasm — and they’ll stay home and not vote — which could make a huge difference,” she said.

For farmers, the cost of the trade war can be measured in lost markets in China, which has been by far the largest buyer of the soybeans and other grain crops that are the lifeblood of agriculture across the Midwest and Great Plains.

U.S. sales of soybeans to China exceeded $14 billion in 2016, but prices fell as trade tensions mounted. Soybean exports to China plunged to $3.1 billion last year.

Early last month, Trump announced that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would shortly be signing a “Phase 1″ agreement in which China would buy $40 billion to $50 billion of U.S. farm goods a year, about double the annual amount before exports to China plummeted last year.

That hasn’t happened.

And some farmers say they are wearying of Trump’s on-again, off-again rhetoric, with its still-unfulfilled promises of an imminent end to the conflict with Beijing.

Some farmers worry that China is developing new supply chains in Brazil, Argentina and elsewhere that may be hard to break even if the trade war ends.

Scott Henry of Nevada, Iowa, a small town roughly 40 miles north of Des Moines, backed Trump in 2016. And the 29-year-old, third-generation corn and soybean grower hasn’t given up on the president yet. Neither is he certain to vote for him.

“Trump has done just enough with tax policy and business regulations to keep people” supportive, he said.

But, he added, “I have no confidence that we’ll actually get anywhere on trade. What we’ve learned is there’s a lot of talk from this administration and very little action.”

Trump has “bought some votes from farmers” with the added farm spending, he said, adding that he’s a little troubled by the scale of the expense.

Blake Hurst, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, said he was “very pessimistic about any progress being made on trade.”

“So I think the conditions will be there for another round [of aid] in 2020. Politically, I’d be surprised if we don’t get some attention next year.”

In launching the new payment program, administration officials used a “truncated rule-making process,” said Jonathan Coppess, an expert in agricultural law at the University of Illinois. That’s raised concerns about the administration’s legal authority and methodology.

Trump justified the spending by claiming that he was using tariff money collected from China to pay for it.

But U.S. importers and American consumers, not China, foot the bill for tariffs on Chinese imports. And the cash payments to farmers actually come from taxpayer funds through the borrowing authority of the Commodity Credit Corp., acknowledged Richard Fordyce, the Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency administrator.

In an interview, Fordyce said the administration moved ahead of Congress because it saw the need and wanted to respond directly to the impact from retaliatory tariffs.

“The payments are coming at a time when the farming years are very cyclical,” he said. “These payments are coming at a time when it’s critically important for them and their farming operations.”

Even before Trump launched the trade war with China in 2018, many American farmers were struggling. Total net farm income dropped in 2014 and every year since. Farm bankruptcies have been rising.

Taken together, federal subsidies may end up accounting for roughly a quarter of the nation’s total farm net income this year, agricultural experts say.

The problem was partly of farmers’ own making: The industry had become so productive through years of automation and consolidation that it was yielding larger and larger supplies. Yet domestic demand wasn’t keeping up, creating surpluses that have led to lower commodity prices and profits.

“It’s the export market that helps re-balance supply and demand,” said Chad Hart, an ag economist at Iowa State University.

Undoubtedly Trump’s cash injection has been important and life-saving for some farms. Without it, Ron Moore, 63, reckons he and other farmers would be driving their tractors to Washington in protest, as they did in 1979.

The Chinese “really like our soybeans, but we were told they can’t buy any soybeans from the U.S.,” said Moore, a farmer in Roseville, Ill., recalling his visit a year ago to China where he met with buyers.

After 42 years of farming, banks and other lenders are starting to lean on him, Moore added.

“They never used to ask me what my grain sales were. Now they’re asking, ‘How many contracts do you have? What have you sold?’”

Helpful as it’s been, he said, Trump’s aid “absolutely hasn’t made us whole.”

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There are still several landmark, franchise-defining moments on the horizon of the Kings’ organizational rebuild — days that will likely be marked by momentous trades and pivotal personnel decisions.

To get there, the Kings need days like Wednesday first.

Ahead of a home game against the New York Islanders, the club shook up its roster. Forward Matt Luff and defenseman Paul LaDue were recalled from the American Hockey League. Forward Carl Grundstrom was optioned to the minors. Defenseman Alec Martinez, who suffered a wrist laceration this week, was placed on injured reserve, defenseman Derek Forbort was sent to the AHL on a conditioning assignment, and forward Trevor Lewis was activated from injured reserved.

In the big picture, these transactions are simply footnotes in the frenzy of a long regular season.

Nothing the Kings did Wednesday will likely alter their overall organizational course. But, it might allow them to better appraise their current assets and inform key decisions for the future.

