WASHINGTON — 

The FBI owes Carter Page an apology.

That wasn’t the headline after the Justice Department released a blistering internal review of the FBI’s Russia investigation. The top news was that the FBI had solid grounds to investigate, and it wasn’t a partisan hoax, as President Trump angrily insists.

But Page’s ordeal — as a former Trump campaign advisor who became the target of court-approved wiretapping — tells us something disturbing about the FBI.

In July 2016, when the FBI opened its investigation into contacts between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign, Page was one of the first Americans the agency looked at.

The voluble businessman had traveled to Moscow in search of oil and gas deals, wangled meetings with Russian government officials, and told them he was active in the Trump campaign.

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That earned Page a starring role in the so-called dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British spy who specialized in Russian cloak-and-dagger. Steele’s compendium of raw, unverified intelligence alleged Page was part of a “well-developed conspiracy” between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Based largely on Steele’s allegation, the FBI asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a warrant to intercept Page’s communications, including his texts, emails and calls.

But the FBI omitted two pieces of exculpatory evidence from its application to the FISA court.

It didn’t mention that some FBI and CIA officials had doubts about the reliability of Steele’s information. And it didn’t say that Page had reported his contacts with Russia to the CIA, which meant he at least kept U.S. officials informed.

The FISA court OKd the application and later renewed it three times — including in mid-2017, well after Trump had taken office — without realizing it was acting on incomplete information.

“That made it appear that the information supporting probable cause was stronger than was actually the case,” the report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz found. “Basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, handpicked teams on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations.”

One more thing: The surveillance produced nothing of value.

Page wasn’t the linchpin of a well-developed espionage conspiracy; just an overeager businessman with more ambition than smarts. Another wiretap captured the assessment of a Russian intelligence officer: “I think he is an idiot.”

Even idiots deserve to be protected by the Bill of Rights.

The injury done to Page doesn’t mean the FBI investigation was groundless. The special counsel investigation led by Robert S. Mueller III documented a vast Russian intelligence operation aimed at Americans during the 2016 race, and said Trump’s aides “welcomed” Russian offers of help.

It certainly doesn’t support Trump’s wild charges that the inquiry was directed by President Obama, and that the FBI officials who ran it were guilty of “treason.”

To the contrary, the inspector general concluded that the FBI had legitimate reasons to investigate Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election.

But he also said the FBI was guilty of “serious performance failures” in its probe.

How did the FBI screw up so badly? Simple.

Despite its outsize reputation, burnished with good public relations and Hollywood productions, most of the FBI is just an oversized police force — with some brilliant investigators, many who are less than brilliant, and an often-sclerotic bureaucracy.

In the 1990s, the FBI failed to connect the dots when Saudi Arabian student pilots trained in the United States for the terrorist plot that would become 9/11.

In 2007, an inspector general slammed the FBI for exceeding its authority in investigations aimed at potential terrorists, including physical searches, wiretaps and data collection that had not been properly approved.

And the FBI’s vaunted forensic laboratories have run into recurring problems of mismanagement and mishandled evidence.

This time, to his credit, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray — whom Trump appointed — accepted the inspector general’s findings and promised “meaningful remedial action,” including more than 40 specific steps.

Of course, every government official promises meaningful action when things go bad. Congress needs to keep close watch on whether Wray follows through.

Here’s a reform he should add: Whenever the FBI asks the FISA court for a warrant, an independent advocate should review the application. The advocates, five lawyers with security clearances, are allowed to participate in the court’s deliberations — but only if the government or judges ask.

Alas for Wray, he’s already been slammed by his bosses, Trump and Atty. Gen. William Barr.

“I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me,” Trump complained Tuesday on Twitter. “With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI.”

Since the president has fired Wray’s predecessor, James B. Comey, his use of the word “current” looked ominous.

And Barr dismissed any notion that the Russia investigation was legitimate. He told NBC that it was an effort by the Obama administration “to spy on political opponents [and] affect the outcome of the election.”

So here’s a challenge for Trump critics who are also skeptical of the FBI: In this fight, whose side are you on?

I think it’s an easy choice. Trump should get out of Wray’s way and let him try to fix the FBI.

