The Washington Post - 14.11.2019

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A

Politics & the Nation

BY SUSAN SVRLUGA

Four institutions jointly an-
nounced Wednesday that they are
anticipating a massive, unre-
stricted windfall from founda-
tions established by an entrepre-
neur before his death. Just how
much? Those institutions — the
Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology, the University of South-
ern California, Duke University
and the Cleveland Clinic — expect
to receive more than $260 million
each.
The expected distribution of
over $1 billion is believed to be
among the largest single alloca-
tions of its kind, according to
officials at the four institutions.
It’s also unusual, because the
funds will come without restric-

tions, unlike most major dona-

tions, which typically arrive with

detailed agreements stipulating

how the money may be used.

That means the universities

and the medical center can target

priorities and needs that are

pressing but may not be appeal-

ing to donors — whether that’s

basic research, graduate-student

scholarships, upgrades to outdat-

ed buildings or an ambitious

drive to solve a global problem.

The money comes from pro-

ceeds of the sale of the Lord Corp.,

a global technology and manufac-

turing company established in

the 1920s. Thomas Lord, who led

the family-owned company until

his death in 1989, created founda-

tions to support institutions cho-

sen by him and his successor at

the corporation, with funds tar-

geting advancement of educa-

tion, research, science and tech-

nology. The foundations that

Lord established support MIT,

Duke, USC and the Cleveland

Clinic.

Since their establishment in

the early 1980s, the Lord founda-

tions have provided about

$200 million to the four institu-

tions.

“Consistent with Tom Lord’s

deep-rooted values and social re-

sponsibility, he leaves a perma-

nent mark on using knowledge

and an entrepreneurial spirit to

solve technological challenges,

making the impossible real,” Ed-

ward L. Auslander, Lord’s former

president and chief executive,

said in a statement.

Last month, the nearly $3.7 bil-

lion sale of the North Carolina-

based Lord Corp. to Parker Han-

nifin was finalized, triggering dis-

tribution of $261 million to each

of the four foundations. That dis-

tribution, expected to be complet-

ed after required approvals, has

recipients anticipating an infu-

sion of money.

Most major gifts to universities

come from donors interested in a

particular topic, USC Provost

Charles F. Zukoski said. “ ‘I want

to cure cancer,’ or ‘I want to

advance the studies of ancient

Greece.’ ”

In this case, there are no re-

strictions. “That’s what makes

this really remarkable and trans-

formative,” he said. “It’s fabulous.”

There’s no shortage of ideas

that could be explored with an

infusion of cash, he said. “What

we’re looking at with this money

is to begin to focus it around a

narrow set of topics to have an

enormous impact,” he said, draw-

ing on expertise across the uni-

versity, using data science and

artificial intelligence to address

complicated problems such as en-

vironmental issues or challenges

confronting the biggest cities.

There’s debate in the philan-

thropic world about restricted

and unrestricted gifts, said Jacob

Harold, executive vice president

of Candid, a nonprofit that pro-

vides information about philan-

thropies. Harold said he believes

there’s a place for both, but giving

an unrestricted gift shows trust in

an institution.

MIT President L. Rafael Reif

said in a statement that “the value

of the distribution is magnified

because it comes with great flexi-

bility, giving institutions the nim-

bleness to seize opportunities

and address needs that can be

hard to cover through traditional

philanthropy.”

MIT Provost Martin A.

Schmidt said university leaders

have been discussing institution-

al priorities, including support

for graduate students and gradu-

ate research, upgrading build-

ings, and accelerating MIT’s work

on climate change.

Federal support for basic re-

search has diminished, Schmidt

said. The funding will allow the

university to pursue research that

could take decades — and lead to

breakthroughs. This will allow

MIT to support graduate students

who have an idea that excites

them and their faculty advisers,

he said.

At the Cleveland Clinic, the

expected money — more than

double the institution’s largest-

ever single donation — will ex-

tend support of research and edu-

cation, with greater support for

graduate and postgraduate edu-

cation and for basic research in

immunology.

The flexibility of the funding

will allow researchers to adapt as

science and technology change,

benefiting patients and caregiv-

ers, said Tomislav Mihaljevic, the

clinic’s chief executive.

At Duke, the entire $261 mil-

lion will go to the endowment —

the largest single contribution to

the endowment since the school’s

founding in 1924. The income

generated will underwrite insti-

tutional priorities that include

financial aid for undergraduates,

funding for the Pratt School of

Engineering building under con-

struction, and support for pro-

grams and initiatives at the Pratt

School.

“The Lord Foundation’s excep-

tional support for Duke will

transform our efforts to address

the world’s most intractable

problems,” Duke President Vin-

cent E. Price said in a statement.

