The Washington Post - 17.02.2020

German shooting Chancellor Angela Merkel

decried the “poison” of racism as a gunman’s

attacks were tied to far-right extremism. A

Maryland clash The governor hit Democrats

on a crime bill and a sales-tax expansion. B 1

weekend

d .c. buzz for 2020

eight tastemakers in

cocktails, theater and

radio predict the trends

that will sweep the city.

sports

don’t say ‘repeat’

manager dave martinez

sticks with nats’ mantra:

think small, Work hard

and have Fun. d

In the News

the nation

loan-forgiveness cri-

teria published in error

by the U.S. Education

Department triggered

confusion among work-

ers seeking relief. A

the Department of

Homeland Security said

states can accept docu-

ments for Real ID appli-

cations electronically. A

mick mulvaney, the

acting White House

chief of staff, told a pri-

vate gathering in Britain

that the United States

“needs more immi-

grants” to keep its econ-

omy growing. A

the united states

joined several countries

in accusing Russia of a

major cyberattack in the

Republic of Georgia and

pledged to hold the

Kremlin accountable. A

the world

government authori-

ties in India built a wall

and spruced up the Taj

Mahal ahead of Presi-

dent Trump’s first presi-

dential visit. A

Pakistan is hoping that

its steps to “eradicate”

terrorism will keep it off

a global blacklist this

week. A

the economy

morgan stanley is ac-

quiring E-Trade in a

$13 billion deal, the big-

gest bank takeover since

the 2008 crisis. A

after the technological

errors that roiled the

Iowa caucuses, Nevada

is rushing to get a new

system in place. A

c hina might purchase

much less U.S. agricul-

tural product this year

than the $40 billion

promised by President

Trump, a new USDA es-

timate suggested. A

the region

the father of slain

journalist Alison Parker

filed an FTC complaint

over YouTube’s alleged

refusal to remove foot-

age of his daughter’s on-

air killing in 2015. B

racist graffiti target-

ing black students was

found in two academic

buildings at Maryland’s

Salisbury University, the

second such incident

this school year. B

a marine captured the

famous Iwo Jima flag-

raising on film. The

original “in camera” col-

or film hasn’t been seen

in 75 years. B

Weeks after a Univer-

sity of Virginia visiting

professor’s visa decision

was delayed for unclear

reasons, the German

teacher was told it had

been granted. B

Inside

markus schreiber/associated press

business news ....................... a

comics ....................................... c

opinion pages.........................a

lotteries...................................b

obituaries.................................b

television ................................. c

world news............................a

CONTENT © 2020

The Washington Post / Year 143, No. 78

1

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Prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington. su v1 v2 v3 v

Sunny 42/28 • Tomorrow: Sunny, mild 56/32 B8 Democracy Dies in Darkness friday, february 21 , 2020. $

not to be the final word. even

before the sentencing hearing

began, Trump seemed to sug-

gest on Twitter that he might

pardon stone. With the pro-

ceedings ongoing, Trump ques-

tioned whether his ally was

being treated fairly. Afterward,

he attacked the jury in the case

and said he would “love to see

Roger exonerated.”

In a lengthy speech before

BY LENA H. SUN,

LENNY BERNSTEIN,

SHIBANI MAHTANI

AND JOEL ACHENBACH

In the wee hours of a rainy

Monday, m ore than a dozen buses

sat on the tarmac at Tokyo’s

Haneda Airport. Inside, 328 wea-

ry Americans wearing surgical

masks and gloves waited anxious-

ly to fly home after weeks in

quarantine aboard the Diamond

Princess, the luxury liner where

the novel coronavirus had

e xploded into a shipwide epidem-

ic.

But as the buses idled, U.s.

officials wrestled with troubling

news. new test results showed

that 14 passengers were infected

with the virus. The U.s. state

Department had promised that

no one with the infection would

be allowed to board the planes.

A decision had to be made. Let

them all fly? or leave them be-

hind in Japanese hospitals?

In Washington, where it was

still sunday afternoon, a fierce

debate broke out: The state De-

partment and a top Trump ad-

ministration health official

see virus on a

BY ELLEN NAKASHIMA,

SHANE HARRIS,

JOSH DAWSEY

AND ANNE GEARAN

A senior U.s. intelligence offi-

cial told lawmakers last week that

Russia wants to see President

Trump reelected, viewing his ad-

ministration as more favorable to

the Kremlin’s interests, according

to people who were briefed on the

comments.

After learning of that analysis,

which was provided to House law-

makers in a classified hearing,

Trump grew angry a t his acting

director of national intelligence,

Joseph Maguire, in the oval of-

fice, seeing Maguire and his staff

as disloyal for speaking to Con-

gress about Russia’s perceived

preference. The intelligence offi-

cial’s a nalysis and Trump’s f urious

response ruined Maguire’s chanc-

es of becoming the permanent

intelligence chief, according to

people familiar with the matter

who, like others, spoke on the

condition of anonymity to discuss

a sensitive matter.

It was not clear what specific

steps, if any, U.s. intelligence offi-

cials think Russia may have taken

to help Trump, according to the

individuals.

Trump announced on Wednes-

day that he was replacing Magu-

ire with a vocal loyalist, Richard

Grenell, who is the U.s. ambassa-

dor to Germany. The shake-up at

see intelligence on a

Election

warning

fells spy

chief

BRiEFER SAid RUSSiA

PREFERS TRUMP

Perception of disloyalty

leads to removal of DNI

marvin Joseph/the Washington post

roger stone, President trump’s former adviser, leaves court after his sentencing thursday. He was convicted on seven counts of lying to

congress and tampering with a witness about his efforts to learn about hacked Democratic emails related to Hillary clinton.