Otherwise we may discover how fragile our liberties are. Just ask Carter Page.

WASHINGTON — 

Atty. Gen. William Barr leveled blistering criticism at how the Russia investigation was conducted, saying Tuesday that it was based on a “bogus narrative” that the Trump campaign might have conspired with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

Barr spoke to NBC News one day after the release of a Justice Department inspector general report that found problems with the FBI’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, but also concluded that there was a proper basis for opening the probe and that it was free of political bias.

Barr, a vocal defender of President Trump, said he disagreed with the inspector general that the FBI had enough information to open the investigation and particularly to use surveillance on a former Trump campaign aide. He said that law enforcement officials involved in applying for those warrants had withheld from judges what he said was key exculpatory information that they had received.

He also blamed the Obama administration for telling Russia not to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and not sharing the same warnings or concerns with the Trump campaign. The FBI discussed whether to give a so-called “defensive briefing” to the Trump campaign, but ultimately concluded that if someone in the campaign was working with Russians they could be tipped off and cover up their potential criminal behavior, the report said.

“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by an irresponsible press,” Barr said.

He said he saw “gross abuses” in the process of obtaining the surveillance warrant and “inexplicable behavior that is intolerable.”

He added: “The attorney general’s primary responsibility is to protect against the abuse of the law enforcement and intelligence apparatus, and make sure it doesn’t play an improper role in our political life. That’s my responsibility, and I’m going to carry it out.”

Barr’s disparagement and dismissal of a key finding of the inspector general’s report is likely to deepen criticism from Democrats and some Republicans that he acts more like the president’s personal lawyer than the attorney general.

Barr has enthusiastically embraced Trump’s political agenda and faced intense criticism after he cast special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report as a vindication for the president — though the report was harshly critical of some of Trump’s actions and pointedly declined to exonerate him of obstruction of justice — and launched a probe to investigate the investigators, something Trump has repeatedly said should happen.

During an appearance at a Wall Street Journal event in Washington, Barr said he thought the evidence used to open the Russia investigation was “very flimsy.” He also criticized the FBI for not briefing the Trump campaign about its investigation and for withholding exculpatory information from the court that issued secret surveillance warrants.

The long-awaited report issued Monday rejected theories and criticism spread by Trump and his supporters, though it also found “serious performance failures” up the bureau’s chain of command that Republicans are citing as evidence that Trump was targeted by an unfair investigation.

The review by Inspector General Michael Horowitz knocked down multiple lines of attack against the Russia investigation, finding that it was properly opened and that law enforcement leaders were not motivated by political bias. Contrary to the claims of Trump and other critics, it said that opposition research compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele had no bearing on the decision to open the investigation known as Crossfire Hurricane. And it rejected allegations that a former Trump campaign aide at the center of the probe was set up by the FBI.

Barr, echoing Trump’s comments from earlier this month, suggested that Americans should wait for the findings of John Durham, the prosecutor Barr selected to investigate how intelligence was gathered in the Russia inquiry. Both Barr and Durham have rejected the inspector general’s conclusion that there was sufficient evidence to open the FBI investigation

Durham, in a brief statement Monday, suggested his own investigation would back up his disagreement.

“I think he will have a broader appreciation of all the facts and a determination can be made,” Barr said of Durham. “I don’t know what the motivations were and I’m not saying there was an improper motivation, but I think it is premature to rule definitively there wasn’t.”

The inspector general’s report found that the FBI had an “authorized purpose” when it opened its investigation in July 2016 into whether the Trump campaign was coordinating with Russia to tip the election in his favor. The report said the FBI had cause to investigate a potential national security threat.

The inspector general identified 17 “significant inaccuracies or omissions” in applications for a warrant and later renewals from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

The research compiled by Steele, colloquially known as the Steele dossier, which the FBI used as part of its application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, was “garbage,” Barr said.

“I think it was a gross abuse,” he added.

Some assertions in the dossier were unsubstantiated; others were corroborated by U.S. intelligence.

The report also details that the FBI used an informant to set up and record a September 2016 meeting with a high-level Trump campaign official. The official wasn’t identified by name, but was not a subject of the Russia investigation, the report said. While the information collected wasn’t used during the Russia inquiry, it may appear to lend support to assertions by Trump and Barr that the campaign was spied upon.