Grundstrom is an example. The 21-year-old winger was a key prospect acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Jake Muzzin trade last year. In spurts, he has shown himself to be an NHL-caliber player already. He scored five goals in 15 games with the Kings to end last season and five more in four games with the Kings’ AHL affiliate Ontario Reign earlier this campaign.

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But he still isn’t a finished product. In his nine games with the Kings this year, Grundstrom has zero goals and four assists. In Monday night’s game, he was benched for long stretches in the third period, watching from the bench as the Kings overcame a three-goal deficit.

As coach Todd McLellan indicated Wednesday, Grundstrom’s playing time potentially could have been slashed again had he stayed on the Kings’ roster for Wednesday’s game. Instead, by going back to Ontario, Grundstrom will get more opportunities, during both five-on-five play and on special teams. In turn, the Kings will get a larger body of work from which to assess his game.

“I don’t think Grunny is playing in the American League today because he’s been a poor player for the L.A. Kings,” McLellan said. “I think Grunny is playing in the American League today so he can experience some other scenarios he’s not getting here.

“It makes no sense when you can walk 12 steps across the parking lot” — the Reign and Kings practice in the same El Seguendo facility — “and play in a game to have a 21-year-old that’s only played 30 NHL games watching.”

In Grundstrom’s place, the Kings recalled forward Matt Luff, an undrafted 22-year-old who burst onto the scene early last season before fading back to the minors, where he began this season. Now in his third full pro campaign, and set to be a restricted free agent this offseason, Luff’s future with the club is uncertain. The more NHL games he plays, the clearer his situation will become.

“It’s about bringing energy and bringing my game, my character,” said Luff, who is back with the Kings after a four-game stint this month. “I’m a pretty outgoing guy, so not shying away from how I played in Ontario. Bringing it up here. It keeps getting me recalls, so just keep playing to my game and hopefully there will be no more recalls, no more send-downs and I’m just here.”

The same goes for LaDue, a 27-year-old right-handed defenseman also in the last season of his contract. He was recalled Wednesday to bolster the blue line in the wake of Martinez’s injury. Really, the thinking can be applied to most players filling out the middle portion of the Kings’ depth chart. After last season’s dismal result, the club finds itself, in many ways, in evaluation mode.

“A lot of that needs to be done between now and a certain part of the season,” McLellan said.

Which is why, before the Kings can make giant leaps forward — either by bringing up their highly regarded prospects or moving on from the veterans who guided them in the past — they hope these roster moves represent small steps in the right direction first.

Josh Woods’ main goal for his final collegiate game is simple: Make sure Joshua Kelley leaves the Rose Bowl smiling.

While the gregarious running back has seemingly been grinning constantly since he stepped onto the UCLA campus three years ago as a walk-on transfer from UC Davis, Woods admits he’s seen Kelley hesitate at points this season. The tribulations of yet another losing season seem to be strong enough to almost dim one of the brightest personalities in Westwood. That is why Saturday’s season finale against California is so important to Woods.

“I just want to make sure he’s maximum Josh Kelley-ness,” Woods, the redshirt senior outside linebacker said smiling.

Kelley, who is 16 yards away from becoming UCLA’s first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher since Paul Perkins in 2014 and 2015, is one of at least 13 Bruins seniors who will be honored Saturday at the Rose Bowl. The Bruins (4-7, 4-4 Pac-12 Conference) hope to send out the seniors with a victory, a prize that’s been rare during the past two years while they helped lead a rebuild under coach Chip Kelly.

“The best thing we can do is go out and try to win a football game this week to honor those guys the right way because they’ve been outstanding for the two years they’ve been here,” Kelly said. “They’ve been the kind of guys you can count on every single day.”

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The fourth-year players leave with the dubious distinction as one of the only senior classes to graduate without a winning season in UCLA’s history. The last time the 100-year-old program had four consecutive losing seasons, it was 1924 and the school was the Southern Branch Grizzlies.

The on-field struggles will stay with senior linebacker Krys Barnes, whose status for Saturday’s finale is unclear due to a knee injury he reaggravated last Saturday against USC.

“UCLA had the winning record when I came here and that’s kind of why I came,” Barnes said. “It kind of sucks. You feel like, ‘Dang, I was the reason. I came here and we started losing all these games.’ But I’ll take it as a learning lesson. There are still positives from all the losses.”

Woods and Keisean Lucier-South, two redshirt seniors, are the only players on the roster who experienced a winning season when the Bruins went 8-5 in 2015. Woods played in just one game that season because of a hamstring injury.

