A4 WEDNESDAY,JANUARY11, 2017 LATIMES.COM
Home Delivery and
MembershipProgram
For questions about delivery,
billing and vacation holds, or
for information about our
Membership program, please
contact us at (213) 283-2274 or
membershipservices@
latimes.com.You can also
manage your account at
myaccount.latimes.com.
Lettersto theEditor
Want to write a letter to be
published in the paper and
online? E-mail
[email protected].
For submissionguidelines,
see latimes.com/letters.
Readers’ Representative
If you believe wehave
made an error, or you have
questions about our
journalistic standards
and practices, ourreaders’
representative can be
reached at
readers.representative
@latimes.com, (877) 554-
or online at
latimes.com/readersrep.
To urs
Schedulea tour of our
facilities. Call (213) 237-5757.Advertising
For print and online
advertising information,go to
latimes.com/mediakit or call
(213) 237-6176.
ReprintRequests
For the rightsto use articles,
photos,graphics and page
reproductions, e-mail
[email protected] or call
(213) 237-4565.
Times InEducation
To get The Times, and our
newspaper-basedteaching
materials, deliveredto
your classroom at nocost,
contact us at latimes.com/tie
or call (213) 237-2915.
The Newsroom
Have a stor y tip or
suggestion? Goto a
newsroom directory at
latimes.com/staff or
latimes.com/newstips or call
(213) 237-7001.
MediaRelations
For outside mediarequests
and inquiries, e-mail
[email protected].
L.A.TimesStore
Search archives, merchandise
and front pagesat
latimes.com/store.Howtocontact us
(800) LA TIMESA TribunePublishing CompanyNewspaper DailyFounded Dec. 4, 1881
Vol. CXXXVI No.
LOS ANGELES TIMES (ISSN 0458 -3035)
is publishedby the Los Angeles Times,
202 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Periodicals postage is paid at Los Angeles,
CA, and additional cities.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
the above address.
Home Delivery Subscription Rates (all
rates include applicable CA sales taxes)
Daily& Sunday:$15.00/week in most
areas.$780.00 annually.
Thursdayand Sunday: $4.00/weekin
mostareas. $208.00 annually.
WeekendPlus:$6.50/week in most areas,
$338.00 annually.
Sunday Plus:$4.00/week in most areas,
$208.00 annually. (includes 11/24).
Daily Plus:$6.42/week in most areas,
$333.84 annually (includes selected
Sundays: 1/3, 1/10, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31,2/7, 2/14,2/21, 2/28, 3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10,
4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29, 6/5,
6/12, 6/19, 6/26, 7/ 3, 7/ 10, 7/ 17, 7/ 24, 7/ 31, 8/7,
8/14, 8/21, 8/28, 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2,
10/9, 10/1 6, 10/23, 10/30,11/6, 11/13, 11/20,
11/27, 12/4, 12/11, 12/18, 12/25)
Weekday Plus:$4.85/week in most areas,
$252.20 annually.
All subscriptions may inc lude up to eight
Premium Issues per year. For each
Premium issue, your account balance will
be charged an additionalfee up to $3.
in the billing period when the section
publishes. This willresult in shortening
the lengthof your billing period.
ScheduledPremium Issue dates (subject
to change without notice): Holiday
Shopping-11/20/16, Year inReview-12/25/16,
The Envelope-2/26/17, Dodgers/Angels-
4/2/17, Favorite Road Trips-5/28/17.
Printed withsoy-based ink onrecycled newsprint fromwoodbyproducts.THE NATION
Stanford basketball: In
the Jan. 8 Sports section, an
article previewing the
UCLA-Stanford basketball
game referredto Stanford’s
Reid Travisas Travis Reid.
The error also appeared in a
USCgame preview box in
the Dec.31 Sports section.Missing director:In the
Jan. 8 California section, a
photo caption with an
articleabout missing music
video director Trevor
Peterson being found dead
gave hisfirstnameasTravis.If you believe thatwe have
made an error, or you have
questions about The Times’
journalistic standards and
practices, you maycontact
Deirdre Edgar, readers’
representative, by email at
readers.representative
@latimes.com, by phone at
(877) 554-4000, by fax at
(213) 237-3535or by mail at
202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles,
CA 90012. The readers’
representative office is
online atlatimes.com/
readersrep.FOR THERECORD
WASHINGTON —Eight
of President-elect Donald
Trump’sCabinetchoicesare
walking into Senate hearing
rooms thisweek to explain
why they should help lead
the country. But all of them
canexpectto beupstagedby
Trumphimself,whoisgiving
his first news conference
Wednesday since winning
the election.
Aconfluence of news
events in one ofWashing-
ton’s busiest weeks will
makeithardforTrump’sop-
ponentsto focus nationalat-
tention on any individual
Cabinetbattle,despitevast
implications for theecono-
my, foreign relations, immi-
grationand other prime is-
sues.