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press that the report had identified significant problems with how agents conducted the investigation and that it was “important” the inspector general found that the inquiry was properly opened and not affected by political bias.

Trump lashed out at Wray on Twitter, saying he would never be able to fix the FBI.

“I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me,” Trump tweeted. “With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”

Wray has largely been spared the public ire Trump vented at former FBI Director James Comey — whom he fired in May 2017 — and at Andrew McCabe, who temporarily replaced Comey but was later fired by the Justice Department. Wray inherited a year-old Russia investigation when he was installed in August 2017, and, by that point, the probe was already in the hands of Mueller.

NEW YORK — 

President Trump is paying up after conceding that he used his charitable foundation at times as a personal piggy bank.

Trump has wired $2 million to pay a court-ordered fine for misusing the Trump Foundation in part to further his business interests and 2016 presidential run, New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James said Tuesday. The money will be distributed to eight charities.

About $1.8 million left in the Trump Foundation’s bank account was also split among the nonprofits getting fine money, along with $11,525 that Trump paid back for spending foundation money on sports memorabilia and champagne at a charity gala.

New York state Judge Saliann Scarpulla imposed the penalty last month after Trump admitted to a series of abuses outlined in a lawsuit brought against him last year by James’ office.

“Charities are not a means to an end, which is why these damages speak to the president’s abuse of power and represent a victory for not-for-profits that follow the law,” James, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Funds have finally gone where they deserve — to eight credible charities.”

Trump sent the money in the last few weeks, but that development didn’t become public until the sides formally agreed Tuesday to close the case.

James’ office had sought to block Trump from writing off the fine payment as a charitable donation on his taxes, but Scarpulla hasn’t ruled on that request.

Trump Foundation lawyer Alan Futerfas declined to answer questions about Trump’s tax plans.

In a statement, he suggested James was making a big deal about Trump’s payment to distract from the news in another case: a judge’s ruling that there was no proof ExxonMobil misled investors over the costs of climate change.

“The Foundation case settled weeks ago with all issues resolved and all funds going to charity,” Futerfas said. “We are very pleased with the result.”

After Scarpulla’s ruling last month, Trump assailed a series of Democratic attorneys general of New York who were involved with the suit, calling it “4 years of politically motivated harassment” and saying they should have spent their time investigating the Clinton Foundation.

Trump acknowledged in a legal filing that he allowed his presidential campaign staff to coordinate with the Trump Foundation in holding a fundraiser for veterans during the run-up to the 2016 Iowa caucuses. Scarpulla said the event was designed “to further Mr. Trump’s political campaign.”

The president admitted, among other things, to arranging for the charity to pay $10,000 for a 6-foot portrait of him. He has also accepted restrictions on his involvement in other charitable organizations.

The settlement was an about-face for Trump. He had tweeted, “I won’t settle this case!” when it was filed in June 2018.

Trump’s fine and the charity’s funds will be split evenly among eight organizations, including Citymeals on Wheels, the United Negro College Fund and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Each charity is getting about $476,000.

Charities are barred from getting involved in political campaigns, but in weighing the Iowa fundraiser, Scarpulla gave Trump credit for making good on his pledge to give $2.8 million that his charity raised to veterans’ organizations.

Instead of fining him that amount, as the attorney general’s office wanted, the judge trimmed it to $2 million and rejected a demand for punitive damages and interest.

At the time of the Iowa fundraiser, Trump was feuding with then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and refusing to participate in the network’s final Republican presidential primary debate before the Iowa caucuses.

Instead, he held a rally at the same time as the debate at which he called on people to donate to veterans’ charities. The foundation acted as a pass-through for those contributions.

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Carrying the American flag when the Bellflower St. John Bosco football team comes onto the field is an appropriate honor for offensive tackle Drake Metcalf. Smart, tough and relentless, he’s an example of what anyone can become in football and in life when you’re focused and determined to succeed.

The Stanford-bound senior has used his blocking skills to help the Braves (12-1) reach the CIF state championship Open Division bowl game Saturday against Concord De La Salle (12-1) at Cerritos College. And his success in earning a college football scholarship despite not being 300 pounds is an important lesson on what schools are looking for in a lineman.