Woods’ fifth and final season at UCLA was the first he played in all 12 games. The Upland High alumnus missed ast season with a gruesome knee injury, which he suffered on the heels of a shoulder injury that cost him the second half of his junior season. He played in 11 games as a sophomore, starting only six.

“I’m just grateful I’m going to make it through the season, so far, as healthy,” Woods said. “Playing through all the good and bad times here has just made me into a better man.”

The seniors became mentors for many of the young players who jumped into starting roles this season. Woods said teaching them was “one of the biggest joys” for him.

“This game is bigger than just the football at the end of the day,” redshirt junior tight end Devin Asiasi said of the seniors leaving. “We make friends, we make relationships and bonds that last forever. So it’s going to be a tough one, but at the same time, on to bigger and better things for them.”

Etc.

Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson practiced for the first time this week. His status is still questionable for Saturday. . . . Barnes and Lokeni Toailoa participated in drills Wednesday for the first time this week. . . . Sophomore defensive back Kenny Churchwell worked with trainers on the sideline after he suffered an undisclosed injury during Saturday’s 52-35 loss to USC.

TAMPA, Fla. — 

Joe Maddon is entrusted with the future of the Angels. Hired last month as manager, he will be counted on to end the team’s five-year-long playoff drought. But his reach goes beyond the baseball field and into the homes of sick teenagers, into a once controversial community center he helped erect in his fractured Pennsylvania hometown, and into homeless shelters in Tampa Bay and Chicago.

They are disparate causes. Yet Maddon, 65, has bundled them under a universal goal.

“You never know how it’s really going to stick, or make an impression, or help somebody,” Maddon said. “It’s the proverbial line: If you can help one person, and that one person is motivated in a way to act … it’s worth it.”

::

People pushed shopping carts full of personal belongings down boardwalks in Orange County. Others slept on the filthy floors of public beach restrooms.

Maddon caught that peek into the plight of the homeless 16 years ago riding bicycles along Sunset Beach with his wife, Jaye. The pervasiveness of the issue had escaped his notice before. He was stunned. He said to Jaye: “I can’t believe that somebody has their whole life in a shopping cart. There it is right there. That’s their whole life.”

Jaye suggested he find a way to make a difference. Maddon promised he would, but added a caveat. At the time, he was an Angels coach on track to become a major league manager. He wanted to advocate for people in need when he acquired a larger platform.

Maddon followed through. He and Jaye immersed themselves in the Tampa Bay community upon relocating there for Maddon’s first managerial job in 2006 with the Rays. They created an extended holiday they called “Thanksmas” to serve the needy. They began with homemade meals, Maddon cooking family recipes for hundreds throughout the holiday season.

Their efforts evolved and expanded, but Maddon never strayed from his initial pledge.

Through their Respect 90 Foundation — named for the distance to first base Maddon requires his players to run full speed — he and Jaye have donated services to and raised money for outposts of the Salvation Army, the Homeless Empowerment Program in Clearwater, Fla., and Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa, Fla. The charity also sponsors youth boxing programs in Chicago and Maddon’s altruistic efforts during spring training in Arizona. And it is tied to a community center in Maddon’s hometown of Hazleton, Pa.

Before long, Respect 90 will host the first “Thanksmas” event in the Anaheim area. Maybe Maddon will find a locale near the old Harpoon Harry’s restaurant in Sunset Beach. It was there, many years ago, that Maddon worked on a much smaller scale to help the homeless, passing out clothes and supplies to whoever wandered by.

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Maddon grew up comfortably in Hazleton. His father, of Italian descent, ran a plumbing business. His mother, of Polish heritage, raised three kids upstairs in one half of a double home shared with other family members. He never wanted for anything.

Yet it was in that city of about 25,000 that Maddon established his worldview.

Many of Hazleton’s residents came from Europe in the late 1800s to mine coal. They imbued the town with their cultures. Their families prospered and propagated. They were not all the same, but they learned to live with each other.

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The demographic changed by the mid-2000s. Latino families relocated from New York and their native lands in search of jobs. Rather than welcome them, many Hazleton residents crossed their arms.

When he returned one offseason, Maddon recognized that his beloved hometown had changed. The thriving downtown had been abandoned. People had fled.

“I just thought my city was dying a slow death,” Maddon said.

So, he vowed to fix it. A year later, in the winter of 2011, Maddon, Jaye, his cousin Elaine Curry and her husband, Bob, introduced the town to the Hazleton Integration Project. They planned to create a community center that would serve all the town’s children. Through educational endeavors and arts and sports programs, it would unite people of different cultures in the way the Little League fields of Maddon’s youth brought together Irish, Polish and Italian kids.