Trump has been adept at
using his Twitter feed,
staged appearances and
provocative statementsto
divert attentionfrom thorny
problems, includinga group
of Cabinetchoices who have
inspired intense opposition
from liberalgroups. He has
built anticipation for
Wednesday’s appearance in
part by breakingwith recent
tradition in which presi-
dents-elect publi clytook
questions within daysof be-
ing declared the election
winner. The forum withre-
porters in New York will
mark Trump’s first formal
newsconference sinceJuly.
And it’s hardly the only
marquee politicalevent on
the docket. FBI Director
James B. Comey joined
other intelligence officials
Tuesday for hisfirst appear-
ance on Capitol Hill since an
election that had many
Democrats seething at him
over thelate reemergence of
the bureau’s investigation
into whether Hillary Clinton
mishandled sensitive infor-
mation when shewas sec re-
tary of State. President
Obama delivere d his fare-
well addressthe same night,
makinga final case for his
legacy. The GOP-controlled
Senate will make its initial
assault on that legacy this
week as well, witha set of
marathonvotes thatwould
begin the process of unrav-
eling Obamacare. Houseac-
tion on the Affordable Care
Act isexpected to clos e the
week Friday.
“It’s a little bit like a
whiteout in a blizzard,” said
AngelaKelley , executive di-
rector of the lobbying arm of
the Center for American
Progress, which has teams
of researchers waging con-
firmation battles. Trump“is
amaster at manipulating
how the media paysatten-
tion to him.”
Democrats say Trump
and Republican Senate
leaders are movingtoo fast
on the confirmation hear-
ings for his Cabinetchoices,
manywith great wealth and
potential forconflicts of in-
terest,whohavebeenhastily
or not fully vetted. They
point to a letter from the
Government Ethics Office
saying the failure of Trump’s
picks to complete ethics
contractspriorto theirhear-
ings thatspell out how they
would resolve conflicts of in-
terest would be unprece-
dented in modern times.
Republicans in the Sen-
ate, who spent the last eight
years weathering accusa-
tions of obstruction, say
Democrats are simply bitter
they lost the election and
should let Trump, who has
never served in government,
assemble histeam to ensure
asmooth transition. They
note that Obamawon ap-
proval for eight members of
his Cabinet, plus one hold-
over from President Bush’s
administration, in time for
his first day in office.
“All of these little proce-
duralcomplaints are related
to theirfrust rationathaving
not only lost the WhiteHouse,but having lost the
Senate,” Sen. Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell
(R-Ky.) said thisweek on
CBS’ “Face theNation.” “I
understand that. But we
needto,sortof, grow up here
and get past that.”
McConnell pledged
Tuesdaythat a “la rge num-
ber” of Trump’s pick s would
be in placeon Day One.
Obama’s Cabinet picks
werenot aswealthyon aver-
age as Trump’s and more of
them had already served in
government,exposing them
to earlier scrutinyover their
personalfinances. They also
had begun the ethicsreview
process in many casesbe-
fore their Cabinetappoint-
ments had been announced
publicly.
Pushing Trump’s selec-
tions through quicklycould
prove risky for the presi-
dent-elect and his partyshould something embar-
rassingturn up after they
are confirmed.
“Thesepeople who say,
‘Hurry up, hurry up, ’ it ’s like
having the suspiciousguy
behindyouintheairportline
and telling the TSAto hurry
up,” said Richard Painter,
who served as chief ethics
lawyer for Bush.
Democrats scored a par-
ti al victory Monday when
Republicans agreed to delay
what would have been a
ninth hearing thisweek, for
Betsy DeVos, the billionaire
whom Trump haschosento
leadtheDepartmentofEdu-
cation.DeVos will testify be-
fore the Senate Health, Edu-
cation,Labor and Pensions
Committee nextweek. Two
otherswere removed from
the Wednesday docket,
which had been especially
crowded, forcing senatorsto
hopscotch among hearings.But Trump spokesman
SeanSpicersaidthatthede-
lay in DeVos’ hearing had
nothingto do witha lack of
vetting, dismissing Demo-
crats’ complaints.
“This isapolitical tactic,”
he told reporters.
Spicer said the transition
team had held more than 30
practice hearings, in which
Trump’s Cabinet pick s have
collectivelyanswered 2,
questionsto prepare them
for an onslaught ofconfron-
tational inquiries from
Democrats.
DeVos, as of Tuesday
afternoon,did not have an
ethics agreement posted on
the website of the Office of
Government Ethicsoutlin-
ing howshe would dispose of
potentialconflictsof inter-
est.Neither did two other
Trump picks with hearings
this week: WilburRoss, cho-
sen to lead the Departmentof Commerce,and Ben Car-
son,Trump’spicktoleadthe
Departmentof Housingand
Urban Development.
Theethics office’s direc-
tor, WalterShaubJr.,wrotea
scathing letter to Senate
Democrats andMcConnell
on Friday, complaining that
the “schedule has created
undue pressure” on ethics
officials “to rush through
these importantreviews.”
“For as long asI remain
director, OGE’s staff and
agency ethics officials will
notsuccumbtopressureto
cut cornersand igno re con-
flicts of in terest,” he added.