Metcalf provided insight into how he sold recruiters on what his future could hold.

“A few schools in the beginning of my recruiting were skeptical taking a chance on me because I’m not the biggest offensive lineman,” he said. “I’m 6-2 1/2, 275 pounds. When I was a sophomore, I was 240 pounds. It’s hard to take a chance on a guy like that because they don’t know if he’ll be able to gain that much weight.

“I have to say to the coaches when you’re offering kids who are 340 and 360 pounds, it’s hard sometimes to help them lose weight as well. It goes both ways. It was definitely a hard, long process, but at the end of the day, as I say and my parents say, ‘Film doesn’t lie.’ You can either play or can’t play.”

Watching Metcalf on film, you see an aggressive lineman pushing and plodding, thinking and maneuvering. He was so active in St. John Bosco’s 39-34 victory over Santa Ana Mater Dei in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game that he could have played the Energizer Bunny in one of those TV commercials.

“Everyone that’s kind of under weight on the offensive line, don’t give up,” Metcalf said. “Just keep eating and be as mean as heck because that’s what got me exposed to the media and recruiting and to the coaches — my physicalness and nastiness and my technique.”

A straight-A student who never backs down, Metcalf knows how to correct mistakes and focus on completing assignments.

“The touchdowns are great and the first downs and catches are great, but I want to make sure at the end of every whistle, my guy is on the ground five yards down field,” he said.

Where did he get this attitude?

“I have an Irish-Scottish background,” he said. “We’re kind of warriors on the battlefield. My dad implemented that old-school 1980s-style offensive lineman mindset, ‘Just get out there and beat the heck out of the guy across from you.’ And make sure he pays for lining up against you.”

As a unit, the St. John Bosco offensive line came through big time in the Division 1 final, giving quarterback DJ Uiagalelei the time he needed to pass for a school-record 444 yards and five touchdowns with one sack and help the Braves rally from a 28-5 deficit.

“That showed the resiliency of the St. John Bosco Braves,” Metcalf said. “Not many come back from that large of a deficit. It shows how much pride we have for the program.”

Metcalf said holding the American flag was delegated to him by former lineman A.J. Rodriguez, and he’ll soon appoint someone to hold the flag for next season.

“I’m a patriot guy,” Metcalf said. “I’m strong in my beliefs and I have a lot of pride in the men and women who serve our country.”

One last time he’ll get to carry the American flag onto the field, then try to do his job of “steamrolling” opponents.

“We want to make sure every second we’re on the field we’re fighting for the guy next to us,” he said.

Not even Jarret Stoll knew what Tyler Toffoli was saying.

Spumoni?

“No clue,” said Stoll, the former Kings player and current FS West intermission analysts. “Sorry Toff.”

Toffoli had gone off-script during Tuesday’s first intermission report, having been pulled aside to describe the sharp-angle goal Dustin Brown had scored with 10 seconds remaining in the opening period, a tally that concluded an eight-shot, 33-second sequence in the Kings’ 3-1 win over the New York Rangers at Staples Center.

“It was a bit of a Spumoni shift there,” Toffoli said, half-smiling at a term rooted so deep in hockey lore, few players even know what it means.

“No idea,” a puzzled Drew Doughty said.

“Not myself,” Blake Lizotte said with a chuckle when asked if he uses the term, which, when searched on the internet, returns images of Italian ice cream.

Defenseman Matt Roy finally filled in the blanks. In short, Spumoni — derived from the bear-fighting scene in the 2008 film “Semi-Pro” — has been co-opted into a hockey code word for a long shift stuck in one end of the ice. Toffoli summed it up using layman’s lexicon.

“Nuts,” he said. “It’s crazy.”

Whatever the meaning, the Kings benefited from it Tuesday night, riding Toffoli’s bounce-back performance to their first win in five games.

Before Tuesday, Toffoli had gone nine games without a goal. On Monday, coach Todd McLellan said that Toffoli “had more to give,” then dropped the former 30-goal scorer to the fourth line against the Rangers. Two months after healthy-scratching Toffoli, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, McLellan was challenging the 27-year-old forward again.

Against that backdrop, Toffoli delivered his best performance in weeks, playing on both wings and creating havoc all over the ice.