BY RACHEL WEINER,

MATT ZAPOTOSKY,

TOM JACKMAN

AND DEVLIN BARRETT

A federal judge on Thursday

sentenced Roger stone, Presi-

dent Trump’s longtime friend

and political adviser, to serve

three years and four months in

prison for impeding a congres-

sional investigation of Russian

interference in the 2016 U. s.

presidential election.

The penalty f rom U. s. District

Judge Amy Berman Jackson

comes after weeks of infighting

over the politically charged case

that threw the Justice Depart-

ment into crisis, and it is likely

imposing the penalty, Jackson

seemed to take aim at Trump,

saying stone “was not prosecut-

ed for standing up for the

president; he was prosecuted

for covering up for the presi-

dent.” she also appeared to call

out Attorney General William P.

Barr, saying his intervention to

reduce career prosecutors’ sen-

tencing recommendation was

“unprecedented.” But she said

the politics surrounding the

case had not influenced her

decision.

“The truth still exists; the

truth still matters,” Jackson

said, echoing prosecutors’ clos-

ing arguments at trial in no-

vember. “Roger stone’s insis-

tence that it doesn’t, his bellig-

erence, his pride in his own lies

are a threat to our most funda-

mental institutions, to the foun-

dations of our democracy. If it

goes unpunished, it will not be a

victory for one party or another.

everyone loses.”

she added, “The dismay and

disgust at t he defendant’s b ellig-

erence should transcend party.”

Trump, meanwhile, weighed

in from afar — again bucking

Barr’s public and private warn-

ings to stop talking about Jus-

tice Department criminal cases.

As the hearing was ongoing, the

president, who was traveling on

the West Coast, suggested in a

see stone on a

Stone sentenced to 40 months in prison

On Twitter, Trump hints

at pardon for ally; judge

issues a veiled rebuke

caught in a crosswind

A pivotal decision on coronavirus-infected Americans left U.S. officials at odds

kazuhiro nogi/agence France-presse/getty images

buses at a tokyo airport hold americans who were quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan. the state

Department chose to fly home 14 infected passengers over the objections of u.s. health officials.

BY CRAIG TIMBERG

Facebook created “Project P” —
for propaganda — in the hectic
weeks after the 2016 presidential
election and quickly found dozens
of pages that had peddled false
news reports ahead of Donald
Trump’s surprise victory. nearly
all were based overseas, had fi-
nancial motives and displayed a
clear rightward bent.
In a world of perfect neutrality,
which Facebook espouses as its
goal, the political tilt of the pages
shouldn’t have mattered. But in a
videoconference between Face-
book’s Washington office and its
silicon Valley headquarters in De-
cember 2016, the company’s most
senior Republican, Joel Kaplan,
voiced concerns that would be-
come familiar to those within the
company.
“We can’t remove all of it be-

cause it will disproportionately

affect conservatives,” s aid Kaplan,

a former George W. Bush White

House official and now the head of

Facebook’s Washington office, ac-

cording to people familiar with

the meeting who spoke on the

condition of anonymity to protect

professional relationships.

When another Facebook staff

member pushed for the entire list

to be taken down on the grounds

that the accounts fueled the “fake

news” that had r oiled t he election,

Kaplan warned of the backlash

from conservatives.

“They don’t believe it to be fake

news,” he said, arguing for time to

develop guidelines that could be

defended to the company’s critics,

including on the right.

The debate over “Project P,”

which resulted in a few of the

worst pages quickly being re-

moved while most others re-

mained on the platform, exempli-

fied the political dynamics that

have reigned within Facebook

since Trump emerged as the Re-

publican Party’s presumptive

nominee to the White House in

2016. A company led mainly by
      see facebook on a

How conservatives s ecured

friendly Facebook policies

Insider influence, fear of

backlash shaped company

action on misinformation

BY MICHAEL SCHERER,

JOSH DAWSEY

AND MICHAEL KRANISH

Just hours after his debate-
stage drubbing, former new York
mayor Mike Bloomberg reap-
peared Thursday in Utah with his
teleprompter and billionaire
swagger. A crowd of hundreds
chanted his name as he read
words that landed like precision-
guided missiles.
“We all know that Trump is a
bully. But I am a new Yorker. I
know how to deal with bullies. I
do it all the time,” he said to
cheers.
For anyone who had watched
the Democratic debate the night
before, the man onstage in salt
Lake City on Thursday was diffi-
cult to reconcile with the one who
had shown up Wednesday. It’s a
problem his campaign is now
grappling with, as it scrambles to
regain momentum in the weeks
before the make-or-break super
Tuesday primaries on March 3.
The most expensive political cam-
paign in American history has
found itself at a crossroads, with
two Mike Bloombergs running
for president at the same time.
one is the tough, get-it-done,
rich guy who stars in $340 million
worth of advertising, emotes in
scripted speeches and is praised
daily by his surrogate army as a
master manager and Democrats’s
sole realistic hope to defeat Presi-
see bloomberg on a

B loomberg

seeks to

rechannel

T V sheen

After on-screen version

fails to get onstage,

campaign regroups

election 2020

a fluid field: democrats brace for
possible contested convention. a

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