A4| Saturday/Sunday, August 17 - 18, 2019 PWLC101112HTGKBFAM123456789OIXX ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Jeffrey Epstein died by
hanging himself, according to
an autopsy released Friday,
capping days of speculation
about how the disgraced fi-
nancier died in his jail cell.
The results of the autopsy,
which was completed by the
New York City medical exam-
iner’s office, come less than a
week after Mr. Epstein died at
the Metropolitan Correctional
Center, where he was in cus-
tody awaiting trial on federal
sex-trafficking charges. He was
66 years old.
In a brief statement, Bar-
bara Sampson, the chief medi-
cal examiner in New York City,
said Mr. Epstein’s cause of
death was suicide by hanging.
She didn’t elaborate further,
saying she reached her deter-
mination after “careful review
of all investigative informa-
tion.”
Early findings by authori-
ties indicated Mr. Epstein
hanged himself by using his
bed sheet, according to people
familiar with the investigation.
Authorities believe he tied the
bed sheet to the top bunk of
his bunk bed, then knelt for-
ward to the floor, one of the
people said.
The Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation and the Justice De-
partment’s inspector general
launched investigations into
his death. Senior Justice De-
partment officials visited the
MCC this week after Attorney
General William Barr said in-
vestigators had uncovered “se-
rious irregularities” at the jail.
Lawyers for Mr. Epstein
said they aren’t satisfied with
the medical examiner’s conclu-
sions. In a statement late Fri-
day, they said the defense
team would conduct its own
independent investigation into
the cause of Mr. Epstein’s
death, including using any le-
gal action necessary to view
video footage of the areas
around his jail cell from the
night of his death.
“His safety was the respon-
sibility of the MCC,” his law-
yers said. “It is indisputable
that the authorities violated
their own protocols.”
The death in custody of a
man with so many connections
to powerful people spurred a
wave of conspiracy theories.
The two staffers responsible
for guarding Mr. Epstein’s jail
unit the night of his death have
been placed on leave, while the
jail’s warden was temporarily
moved to an office assignment.
Federal investigators are
probing whether the two staff-
ers falsified records that logged
how often they were checking
on him, according to people fa-
miliar with the matter.
If the staffers were found to
have falsified records, they
could be criminally charged by
federal prosecutors in Manhat-
tan, the same office that pros-
ecuted Mr. Epstein.
Both staffers had been
working overtime, according
to people familiar with the in-
vestigation. One of them, a fe-
male correctional officer, was
mandated to work overtime.
The other wasn’t a correc-
tional officer but volunteered
to take an overtime shift; he
had previously worked as a
correctional officer for seven
years before switching to a
different job inside the prison.
In the hours leading up to
Mr. Epstein’s death, his cell-
mate in his special housing
unit was gone, according to
people familiar with the mat-
ter, leaving Mr. Epstein alone
and unsupervised. Jail officials
had told the Justice Depart-
ment that they would monitor
Mr. Epstein every 30 minutes
and keep him with a cellmate
at all times, protocols that
weren’t followed.
After an earlier incident in
which Mr. Epstein was found
unconscious in his cell with
marks on his neck, he was put
in the suicide-watch unit on
July 23, but was removed from
the watch days later at the re-
quest of his attorneys and after
daily psychological evaluations.
Mr. Epstein had pleaded not
guilty to the government’s al-
legations that he led a sex-
trafficking scheme to lure
young women and girls to his
homes in Florida and New
York, where they would be in-
structed to perform massages
on him involving sex acts.BYNICOLEHONG
ANDSADIEGURMANEpstein
Killed Self,
Autopsy
Concludes
ing all the threatened tariffs fol-
lowing warnings from retailers
who said the levies could dim
prospects for the holiday shop-
ping season, the Journal has re-
ported. The retreat also came as
financial markets shuddered
over fears that the U.S.-China
trade war could put the global
economy in a funk.
