Politics

Portraying their initiative as an anti-smoking measure, the tobacco industry is airing radio spots in which a woman identifying herself as a school vice principal claims that Proposition 188 will keep children away from cigarettes. But California’s top health official, and other critics of the measure on the Nov. 8 ballot, call the ad one … Read more

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) talks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) If the president of a country is implicated in running a massive drug-trafficking network, you might think that would be a disqualifier for receiving U.S. aid. But not if the country is Honduras and the Trump administration holds the purse … Read more

Erwin Knoll, called by consumer advocate Ralph Nader “the most versatile progressive journalist in America” and branded a political foe by Richard Nixon, who placed him on the presidential enemies list, is dead. Knoll, the longtime editor of The Progressive magazine who successfully battled the government for the right to print secrets about the hydrogen … Read more

In a stinging rebuke to President Clinton, a Senate panel Wednesday killed the candidacy of the first black ever nominated to be Air Force secretary because of doubts about his candor and veracity. On a dramatic tie vote, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted down the selection of Daryl Jones, a Florida state senator and … Read more

Throughout his more than two decades in politics, President Clinton has dazzled aides and supporters with his encyclopedic memory, an uncanny ability to recall names, faces, dates and conversations. Yet on television screens nationwide last week, Clinton could be seen telling a federal grand jury again and again that he could not remember details of … Read more

Sexual misconduct allegations against Arnold Schwarzenegger roiled California’s gubernatorial recall race Thursday as the Republican apologized for having “behaved badly” toward women while insisting he would champion their cause. Responding to a Los Angeles Times story on accusations by six women that he touched them in a sexual manner without their consent, Schwarzenegger dismissed the … Read more

Ben Carson, left, endorses Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in Florida on Friday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Ben Carson threw his support behind Donald Trump on Friday, calling the Republican presidential front-runner a “very intelligent man that cares deeply about America.” Americans need to know that there are “two Donald Trumps,” Carson said. … Read more

She may be the most successful lawyer in Los Angeles. In the past two decades, Nancy J. Mintie and the Inner City Law Center have never lost a case. But her clients are not corporate giants or superstar athletes. They are those with whom society has grown impatient: the poor and the homeless. At a … Read more

An unlikely trio — a law professor, a part-time local prosecutor and a lawyer focused on advocating conservative issues — is playing an increasingly central role in representing President Trump in the Russia investigation as he struggles to find top talent for his diminished legal team. All three are connected to Jay Sekulow, Trump’s last … Read more

AS DEMOCRATS change the drapes on Capitol Hill and relegate Republicans to minority status, both parties would do well to look to the ancient East for advice on how opposites should — and should not — work together. In Hinduism, two of the main gods are Shiva the destroyer and Vishnu the preserver. They are … Read more