“I feel like there’s a general consensus that, I know that I need to play better,” said Toffoli, who has 15 points in 31 games. “I accept that … and I thought I did it tonight.”

Toffoli’s first-period assist came mid-line change, leaving him on the ice alongside top-liners Brown and Anze Kopitar during the breathless shooting barrage. In the second, Toffoli doubled the Kings’ lead by outmuscling a defenseman in front of the net to knock home a rebound. In the third, he and new linemates Matt Luff and Michael Amadio played key minutes to help goalie Jonathan Quick complete an electric 29-save win.

“He managed the game well,” McLellan said of Quick, who also dealt with several bouncing pucks around his crease, “and he made the saves when we needed them.”

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SAN DIEGO — 

The purported victim looked as if he wanted to say more, but exercised restraint.

“Right now, I think it’s unfair for me to make any comment on it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The alleged perpetrator claimed he wanted to say more, but appeared as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.

“It’s not comfortable,” Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch admitted.

Results of sporting events are registered in definitive terms. In the case of the 2017 World Series, history shows the Astros defeated the Dodgers in seven games.

The validity of that record has come under question in the wake of allegations the Astros used electronic devices to steal signs that season. What was black and white morphed into a shade of gray. A competition that usually ends with a clear winner and loser became as convoluted as any other aspect of human existence.

Roberts sounded as if he were still trying to make sense of what happened when he addressed the subject for the first time on Tuesday at baseball’s winter meetings.

Roberts initially declined to comment on the situation, pointing to the Major League Baseball’s ongoing investigation of the Astros.

“Just waiting to see how it all kind of plays out,” he said.

Roberts acknowledged the allegations against the Astros made him think back to some moments from that World Series, which included particularly disastrous pitching performances by the likes of Yu Darvish and Clayton Kershaw. He confirmed the Dodgers suspected the Astros were up to something, prompting his team to take precautions so it wouldn’t have its signs stolen.

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At the same time, Roberts said he was surprised by the extent of what the Astros were accused to have done. Former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers told the Athletic the team had a camera positioned in center field in its home games.

But Roberts said that revelation didn’t change how he felt about the outcome of that Series.

“Nothing is going to change it,” he said.

If the Dodgers had won that World Series, it would have marked the crowning achievement for most of their players. Roberts would have been celebrated as a hero who delivered the Dodgers their first championship in 29 years.

“Agreed,” Roberts said. “But regardless of how I feel, it happened. As far as … my sentiments, it’s just not helpful, really, for anyone.”

Roberts said he spoke to Hinch about the situation. Though he wouldn’t divulge the details of the conversation, he maintained he still considered Hinch a close friend.

Roberts was also certain about something else.

A runner on second base stealing signs and relaying them to a teammate in the batter’s box was part of the game. But what the Astros did threatened the integrity of the game.

“Absolutely,” Roberts said.

Roberts’ sentiments were shared by Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers president of baseball operations.

“No question in my mind,” Friedman said.

Speaking at a 20-minute roundtable session that immediately followed Roberts’, Hinch wouldn’t even say whether he felt the use of electronic devices to steal signs constituted cheating.

Upon taking his seat, Hinch joked, “Not sure I’ve ever been so popular.”

By making Hinch their de facto spokesman, the Astros put their best foot forward. He doesn’t share the tone-deafness that plagues many of the others in his organization.

Before taking any questions, Hinch addressed “the elephant in the room,” saying he understood why reporters would want to ask about MLB’s investigation. He said he was cooperating with the probe, but wouldn’t otherwise comment on it.

Asked why he couldn’t speak on the matter, Hinch said it was because he was told not to.

By whom? The league office?

“By everyone I talked to during the investigation,” he said.

He wouldn’t say if he feared his team’s accomplishments being tainted. He wouldn’t say if he was concerned he could be suspended.

As likable as Hinch is, his silence felt like an extension of the hubris that has characterized the Astros in recent years. When the Yankees accused the Astros of whistling in their American League Division Series this year to relay stolen signs, Hinch called the allegations “a joke.” Reminded of that, Hinch said, “There will be a day when I get to address it all, I assure you.”