In determining which tariffs
to postpone, one factor appears
to have been the availability of
alternatives to Chinese imports,
according to the Journal analy-
sis. A review of the tariff list in-
dicates that tariffs were gener-
ally postponed for importcategories, such as videogame
consoles, where China ac-
counted for about 75% or more
of imports in 2018.
By Dec. 15, however, just
about everything coming from
China will be subject to tariffs.
Only $19.8 billion of Chinese
goods aren’t covered, including
pharmaceuticals, some medical
equipment and organic chemi-
cals, and items under special
import provisions.
The office of the U.S. Trade
Representative has said there
will be a process for companies
to seek exclusions from tariffs,
however, if their business wouldbe unduly damaged by the new
duties.
The direct effect of new 10%
tariffs on $111 billion of goods is
too little to derail the $21 tril-
lion U.S. economy, economists
say.
But that is not the same as
saying the effects will be unno-
ticeable. The direct effects of
the newest tariffs would slow
growth in the fourth quarter by
about 0.1 percentage point, ac-
cording to Gregory Daco, chief
U.S. economist for Oxford Eco-
nomics, a forecasting and eco-
nomic analysis firm. He expects
the economy to grow about 2%billion, saying Tuesday that he
wanted to soften the impact on
consumers for the holiday sea-
son. But those tariffs are set to
kick in Dec. 15, and meanwhile
the U.S. will in two weeks be
collecting tariffs on about $
billion in Chinese imports—the
levies on the $111 billion worth
of annual imports that starts
Sept. 1, plus previous tariffs on
$250 billion in Chinese goods.
Previous rounds of tariffs
have largely spared consumers,
with the administration target-
ing items such as telecommuni-
cations equipment, metal alloys
and mechanical devices that
tend to be purchased by busi-
nesses.
That changes next month.
About $33 billion in apparel,
shoes and hats are among the
items subject to a 10% tariff on
Chinese imports beginning Sept.
1, according to a Journal analy-
sis of data from the U.S. Trade
Representative’s office and the
Census Bureau.
The Sept. 1 list also includes
about $27 billion in electronics.
That includes a bevy of routine
items ranging from wireless sur-
veillance cameras to solid-state
drives and some televisions, the
Journal’s analysis found.
All told, 69% of consumer
goods from China will be subject
to tariffs starting Sept. 1—up
from 29% currently, according
to Chad Bown, a senior fellow at
the Peterson Institute for Inter-
national Economics.
Mr. Trump held off on impos-
ContinuedfromPageOne
U.S. NEWS
The rules in question, is-
sued in July, would have effec-
tively cut off access to the U.S.
asylum system to those arriv-
ing on foot from Guatemala,
Honduras and El Salvador. The
rules said Central American
migrants had to seek asylum—
and be denied—in another
country first.
President Trump has long
railed against the Ninth Cir-
cuit, criticizing liberal judges
there for blocking his immi-
gration initiatives. But two of
the three judges involved in
Friday’s case were appointed
by Republican presidents:
Judge Milan Smith, a George
W. Bush nominee, and Judge
Mark Bennett, whom Mr.
Trump nominated last year.
Those two, plus Judge A.Wallace Tashima, a Clinton ap-
pointee, all concluded the ad-
ministration hadn’t shown
that it would likely win its de-
fense of the asylum restric-
tions when the appeals court
gives the case full consider-
ation later this year.
The two Republican appoin-
tees, however, formed a major-
ity in concluding that legal
challengers—civil-rights and
immigration groups—hadn’t
demonstrated that they were
entitled to have the restric-
tions blocked nationwide.
“Our approach—granting a
more limited injunction—al-
lows other litigants wishing to
challenge the rule to do so” in
other circuits, the majority
said. In dissent, Judge
Tashima said the “split-the-baby” court order created the
prospect that asylum law may
be administered differently in
Texas than California.
The White House said it
disagreed with the circuit’s
decision to uphold the injunc-
tion within its jurisdiction but
added the administration
would “now be able to apply
the rule at issue to curb asy-
lum abuse outside of the Ninth
Circuit. We look forward to
having the injunction lifted in
its entirety on appeal.”
