The Wall Street Journal - 20.09.2019

A6| Friday, September 20, 2019 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.**

comes in response to a sub-

poena state prosecutors sent

last month to the accounting

firm requesting eight years of

personal and business tax re-

turns. State prosecutors are

examining whether a payment

to former adult-film star

Stormy Daniels—and how the

reimbursement of that pay-

ment was recorded—violate a

state law against falsifying

business records.

In the lawsuit, Mr. Trump’s

lawyers argue that the sub-

poena is unconstitutional.

“The Constitution prohibits

states from subjecting the pres-

ident to criminal process while

he is in office,” the complaint

says. It adds, “The prohibition

on criminally prosecuting a sit-

ting president cannot be cir-

cumvented by limiting the in-

vestigation to a grand-jury

subpoena, or by not subpoena-

ing the president directly.”

A spokeswoman for Mazars

said the firm would comply

with its legal obligations.

A spokesman for Mr. Vance

said the office had received

the complaint and would re-

spond in court.

Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for

Mr. Trump, said in a state-

ment, “We are in court to pro-

tect the president’s rights and

the Constitution.”

On Aug. 1, the district attor-

ney issued a grand-jury sub-

poena to the Trump Organiza-

tion for documents relating to

payments for or agreements

about former Playboy play-

mate Karen McDougal and Ms.

Daniels. Mr. Trump’s lawyers

began producing those docu-

ments, the complaint says.

On Aug. 29, a second grand-

jury subpoena, sent to Mazars,

requested tax returns and

other financial documents dat-

ing to 2011.

—Rebecca Ballhaus

contributed to this article.

President Trump filed a law-

suit on Thursday to block New

York prosecutors’ subpoena for

his tax returns, the latest salvo

in a continuing battle over the

disclosure of the president’s fi-

nancial information.

The suit, filed in federal

court in Manhattan against

Manhattan District Attorney

Cyrus Vance Jr. and account-

ing firm Mazars USA LLP,

BYCORINNERAMEY

Trump Sues to Block Latest Push for His Tax Returns

tees will begin reviewing the

legislation, including the En-

ergy and Commerce Committee,

which will hold a hearing on it

next week. Mrs. Pelosi said that

the number of drugs subject to

negotiations could change.

“I want the biggest number

we can possibly get,” she said,

but added that she didn’t want

to promise something the

House couldn’t deliver within

the next year. “We want to be

able to indicate a result that is

possible and doable,” she said.

The pharmaceutical industry

denounced the proposal and

said other options, such as low-

ering consumers’ coinsurance

and increasing patient-cost

transparency, are preferable.

“It would fundamentally re-

structure how patients access

medicines by giving the federal

government unprecedented,

sweeping authority to set med-

icine prices in public and pri-

vate markets while importing

price controls from other

countries that restrict access

to innovative medicines,” said

Stephen Ubl, president and

chief executive of the Pharma-

ceutical Research and Manu-

facturers of America, an indus-

try trade group.

Republicans on the Energy

and Commerce Committee de-

nounced the legislation as so-

cialist and an effort to appease

far-left members of the Demo-

cratic caucus, and said Senate

bipartisan legislation already

provides solutions.

Matt Eyles, president and

chief executive of America’s

Health Insurance Plans, an as-

sociation of health insurers,

commended Mrs. Pelosi’s pro-

posal, calling it “bold reform.”

Democrats are eager to

show they are delivering on a

campaign promise to lower

prescription drug costs amid

polls showing that voters rank

reducing prices as a priority in

the 2020 election. But efforts

to pass legislation that Presi-

dent Trump would sign will be

tough amid deep partisan di-

vides and an unprecedented

industry lobbying push.

The plan faces possible

pushback from progressive

Democrats who say it isn’t ag-

gressive enough, and Republi-

cans who say allowing any

drug price negotiation in

Medicare threatens the free-

market system.

Critics have argued that em-

powering the government to

negotiate prices would stifle

research and innovation that

yields new cures and treat-

ments. Mr. Trump had sup-

ported letting Medicare negoti-

ate prices in his 2016 campaign

but has since backed away.

Mrs. Pelosi’s proposal is

more sweeping than a Senate

drug pricing bill being spear-

headed by Chuck Grassley (R.,

Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D., Ore.).

WASHINGTON—House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling

for the federal government to

negotiate prices for many of

the costliest drugs in Medicare

and the private market, part of

a broad proposal to take on an

industry already under siege

from Republicans who have

vowed to rein in pharmaceuti-

cal costs.

The California Democrat re-

leased a proposal Thursday

that would let the government

negotiate the prices for expen-

sive drugs that don’t have

competition. A minimum of 25

drugs annually would be sub-

ject to negotiation, falling

short of a goal by progressive

Democrats for full negotiation

of all drugs in Medicare.

It would have broad reach

by requiring those negotiated

prices to also be offered be-

yond Medicare to insurers.

The bill is still subject to

change. Several House commit-

BYSTEPHANIEARMOUR

ANDANDREWDUEHREN

Pelosi Wants U.S. to Negotiate Some Drug Prices

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presented her initiative on drug

pricing on Thursday. The industry denounced the proposal.

WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES

U.S. NEWS

joined the meeting, a person fa-

miliar with the meeting said.

On Capitol Hill, Mr. Zucker-

berg received an earful of com-

plaints, and two influential law-

makers couldn’t find the time

to meet with him.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.)

said he challenged Mr. Zucker-

berg to spin off Facebook’s In-

stagram and WhatsApp units—

two acquisitions that are now

part of a government antitrust

probe into Facebook.