The Astros were already considered arrogant in baseball circles. They are now also thought of as cheaters.

“I can’t really control what other people think,” Hinch said. “I’m pretty focused on our team.”

Of course, what he said didn’t really matter. Roberts was right. No matter what the managers feel or say, no matter how much contrition Hinch expresses, nothing will undo what happened in the World Series two years ago.

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

BASEBALL

Fans of the Dodgers and Angels were anticipating an early Christmas present this year. One group of fans would be disappointed, but surely either the Dodgers or Angels would sign Gerrit Cole, right? Wrong.

Cole, the NL Cy Young Award runner-up, reached agreement with the New York Yankees on Tuesday night for $324 million over nine years, according to people with knowledge of the development.

It is the largest contract given to a pitcher in major league history, eclipsing the seven-year, $245 million deal the Washington Nationals gave Stephen Strasburg on Monday. Cole’s deal includes a full no-trade clause.

Cole spurned his hometown Angels for a team better positioned to return him to the playoffs. He ignored overtures from the Dodgers, too, instead signing with the Yankees, whose deep pockets and stacked roster appealed to Cole. It didn’t hurt that Cole’s favorite team growing up in Orange County played 3,000 miles away in the Bronx.

The Angels and Dodgers must now turn their attention to other free agents and trade targets. Both teams are pursuing third baseman Anthony Rendon, the premier free-agent position player, and fallback third baseman Josh Donaldson. Starting pitchers still available include World Series veteran Madison Bumgarner, and Cole’s fellow Scott Boras clients, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Keuchel.

The Dodgers reportedly could turn to Bumgarner next, while Angels general manager Billy Eppler said he could spend more than $20 million a year on two different pitchers, or on a pitcher and a position player.

Read more

Dave Roberts says Dodgers are pursuing top-tier talent

Dodgers co-owner strikes out in bid for English Premier League club Chelsea

LAKERS

Of the high-powered duos in the league today, including those in Houston, Portland, Dallas, Milwaukee and L.A., LeBron James and Anthony Davis have quickly become one of the most effective.

They account for 45.7% of the Lakers’ points scored this season, the second-highest percentage for a duo entering Tuesday’s games behind only Houston’s James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Reunited in Houston, the former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates have scored 48.5% of the Rockets’ points this season.

Harden and Westbrook have also accounted for the highest percentage of their team’s assists in the league (64.8%) with James, the league’s individual assists leader, and Davis ranking third with 52.2% of their team’s assists. James and Davis are second among the top duos in percentage of team’s rebounds behind only Dallas’ oversized partnership of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.

Among scoring, rebounding and assists percentages, James and Davis are the only duo of the six that rank in the top three in all three categories.

Lakers first-year guard Quinn Cook, who spent the previous three seasons with the Warriors, said he sees similarities with the dynastic Warriors and this year’s Lakers.

“They’re like the most unselfish people ever,” Cook said of James and Davis. “They have a relationship with everybody. It’s infectious.”

Read more

Avery Bradley could return for the Lakers today

LZ Granderson: Anthony Davis dropped 50 without making a three-pointer. Good for him — and the NBA

CLIPPERS

Kawhi Leonard, who returns to Toronto on Wednesday for his first game since leaving the Raptors in free agency for the Clippers, did not spark a basketball boom. It had been building in Canada for decades. Sixteen Canadians were on opening-night rosters this season in the NBA, the most for any non-U.S. country.

But numerous basketball figures in the country credit the superstar forward’s championship in his lone season with the Raptors as amplifying the game’s reach and creating a new wave of interest.

“He’s a legend now, forever,” said Chris Boucher, the Montreal-raised Raptors forward.

Said Dwight Powell, a Dallas forward who grew up in Toronto: “As a kid, if I were watching, I would remember this past summer for the rest of my life.”

When Leonard threw his fists into the air following Toronto’s title-clinching Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Oakland’s Oracle Arena, Raptors broadcaster Leo Rautins watched the team climb to the top of the NBA from his courtside seat. He viewed it as a new era as well as the culmination of decades of momentum.

“I’m a Toronto boy, I played ball when nobody cared when that was,” said Rautins, who played at Syracuse and was a first-round draft pick in 1984. “To see where we’ve gone from that point where you just had some closet basketball happening — and it was good, but such a small amount — to what we have now, it really was emotional.”