Several thousand came through the doors when the center, funded primarily by taxpayers and housed in an old parochial school, opened in 2013. It has never served fewer than 1,000 people a week, Bob Curry said recently.

It was a smashing success in the Latino community. It took a little longer for the longstanding members of the town to come around.

Joey, what are you doing? critics asked Maddon. Others stopped Curry in the grocery store to tell him their families were doing the “wrong thing.” “Joe, you are not a social engineer,” The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader wrote after Maddon seemed to disrespect townspeople while speaking about the Hazleton Integration Project in a 2017 interview with NBC News. “You are a baseball manager.”

Yet the Integration Project, under the direction of the Currys and with the continuous input of the Maddons, is bridging the gap between longtime residents of the coal-mining town and the newer population of immigrants. Time has bred tolerance among many citizens, Maddon said.

These days he can rattle off a list of the Hazleton Integration Project’s accomplishments — partnerships with Penn State and Temple University, programs benefiting young scholars, and a myriad of community initiatives — and chuckle proudly.

“There’s so many things we’ve done and are still on the horizon,” Maddon said from his Hazleton home. “It’s gotten to the point now where people that have been here before are accepting and understand these are wonderful people just like us. They maybe speak a different language, but the kids speak English beautifully and their parents are learning. It’s like my grandparents. It’s no different.”

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Cole Eicher sat in a coffee shop in Clearwater, Fla., and flipped through the pages of a bound book of memories. There were images of him at fundraisers, posing with Tampa Bay community leaders and speaking at packed conference halls.

And in the middle of one page, he pointed to a photo of him with Joe and Jaye Maddon at an event in 2018.

Eicher fought brain cancer when he was 12. A few years later, a surgeon removed his colon because the gene mutation that contributed to his medulloblastoma would eventually create cancerous cells in the digestive organ.

Eicher is cancer-free. He golfs for his high school team and intends to enroll in business classes at the University of South Florida next fall. His is about as normal a life as a teenager can lead.

Maddon and Eicher were speaking at the same function in 2018 and he heard Eicher share his bout with cancer. Maddon was so in awe of Eicher’s passion — “He’s different in all the best ways,” Maddon said — that he began his own speech with some self-deprecation.

“Oh my God,” he said. “I’m supposed to follow this kid?”

On the spot, Maddon offered Eicher and his family an all-expenses-paid trip to Cubs spring training for an annual head-shaving event that raises money for pediatric cancer research. While in Arizona, Eicher spoke to reporters about his initiative, sheared off Maddon’s hair and connected with Cubs players and fellow cancer survivors Anthony Rizzo and Jon Lester.

“What Joe Maddon did through those three or four days, me just connecting with that team — it was a great experience,” said Eicher, who raises awareness for pediatric cancer through the Gold Together initiative.

Eicher is one of several children in the Tampa Bay and Chicago communities that Maddon has brought to spring training in Arizona since Respect 90 was formed. Not far from where Eicher lives is the pioneer of the group, Aiden Hawk.

Unlike Eicher, Hawk is still battling disease. The 17-year-old has suffered since birth from chronic health issues that have only recently been ameliorated by new medications. There is yet a parallel between Eicher and Hawk: Hawk, too, says he is better off for the experiences he shared with Maddon.

Hawk’s body was failing him when a business acquaintance of Maddon learned of the teenager’s struggles. Maddon flew Hawk, his parents and his brother to Arizona during spring training in 2017 to give them a trip that didn’t include a stint in a specialized medical center.

They were treated to meals cooked with Hawk’s food allergies in mind, introduced to players and watched games. They were showered with affection.

“It was an extremely pivotal moment for our family,” said Hawk’s mother, Lisa. “We had gone through some really bad times with Aiden’s health and then this happened and it really changed Aiden’s outlook — and all of our outlooks.”

These families have benefited from Maddon’s generosity — and Maddon has drawn inspiration from them.

“When you’re that young and critically ill, I think it accelerates your method of thinking,” Maddon said. “You think things that 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds would never even possibly think about unless [they’re] faced with mortality. These kids have taught me that if you really sit down and evaluate things properly, you can accelerate your thinking.”

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A portion of the population Maddon and his wife have spent more than a decade helping filtered through a building in downtown Tampa one evening this month.

About 80 people sat down for a catered meal hosted by the Salvation Army and provided by Respect 90. The foundation’s director, Rick Vaughn, encouraged attendees to save leftover chicken sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies for their next meals. They took the pairs of socks — homeless people often struggle to acquire that simple but essential piece of clothing — handed to them at the door. Their “thank yous” and “God bless yous” resonated as they stepped back out into the cool night air.