[email protected]

Three universities, Cleveland Clinic are expecting a $1 billion-plus windfall

Foundations’ gifts to MIT,

USC, Duke and medical

center are unrestricted

BY SPENCER S. HSU,

RACHEL WEINER

AND ANN E. MARIMOW

Prosecutors concluded their
case against political operative
Roger Stone on Wednesday by
portraying him as a serial liar
who repeatedly misled Congress
to protect President Trump —
and then engaged in a campaign
to silence a witness who could
expose him.
“Roger Stone knew if this in-
formation got out, it would look
really bad for his longtime associ-
ate Donald Trump,” Assistant
U.S. Attorney Jonathan Kravis
told jurors set to begin delibera-
tions Thursday over whether
Stone lied to House investigators
two years ago about an effort to
find political dirt on Trump’s
Democratic opponent.
Stone, whose relationship with
the president dates to the 1980s,
pleaded not guilty in January to a
seven-count indictment charging
him with obstruction, witness
tampering and lying to the House
Intelligence Committee as it in-
vestigated 2016 election interfer-
ence by Russia, including hacked
emails released by the anti-secre-
cy group WikiLeaks.
Defense attorney Bruce Rogow
told jurors that Stone had no
reason to lie to protect Trump,
who was by that time president.
“There was nothing illegal
about the campaign being inter-
ested in information that Wiki -
Leaks was going to be putting

out,” Rogow said. “This is what

happens in a campaign. They

look for opposition information.

It happens every day; it happens

in every campaign.”

Stone’s attorneys have argued

that he did not intend to lie to the

committee but saw much of what

the panel asked for as outside the

scope of a probe of Russian

interference.

Prosecutor Michael Marando

called that claim “nonsense.”

Stone himself, he noted, repeat-

edly mentioned WikiLeaks and

the exposed emails in his open-

ing statement to Hill investiga-

tors.

“That is an argument that you

make up after the fact to cover

your tracks,” Marando said.

Rogow told jurors that Stone’s

House testimony was also irrele-

vant because “Stone didn’t know

anything” — he “played the cam-

paign” by pretending that he had

access to WikiLeaks founder Ju-

lian Assange.

But Kravis, the assistant U.S.

attorney, displayed excerpts and

clips of Stone’s public and pre-

scient boasts in August 2016 that

he had inside information about

Assange’s plans via a trusted

“mutual friend,” or intermediary.

“Who asks for credit?” he

asked. “Roger Stone. And who

gets the credit? Roger Stone.”

He also showed jurors emails

and text messages that Stone

exchanged with two individuals

from whom he repeatedly tried to

get information, and his commu-

nications with top campaign offi-

cials as they raced to suss out

WikiLeaks’ plans — conversa-

tions that he told the committee

did not exist.

“Roger Stone doesn’t get to

choose which facts he thinks are

important and lie about the rest

of them. The committee is enti-

tled to the truth of facts under

investigation, and wherever the

truth takes them,” Kravis said.

Because of Stone’s lies, Kravis

said, the committee never inter-

viewed Stone’s intermediaries or

saw his correspondence, and

their “report is not accurate”

when it says there is no evidence

that he got information from

WikiLeaks.

Stone did not take the stand or

offer witnesses in his defense.

But jurors listened in court to

50 minutes of the House testimo-

ny that sparked the case. Rogow

urged them to listen to the entire

three-hour hearing themselves.

“This was not the voice of a

man who was trying to lie, to

mislead,” he argued.

His voice also came through in

four days of government testimo-

ny featuring his profane boasts

and apparent threats to Randy

Credico, a talk-show host who

could contradict Stone’s House

testimony.

Credico, Kravis said, was the

“one guy out there who can

knock down this whole house of

cards,” and Stone “knew that

could never happen.”

Stone told Credico to act like a

character from the film “Godfa-

ther II” who perjures himself

before Congress to protect his

mob boss. Once, Stone said that if

Credico talked, he would “take

that dog away from you,” a refer-

ence to his friend’s therapy pet.

“When Stone told Credico to

do a ‘Frank Pentangeli,’ Credico

full well understood that Stone

was telling him to lie to the

committee,” Kravis said, to

“throw the committee off,” to say

“you cannot recall events that

actually transpired.”

Stone’s lawyer said in court

Wednesday that those comments

had to be understood in the

context of a crude, roiling rela-

tionship: “These two guys tam-

pered with one another for

20 years over all kinds of crazy

things,” Rogow said.

Stone pointed to Credico as his

sole WikiLeaks source in a letter

to the House committee. He said

to lawmakers that there were no

records of any conversations the

two had on the subject, that he

never discussed his conversa-

tions with his WikiLeaks inter-

mediary with the Trump cam-

paign, and that he never asked

Credico to get information for

him.

Evidence shown at trial indi-

cated that Stone asked Credico

and a writer named Jerome Corsi

to get information from Assange,

that he did so over email and text,

and that he spoke to Trump

campaign officials multiple times

about future WikiLeaks releases.

Stone had not forgotten any of

that, prosecutors said, noting

that he forwarded some of the

relevant emails to his legal team

and to Credico in 2018.

“Are these the words of a man

who believes he told the truth?”

Kravis asked the jury, and gave

his answer: “Of course not.”

Stone was the last individual

charged in special counsel Rob-

ert S. Mueller III’s investigation,

and his trial filled in blanks left

by Mueller’s final report, with

former deputy campaign chair-

man Rick Gates and former cam-

paign chief Stephen K. Bannon

taking the stand for the govern-

ment.

The defendant has been for-

bidden from commenting on his

case in public or from using

major social media platforms

under a gag order by the court,

after Stone ignored warnings

from U.S. District Judge Amy

Berman Jackson to refrain from

comments that might jeopardize

his right to a fair trial.

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Lawyers in Stone case wrap up; jury awaits instructions

Political operative

is accused of misleading

Congress to aid Trump

MARK MAKELA/GETTY IMAGES

Roger Stone leaves court at lunchtime. “There was nothing illegal about the campaign being interested

in information that WikiLeaks was going to be putting out,” defense attorney Bruce Rogow said.

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