Read more

Raptors built last season a mentality for winning without Kawhi Leonard

KINGS

Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist, and the Kings ended a four-game losing streak by beating the New York Rangers 3-1.

Dustin Brown also scored, Adrian Kempe added an empty-net goal and the Kings won for the third time in 10 games (3-6-1). Jonathan Quick made 29 saves.

DUCKS

Rickard Rickell and Max Comtois scored in the shootout for Anaheim, and the Ducks fended off the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Tuesday night for their first win in their last six road games.

Rakell and Cam Fowler scored for the Ducks in a dominant first period during which they had a 14-1 advantage in shots on goal and the Wild lost center Eric Staal to an injury.

USC FOOTBALL

Michael Pittman Jr. waited patiently for his breakout. The USC receiver struggled to fit in as a freshman, then bided his time as a sophomore and junior before emerging as one of the nation’s best pass catchers in his final season.

After such a long wait, he has no intention of ending his last ride prior to bowl season.

“Just in case y’all wondering,” Pittman wrote on Twitter, “I am playing in the bowl game.”

Though many top prospects have recently begun to consider skipping bowl season to protect from injury, Pittman will play for the Trojans one last time when they take the field against Iowa in the Holiday Bowl.

YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS MOMENT

What is your all-time favorite local sports moment? Email me at [email protected] and tell me what it is and why, and it could appear in a future Sports newsletter.

This moment comes from Duane Norris of Carson:

I moved to California with my single mom in 1958 from Indianapolis. We lived near Manual Arts High, a couple of blocks from the Coliseum, Sports Arena and Olympic Pool.

Back in those days the Dodgers, Rams, Bruins, Trojans and Lakers played in those venues. In early 1959 I began to sell the old Scripps-Howard Los Angeles Herald Express on the Northwest corner of Santa Barbara (now King Blvd) and Figueroa in front of National Trade Technical Institute for extra money. For events featuring those teams the afternoon edition of the major newspapers, including the Mirror (published by the Times) created special editions for the games with lineups and statistics and hired local boys to peddle them.

I recall selling papers for not only those games, and other events such as the ’60 Democratic National Convention where future President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was nominated. The Dodgers had a policy of allowing us into the venue after the seventh inning, Lakers during the late third quarter. For Bruin and Trojan games we learned how to sneak into the Sports Arena and for football it was really easy. I cultivated my love of all L.A. sports during that time. Although I am a die-hard Laker, Dodger and Trojan fan (on the weekend we paperboys used to go to fraternity row and sell papers to the frats) I still root for the Bruins and Rams.

I fondly remember those days as some of the best of my new life in L.A.

TODAY’S LOCAL MAJOR SPORTS SCHEDULE

All times Pacific

Lakers at Orlando, 4 p.m., Spectrum Sportsnet, ESPN 710

Clippers at Toronto, 4 p.m., ESPN, Fox Sports Prime Ticket, AM 570

BORN ON THIS DATE

1927: Skier Stein Eriksen (d. 2015)

1942: Tennis player Karen Susman

1962: Swimmer Kim Linehan

1971: Football player Willie McGinest

1976: Basketball player Shareef Abdur-Rahim

DIED ON THIS DATE

1959: Baseball player Jim Bottomley, 59

2015: Basketball player John “Hot Rod” Williams, 53

AND FINALLY

Tour USC with former Trojan Willie McGinest. Watch it here.

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Three men, including one from Camarillo, have been arrested in connection with an alleged cryptocurrency mining scheme that authorities say defrauded investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars from April 2014 through December 2019. The Department of Justice announced charges Tuesday.

Matthew Brent Goettsche, 37, of Lafayette, Colo.; Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks, 38, of Arvada, Colo.; and Joseph Frank Abel, 49, of Camarillo, were indicted on charges of conspiracy to offer and sell unregistered securities. Goettsche and Weeks were also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

U.S. Atty. Craig Carpenito described the alleged fraud as a “modern, high-tech Ponzi scheme” that amounted to $722 million. Two other suspects remain at large.