At “Thanksmas” events such as this, the foundation has fed about 1,650 people this year. It has also provided more than 1,700 backpacks and distributed 1,200 pairs of socks. Over the last two years, Respect 90 has donated about $600,000 to more than 60 nonprofits. That figure doesn’t include an additional $100,000 in in-kind donations.

Maddon, of course, cannot eradicate homelessness. There were nearly 7,000 homeless people in Orange County at the beginning of the year, according to the county point-in-time survey. Nearly 60,000 were counted in Los Angeles County. Both populations had increased since they were last counted.

Maddon can’t change their circumstances, but he can to try to soothe them.

“He’s got this great human heart, this great sense of humanity, that when someone is hungry and homeless on the street, if he is a position to do something about that, he can almost not walk away,” said Curry, Maddon’s cousin-in-law. “That’s who he is. Whether it’s homelessness, feeding the hungry, pediatric cancer or helping shift the paradigm of immigration in his hometown, those are all callings to Joe.”

Delino DeShields Jr. and Ramon Laureano looked at each other and laughed as the question was being asked, knowing they likely had the same response.

Both players have something of an insider’s perspective on the Houston Astros sign-stealing controversy, having been drafted by the organization. Neither player made it to the majors with Houston.

“I’m not really surprised by it,” DeShields Jr. said.

“I was with them a couple of years ago; it doesn’t surprise me,” Laureano said.

DeShields Jr., an outfielder for the Texas Rangers since 2015, was drafted by Houston with the eighth overall pick in 2010. Laureano, an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics since 2018, was drafted by the Astros in the 16th round in 2014.

They were at the Easton headquarters in Thousand Oaks for the first “Future of Baseball Social Media Summit” but couldn’t escape the biggest story in baseball as they sat in an office before the event started.

“I would talk about it all the time with my teammates, whether it was on a plane or in the clubhouse after a game,” DeShields Jr. said. “We’d wonder how certain things happened. One day they would look really bad, and the next they’re putting everything in play. I was in that organization and I’m close with a lot of those guys and I’d ask them, ‘What’s different about you guys? How do you go from being the worst team in baseball as far as strikeouts go to being the best team as far as not striking out?’

“They would just say they stick to their approach and have a selective, aggressive mind-set. They were teaching us that when we were coming up so it made sense, but looking back maybe there was more to it than that. I always thought they were really good at picking up signs, but what gets lost is they were also really good at not letting other teams pick up their signs. We could never figure it out. They were really good at the sign stuff on both sides. The paranoia when teams played them was extreme. You knew when you went into Houston you had to really be prepared.”

With the Rangers, Laureano is in the same division as the Astros. He said Houston stealing signs was a constant topic of conversation in the clubhouse and dugout.

“We’d talk it about it before the game, after the game, during the game,” Laureano said. “It’s obvious. You hear those whistles and sounds when we’re at Minute Maid Park. It’s one of those things where we know they’re cheating but that’s OK, we have to find a way to beat them.”

Major League Baseball is investigating accusations the Astros stole signs through illegal, electronic methods in 2017 when they beat the Dodgers in the World Series. Mike Fiers, now a teammate of Laureano’s in Oakland, pitched for the Astros from 2015 to 2017 and was among four players who, in an article published by The Athletic, described how the team stole signs.

“I didn’t really understand why he would say something,” DeShields Jr. said, “but at the same time you know how bad it is for the game if you just sit back and don’t say anything and let it slide. You have guys who are coming up, facing this team and they get their confidence shot and they don’t recover from it ,and the truth is they never had a chance. I don’t why he came forward, but he did.”

What MLB’s investigation might reveal, and what it might do if there was cheating, is unknown.

“They really need to do something that is going to scare the … out of everybody in baseball,” DeShields Jr. said. “It can’t be slap on the wrist. They have to scare the … out of everybody. If not, then everybody’s going to try it to win a World Series.

“I don’t think they can strip their title and act like that year just didn’t happen, but the league needs to penalize them heavily if the facts are the facts. Everyone is responsible for it from the ownership to the manager. I like [Astros manager] A.J. [Hinch] personally, but if he was allowing this stuff to happen he should get a significant suspension.”

Laureano agrees the league would need to come down hard on the Astros and make an example of them to stop any potential for a trend developing.

“They should suspend everyone who knew about it and was involved,” Laureano said. “We were in the same division as them and suspected it. It’s not fair for the guys affected by it, especially the opposing pitcher. Stealing signs is part of the game when you’re on second base and things like that, but you can’t take it to another level like they did. Because of them, teams started to have multiple signs with nobody on base. I’d never seen that before. You started to see mound visits with nobody on base. The whole thing was crazy.”

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