Clinton Returns to Campaign Trail in L.A.; Brown Huddles With Staff

After a six-day hiatus to rest his voice, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton left Little Rock on Tuesday to resume campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.

He was due to arrive late Tuesday night in Los Angeles, where today he plans a fund-raiser and a few campaign events before going on to San Francisco.

His rival, Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., spent much of the day in staff meetings at his Los Angeles headquarters. Asked what the meetings covered, a spokesman said they were “pretty much of a pep talk, so people in the rest of the campaign can focus explicitly on the message that this is a campaign for the people and by the people. They feel like they may have lost their focus.”

Meanwhile, in Sacramento, California State Police officials announced that they have closed their internal investigation into allegations that Brown tolerated drug use at his parties while he was governor. ABC News had reported--quoting former members of Brown’s security detail--that the parties took place at the home he owned in Laurel Canyon.

Capt. Robert Donnalley said more than a dozen of the 40 or so officers involved both in Brown’s personal security and that of his home had been interviewed, with none of them saying they had ever observed or heard of drugs being used at the home. Donnalley said the inquiry seemed pointless because the statute of limitations had expired and the agency could take no action against anyone who no longer worked for it.

Brown has labeled the ABC story as false and malicious.

“We’re getting tired of chasing ghosts,” said Donnalley, commander of the State Police’s bureau of investigations. He said the investigation would be reopened only if “something else surfaces.”