“Those arrested today are accused of deploying elaborate tactics to lure thousands of victims with promises of large returns on their investments in a bitcoin mining pool, an advanced method of profiting on cryptocurrency,” said Paul Delacourt, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The defendants allegedly made hundreds of millions of dollars by continuing to recruit new investors over several years while spending victims’ money lavishly.”

The defendants operated BitClub Network, providing false and misleading figures that investors were told were “bitcoin mining earnings” in exchange for money, Carpenito said.

According to court documents, officials said that Goettsche referred to investors as “dumb” and said he was “building this whole model on the backs of idiots.” On at least three occasions, the illegality of the alleged scheme was referenced to Goettsche. Additionally, he, Weeks, Abel, and others conspired to sell BitClub Network shares when they were unregistered securities, authorities said.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud conspiracy is 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Conspiracy to sell unregistered securities carrie a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.

A man was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon after authorities say he attacked three people with a knife at the Placer County library in Auburn, Calif.

Auburn police say three people were injured in the attack at the library about 1:40 p.m. The assailant, whom authorities have not identified, fled after the attack. A suspect was arrested roughly nine hours later about two miles away from the library, police said.

KTXL-TV Channel 40 reported that two library patrons were stabbed and a third person was injured when they tried to intervene. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

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Los Angeles County Democrats endorsed former San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascón over incumbent Jackie Lacey on Tuesday night, intensifying what’s expected to be a hard-fought race to determine who will serve as the county’s top prosecutor beyond 2020.

Gascón, a former Los Angeles police officer who is seen as one of the most progressive prosecutors in the nation, won 79% of the party endorsement committee’s vote, party officials said. A number of protesters affiliated with Black Lives Matter, who are often critical of Lacey, held up signs bashing the incumbent and broke out into shouts of “Bye, Jackie!” as the endorsement was announced.

“The fight starts here. We must stop the death penalty. We must stop caging our juveniles … we must stop fighting every reform effort,” Gascón said to a crowded room.

Lacey still boasts a litany of endorsements from powerful elected figures including Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and four members of the county Board of Supervisors. She also has the backing of the unions that represent deputy district attorneys, rank-and-file Los Angeles police officers and county sheriff’s deputies, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who backed Lacey in a not-so-subtle swipe at Gascón.

In a statement issued Tuesday night, Lacey highlighted those endorsements while claiming she had steered the office “toward a greater focus on getting treatment for those who suffer from mental illness, rather than incarceration.”

“Ultimately the endorsement I care the most about is the endorsement of the people of L.A. County,” she said.

Lacey did not attend Tuesday’s meeting. She also declined an offer to participate in the first public debate of the campaign season on Wednesday night at the California African American Museum in Exposition Park. A campaign spokesman said she has a scheduling conflict.

Lacey has spent the last several months trying to establish her credibility as a progressive Democrat as she faces challenges from a number of candidates carving out platforms left of her own. But that mission hit a snag last week when she held a fundraiser organized by a firm with ties to President Trump’s reelection campaign just days before county Democrats held their endorsement interviews.

Her campaign cut ties with the Pluvious Group on Friday after being informed by The Times of its past work on Trump’s behalf. On Sunday, the county party’s endorsement committee advised delegates to support Gascón.

The field in the March primary also narrowed Tuesday, as Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Ceballos announced his withdrawal from the race shortly after Gascón won the party’s endorsement. Ceballos, a veteran of the office, was the first to announce a challenge to Lacey and branded himself as a progressive alternative to his boss, but struggled to gain traction as rumors of Gascón’s candidacy swelled over the summer. In a statement, he called on his supporters to vote Lacey out of office.

Former federal and state public defender Rachel Rossi remains in the race. The only candidate who does not come from a law enforcement background, Rossi has said she would implement reforms and diversionary programs that would help keep low-level offenders and mentally ill defendants out of the jail system.

Gascón said Tuesday’s endorsement was a sign that Los Angeles is hungry for a candidate who can balance criminal justice reform with public safety.

“This is huge. I’m really honored,” he said. “This is really our entire party looking forward and saying: ‘We’re tired of the injustices. We’re tired of the way that business has been conducted in this county for so long. We’re tired of opposing every reform effort.’ We’re gonna move forward. This is a journey.”

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