Lee Gelernt, an American
Civil Liberties Union lawyer
representing the plaintiffs, ap-
plauded the ruling and said
challengers to the restrictions
would move to submit addi-
tional information to show
why a nationwide injunctionwould be appropriate. “The
Ninth Circuit’s decision saying
we are likely to prevail is an
enormous victory,” he said.
In other legal action Friday,
attorneys general representing
California, Maine, Oregon,
Pennsylvania and the District
of Columbia sued the Trump
administration over its new
policy that would deny perma-
nent residence to legal immi-
grants who use some public-
assistance programs and bar
U.S. entry for others deemed
likely to use the programs.
Ken Cuccinelli, acting direc-
tor of U.S. Citizenship and Im-
migration Services, has said
the new regulation lies within
existing law.
—Alejandro Lazo
contributed to this article.A federal appeals court
blocked the Trump adminis-
tration from imposing tough
asylum restrictions on Central
Americans who arrive at the
border in California and Ari-
zona, but it allowed the White
House to proceed in other bor-
der states.
In a mixed ruling on asylum
seekers, the San Francisco-
based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals said the adminis-
tration hadn’t made a strong
showing that its policy—which
effectively bars asylum claims
from Central American mi-
grants who pass through any
other country on the way to
the U.S.—was lawful. It said
the restrictions couldn’t be
imposed within the West
Coast circuit, which includes
California and Arizona.
But the court also ruled
that a trial judge had been in-
correct to block the Trump
rules nationwide, and the ap-
peals court refused to do so.
Consequently, the ruling
means that, for now, the
Trump administration can im-
pose the asylum restrictions in
New Mexico and Texas, which
are in different judicial cir-
cuits. The outcome could cre-
ate additional confusion at the
border in the near term, where
Central American families are
already navigating a tangle of
contradictory policies.
BYBRENTKENDALL
ANDLOUISERADNOFSKY
New Asylum Rules Partly Blocked
Appeals court bars
tougher restrictions
for now at the border
in California, Arizona
Migrants waited last month to apply for asylum in the U.S. outside a border crossing between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego.CARLOS JASSO/REUTERSicaid or food stamps or are
deemed likely to need them.
The government’s final rule
says it will consider many
metrics in determining a per-
son’s immigration request. But
it also says that a low credit
score or “negative credit his-
tory” in the U.S. could indicate
“that a person’s financial sta-
tus is weak and that he or she
may not be self-sufficient.”
Lenders have used credit
reports and scores for de-
cades to help determine
whether to approve consum-
ers for loans.
Employers, insurers and
others also have factored in
credit information when de-
ciding whether to hire or ex-
tend services. But those in the
credit-reporting industry said
they can’t recall another time
where credit reports affected
U.S. immigration applications.The Department of Home-
land Security pointed to the
agency’s previous comments
on the rule when asked about
the change.
“Self-reliance, industrious-
ness, and perseverance laid
the foundation of our nationand have defined generations
of hardworking immigrants
seeking opportunity in the
United States,” the govern-
ment said in a news release
when the rule was issued.
Chi Chi Wu, staff attorneyat the National Consumer Law
Center, a nonprofit consumer-
advocacy group, called the
change “an absurd idea.”
Credit scores, she said, are
designed to predict whether
someone will default on a
loan, not to determine their
immigration status.
Credit reports include in-
formation such as whether
people carry significant debt,
pay their loans on time or
have filed for bankruptcy.
Credit scores are calculated
from credit reports.
The rule indicates that a
prospective immigrant would
have to obtain their own
credit report to submit to the
government.
In most other situations
where a company or agency
wants a consumer’s credit his-
tory, the organization—not the
consumer—directly obtainsand pays for the reports and
scores from the credit report-
ing companies.
Foreigners who haven’t pre-
viously lived in the U.S. typi-
cally don’t have U.S. credit re-
ports and scores. The
government says it won’t pe-
nalize people who don’t have a
U.S. credit history. But it says
it might give “positive weight”
to those who provide records
showing they pay their bills on
time and have little debt.