Ethics attorneys said it
was importantto take a de-
liberative process that
would give senators and the
publictime to absorb the ar-
rangements.
Trump’s selections are
not the only ones who have
financialconflicts to resolve.
Thepresident-elect,whodid
not disclose his taxreturns
during the campaign, has
delayedexplaining how he
would ensure a firewall be-
tweenhis presidency and his
business projects around
the world.Trump previously
promisedto devote a De-
cember news conferenceto
the subject, but the appear-
ance was delayed until
Wednesday, when questions
from reporters are expected
to cover a broad range of is-
sues that have emerged
since his victory.
Conflict-of-interest laws
governing Cabinet officers
do not apply to Trump,
though the presidency is
covered under both public
expectation anda clause of
the Constitution barring
him from receiving gifts
from foreign governments.
Theanswersto serious
questions,though, could be
lostamidtheclutterofactiv-
ity, including Trump’s own
timefielding questions.
“There’s a lot coming on
every front, ” said Sen.
Debbie Stabenow of Michi-
gan, part of the Democratic
leadershipteam.“We’ll allbe
watching for future tweets.”noah.bierman
@latimes.com
[email protected]In a busy week, where’s the focus?
Tr ump’s planned news
conference is likelyto
divertattention from
his Cabinet nominees.
By Noah Bierman
andLisa Mascaro
SENATE MAJORITY LEADERMitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged that severalCabinet picks, despite some
fierce Democratic opposition,would be inplace on Day One of Donald Trump’s presidency.AlexWongGetty ImagesWASHINGTON — On
the eve of hisfirst newscon-
ference in more thanfive
months, President-elect
Donald Trump faces unveri-
fiedallegationsthatRussian
officials hadgathered com-
promising information
about his personal life and
politicalassociates, further
deepening thecontroversy
over Russian involvement in
the 2016 election.
The information iscon-
tained ina 35-page file that
was publishedTuesday by
BuzzFeed, which said itwas
publishing the material in
the interest of “transpar-
ency” but had not been able
to corroborate it.
Several news organiza-
tionsreported that senior
U.S.intelligenceofficialshad
included a two-page synop-sis of thefile in the materials
they presented to Trump
whenthey briefed him last
week onevidenceof Russian
involvement in the election
and that they had also in-
formedtop leaders of Con-
gress about the allegations.
The purpose of including
the materialwas to back up
theirconclusion that Russia
hadacted to hurt HillaryClinton’s campaign,gather-
ing information on both
sides in the election but only
publiclyreleasing informa-
tion damaging the Demo-
crats, according to CNN,
which first reported on the
briefing.
The material alleged that
Russia foryears had been
“cultivating, supportingand
assisting” Trump’s political
rise and possessed damag-
ing personaland financial
information thatcould be
usedto blackmail the presi-
dent-elect.
According to BuzzFeed
and CNN, the dossier was
compiledbyaformerBritish
intelligence agent whowas
hiredto do opposition re-
search by Trump’s Republi-
can opponents and later by
Democrats. Thereport was
preparedover the summer
and was providedto U.S.
analysts.
Thetwo-page summary
contained allegations that
there was a “continuingex-
change of information dur-
ing thecampaign between
Trump surrogates and in-
termediaries for [the] Rus-siangovernment,” CNNre-
ported, citingtwo national
security officials.
It also alleged that infor-
mation sharing between
Trump’s team and the Rus-
sianswent bothways. The
Russians provided Trump’s
aides with“valuable intelli-
gence” on Clinton,the re-
port said, while Trump’s as-
sociatesgave Russianope r-
atives information about
Russian oligarchs.
CNNreported thatthe
U.S. intelligencecommunity
vettedtheformerBritishop-
erative and found him and
his networkof sourcesto be
credible enoughto justifyin-
cluding some of the informa-
tion inreports providedto
elected officials.
Theexistenceof the file
has circulated among politi-
cal fig ures andreporters in
Washington sinceat least
October, when then-Sen.
Harry Reid wrote a letter to
FBI Director James B.
Comey saying that the FBI
possessed “explosive infor-
mation about close ties and
coordination between Don-
ald Trump, histop advisors,
and the Russian govern-
ment.”
Mother Jones ranan arti-
cle at that timereporting on
the existenceof the file and
sayi ng thatthe former
British intelligence opera-
tivehad provided his dossier
to the FBI.
Thereport on Tuesday
becamea viral sensationon
social media, andeven pro-
vided fodder for questioning
at Sen.Jeff Sessions’ Senate
confirmation hearing.
Sessions,whowaspicked
by Trumpto be hisattorney
general, said he was not
aware of the report and had
no contacts with the Rus-
siangovernment.[email protected]Report contains unverified
allegations against Tr ump
Dossier saysRussians
may have information
they could useto
blackmail him.By Del QuentinWilberTHE 35-PAGE FILEon Donald Trump andRussia
was compiledbya former British intelligence agent.EvanVucciAssociated Press