Newsletter: Today: Trump to Comey: Thanks. You’re Fired. I’m Not Under Investigation.

President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey sends shock waves through Washington. I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

Trump to Comey: Thanks. You’re Fired. I’m Not Under Investigation.

President Trump called it a move “that restores public trust and confidence” in the FBI. His critics likened it to President Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre.” Trump fired FBI Director James Comey with a letter that took pains to note that the president “greatly appreciate[s] you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation.” But Comey wasn’t in Washington to receive it; instead, he was speaking to agents in L.A. as the news broke on TV. Later, in a scene reminiscent of O.J. Simpson’s slow-speed chase, news choppers followed his caravan to LAX. The stated reason for Comey’s abrupt ouster: his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, of course. But with the FBI investigating whether anyone close to the president colluded with Russian intelligence agents to influence the election, there are calls for an independent special counsel.

When the ‘Right Thing’ Becomes a Fireable Offense

Why now? That’s a big question. Candidate Trump once praised Comey’s actions investigating Clinton’s email use and led his rallies with “Lock her up!” chants. “What he did was the right thing,” he told supporters in October. Now, President Trump is arguing it was the wrong thing. Follow the bouncing ball and see how Trump has changed his position on Comey many times over the last year.

More About the Comey Firing

-- Annotated letter: The Trump administration’s case for dismissing Comey.

-- Before his sudden fall, the FBI director was once seen as above the fray and untouchable.

-- Do you know Andrew McCabe? He assumes control of the FBI for now.

-- As for Trump’s Twitter account: He saved his first post-firing tweet to attack Sen. Charles Schumer, a.k.a. “Cryin’ Chuck.”

Caught Between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump

After weeks of tensions between North Korea and the U.S., a new wildcard has been thrown into the mix with the landslide election of Moon Jae-in as South Korea’s president. The left-leaning politician is being sworn in today. While he tries to repair a beat-up nation at home, he’ll also deal with the challenges posed by Kim Jong Un — and by Trump. Here’s how Moon may look at opening up dialogue with the North while not getting too dependent on Washington.

A ‘Backroom Deal’ on LAPD Discipline?

When Angelenos go to the polls Tuesday, they’ll decide the fate of the police reform measure Charter Amendment C. It would allow police disciplinary panels to be made up entirely of civilians, which the ACLU and other groups oppose because they feel they would be too lenient. Interviews and records obtained by The Times show those groups were effectively locked out as Mayor Eric Garcetti and the LAPD’s rank-and-file officers union worked on the overhaul. The deputy mayor and union say there was no “backroom deal.”

Steve Lopez Gives His 2 Cents on Spending Millions for the Homeless

Columnist Steve Lopez recently made a stop in Venice, “where gentrification meets alienation, where money and misery live next door,” he writes. “No self-respecting, civilized metropolis should have 50,000 homeless people, many of them physically and mentally ill. And residents and merchants shouldn’t have to step over urine puddles and poop piles.” What to do about it? A panel meets today to recommend spending the money from Measure H, and Mr. Lopez has a few suggestions.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Chef Wolfgang Puck receives The Times’ first Gold Award.

-- Walk-up music, superstitions and more: 15 hot topics with Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías.

-- Actor Tituss Burgess reveals what he loves on TV. Hint: He binges on “Shameless.”

CALIFORNIA

-- The LAPD says specially trained SWAT officers opened fire from a helicopter hovering over a scene for the first time during a Sunland shootout in which the suspect was killed.

-- Santa Monica’s new back-to-nature beach project has drawn the attention of rare birds. But will beach-goers let them live in peace?

-- L.A. school officials have approved a set of policies they said will provide families with a sanctuary from federal immigration raids.

-- Why did Winchester rifle heiress Sarah Winchester keep building her San Jose house? Columnist Robin Abcarian investigates.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- It’s fitting that Kathryn Hahn, an actress with a knack for cringe-inducing comedy, is the star of a new Amazon series whose title makes people squirm.

-- A new opera called “Vireo” was filmed in Alcatraz and is believed to be the first major opera project designed to be binge-watched Netflix-style.

-- It’s back?! “American Idol” went off the air last year, but it will return, this time on ABC.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Tam Spiva was a writer of TV series in the 1960s and ’70s, most notably for “The Brady Bunch” — he wrote the fan-favorite trilogy “Hawaii Bound” episodes. Eventually, he went on to pen novels. Former Times TV critic Howard Rosenberg remembers Spiva, who recently died at age 84 on the same day his daughter got married.

NATION-WORLD

-- A tunnel containing radioactive materials caved in at southeastern Washington’s Hanford Site, one of the nation’s most challenging nuclear cleanup sites.

-- Reviving the debate over Bears Ears National Monument has also revived racial tension in a remote corner of Utah.

-- An Indonesian court sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison for blaspheming the Koran.

-- Audrey Tang is young, transgender and an anarchist, and is leading Taiwan’s drive to become a digital powerhouse.

-- A study has found the odds of a drug having a significant safety issue after winning FDA approval are nearly 1 in 3.

BUSINESS

-- Snapchat has changed through acquisitions, and it’s hunting for more people and tech to buy.

-- Trump dubbed the Taj Mahal casino “the eighth wonder of the world” when it opened. Documents show it went for 4 cents on the dollar when it was sold in March.

SPORTS

-- Coach Mike D’Antoni has transformed the Houston Rockets, making people forget his time in New York and Los Angeles.

-- It’s do-or-die for the Anaheim Ducks tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. Can they break their Game 7 drought?

OPINION

-- Absolutely nothing about James Comey’s firing passes the smell test.

-- Caitlyn Jenner on Trump and what it means to be a transgender Republican.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- A lot of liberals have embraced the gig economy, but can they survive it? (The New Yorker)

-- Germany’s military is facing a full-scale scandal about right-wing extremism. (Reuters)

-- The enduring mystery of King Tut’s father. (National Geographic)

ONLY IN L.A.

If San Francisco is where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars, should L.A. be where a gondola climbs all the way to the Hollywood sign? The idea has been around for a while but hasn’t gone anywhere. This week in a TV interview, Mayor Garcetti floated it again. Is it just pie in the sky?

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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