People who have lived in
the U.S. for a brief time could
end up being penalized. Con-
sumers can have low credit
scores because their U.S. bor-
rowing history is short.
The government also says it
will look favorably at those
with a credit score “character-
ized as ‘good’ or better.”
—Andrew Restuccia
contributed to this article.The Trump administration
imposed sweeping changes to
U.S. immigration policy this
week, including letting the
government—apparently for
the first time—weigh prospec-
tive immigrants’ credit history
when deciding who gets to
come to the U.S. and who gets
to stay.
The 800-plus-page rule, is-
sued by the Department of
Homeland Security, tightens
the immigration-law definition
of who is likely to become a
“public charge,” a reason to
turn down an applicant.
Among other changes, the
new rule generally makes it
harder for legal immigrants to
get permanent residency, or
for prospective applicants to
enter the U.S., if they rely on
social programs such as Med-
BYANNAMARIAANDRIOTIS
Immigrants’ Credit Data Will Be Considered
The U.S. tightens
the immigration-law
definition of a
‘public charge.’in the fourth quarter.
That damage is likely to per-
sist into 2020, he said, and
could be amplified by growing
awareness of the tariffs, and
growing uncertainty from busi-
nesses and financial markets
about what to expect from fu-
ture trade policy.
“The uncertainty that per-
tains to these tariffs is going to
have an effect beyond the tar-
iffs,” said Mr. Daco. “It’s not just
about goods costing more, it’s
about the cost and time it takes
for businesses to plan around
these tariffs.”
The Trump administration
focused its early tariffs on inter-
mediate or capital goods, such
as machinery purchased by
businesses. Price increases on
those items, though a hit to the
U.S. importers paying the tariffs,
aren’t obvious at the consumer
level.
But when tariffs have hit con-
sumer goods, the price increases
for retail customers have been
more apparent. According to a
Goldman Sachs analysis of La-
bor Department data earlier this
month, prices have risen by 3%
among the categories of items
that have faced tariffs, such as
laundry equipment and furni-
ture.
That backs up the findings of
most research examining the
tariffs, such as two high-profile
studies this year—one from a
quartet of economists, including
the chief economist of the
World Bank, and another from
the Centre for Economic Policy
Research written by economists
from the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York, Princeton and Co-
lumbia universities.
Both concluded that although
tariffs are formally assessed on
U.S. importers when they bring
in goods from foreign countries,
the costs are passed on almost
entirely to consumers.New Tariffs
Will Pinch
Consumers
billionTariffsonChinabyround
$0501001502000 102030405060708090100Julyand
August
Earlytariffs
covered
productswhere
asmallshare
comesfrom
China.September
Thelargestsetoftariffs,covering$200billion
worthofimports,affectscategoriestheU.S.
importsaboutafifthoffromChina.SHARE OF U.S. IMPORTS FROM CHINA FOR AFFECTED CATEGORIESVALUE OF IMPORTS FROM CHINASept.1,
Thetariffsnotdelayedthisroundcover$111billion
worthofimports,thoughlessthanaquarterof
importsinthosecategoriescomefromChina.Dec.15,
Chinaprovides
87%of
imports
inthe
categories
thatsaw
tariffs
delayed.ChangeinpricesinceFebruary40123%2019Goodsaffectedbytariffs OthercoregoodsValueofChineseimports
subjecttotariffsbillion Electronics
Computers
machines
Apparel
shoeshats
Toyssports
equipmentSept.1tariff Dec.TargetingChina
InimposingtariffsonChina,theU.S.generallyfirsttargeteditemsforwhichChinawasn'tthe
dominantsource.TheDec.15roundoftariffswillincludegoodsforwhichChinaisthemainsupplier.Sources: U.S. Trade Representative (value of imports), U.S. Census (value and share of imports), Labor Department via Goldman Sachs (prices)Note: Imports based on 2018 data. Tariff category names are simplified and carry a wide range of goods.