“I said to him, ‘Prove that

you’re serious...sell WhatsApp,

and sell Instagram,’ ” Mr. Haw-

ley said following his afternoon

meeting with Mr. Zuckerberg.

“I think it’s safe to say that he

was not receptive to those sug-

gestions,” he added.

Mr. Zuckerberg, clad in a

dark suit and tie, was trailed

throughout his Capitol Hill visit

by a swarm of reporters and

camera crews. He declined to

comment.

On Wednesday night, Mr.

Zuckerberg kicked off the trip

by sparring with a group of

senators at a private dinner.

One attendee, Sen. Richard Blu-

menthal (D., Conn.), described

the meeting as a mix of criti-

cism and constructive dialogue

over the tech industry’s “re-

peated failures” to protect elec-

tion security and consumer pri-

vacy.

“We had [a] serious, sub-

stantive conversation even

when we may have differed,”

Mr. Blumenthal said. He added

that he welcomed “the strong,

constructive interest shown by

Mr. Zuckerberg.”

Mr. Blumenthal has been

sharply critical of Facebook,

particularly over its privacy

and election missteps of recent

years.

Mr. Zuckerberg had a few

expected get-togethers fall

through, mainly because Sen-

ate leaders decided not to hold

votes on Thursday, leading

many senators to head for the

airport.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R., Kan.),

who heads the Senate con-

sumer protection subcommit-

tee, had planned to meet with

Mr. Zuckerberg but decided to

catch an early flight home in-

stead. “They will definitely try

and meet the next time [Mr.

Zuckerberg] is here,” a spokes-

man said.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D., Ha-

waii), the top Democrat on the

Senate’s technology and inter-

net subcommittee, also had

been expected to meet with Mr.

Zuckerberg, but they were un-

able to find a time to get to-

gether due to scheduling con-

flicts. Mr. Schatz had recently

met with Mr. Zuckerberg in the

senator’s Honolulu office.

Mr. Zuckerberg’s meetings

were aimed at giving the Face-

book co-founder a chance to

pitch his own vision for moder-

ate internet regulation and seek

to placate lawmakers who are

weighing stricter standards for

lightly regulated platforms.

In the wake of a series of

disclosures about questionable

practices at Facebook and other

internet companies, lawmakers

have been considering strin-

gent new regulation of plat-

forms in areas such as user pri-

vacy and content moderation.

No action appears imminent

on any of the measures. But

one idea that has gained atten-

tion is placing new limits on

the sweeping legal immunity

that platforms enjoy for harms

caused by their users. Mr. Haw-

ley has been among those ad-

vocating such an approach.

Mr. Zuckerberg was also ex-

pected to pitch lawmakers on a

different vision of internet reg-

ulation, one that includes more

self-regulation by the compa-

nies. The visit also gave Mr.

Zuckerberg a chance to tout

progress in Facebook’s compli-

ance with a recently announced

$5 billion settlement with the

Federal Trade Commission over

privacy missteps.

Among the lawmakers who

met with Mr. Zuckerberg was

Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah), who is

chairman of the Senate anti-

trust subcommittee. Facebook

is under antitrust investigation

by the FTC, and could soon face

a separate investigation by the

Justice Department. Mr. Lee

has raised concerns about pos-

sible duplication of effort by

the federal agencies.

WASHINGTON—With his

company under a regulatory

spotlight, Facebook Inc. Chief

Executive Mark Zuckerberg

scored a meeting in the White

House with President Trump

Thursday—but faced a chillier

reception from lawmakers on

Capitol Hill.

A spokesman for Facebook

said Mr. Zuckerberg was visit-

ing Washington to meet with

policy makers to hear their

concerns and talk about future

internet regulation. The

spokesman said Mr. Zucker-

berg’s meeting with the presi-

dent was constructive.

“Nice meeting with Mark

Zuckerberg of Facebook in the

Oval Office today,” Mr. Trump

posted Thursday night on his

Facebook and Twitter accounts,

along with a photo of the presi-

dent and Mr. Zuckerberg shak-

ing hands.

Jared Kushner, the presi-

dent’s son-in-law and senior ad-

viser, and White House social

media director Dan Scavino also

By John D. McKinnon ,

Lindsay Wise

and Rebecca Ballhaus

President and Zuckerberg Meet

On Capitol Hill, the

Facebook chief

executive got an

earful of complaints,

Washington Monument Reopens After Three-Year Renovation

LINES OF HISTORY: Visitors queued Thursday outside the 555-foot marble obelisk after a $12 million project added a high-speed elevator and upgraded security systems.

MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

WASHINGTON—The House

passed a short-term spending

bill Thursday, taking the first

step toward avoiding a govern-

ment shutdown at the end of

the month. The measure now

moves to the Senate.

The stopgap funding, called a

continuing resolution, will keep

the government open until Nov.

21, several weeks beyond the

Sept. 30 end of the federal fis-

cal year. The legislation also ex-

tends several health-care pro-

grams and other expiring

measures, including for the Na-

tional Flood Insurance Program

and U.S. Export-Import Bank.

The extension will give law-

makers more time to reach

agreement on the annual

spending legislation, a major

cause of volatility. Failure to

agree on how much money to

provide for a wall along the

Mexico border led to the lon-

gest government shutdown in

U.S. history, ending earlier this

year after 35 days.

“I’m hopeful that the Senate

will take it up, that we will have

an agreement, and we can send

it to the president, and the

president can sign it,” House

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer

(D., Md.) said Wednesday.

The GOP-controlled Senate is

expected to take up the con-

tinuing resolution next week

before lawmakers leave Wash-

ington for a two-week recess.

Eric Ueland, the director of the

White House Office of Legisla-

tive Affairs, said Wednesday he

expected President Trump

would sign the bill.

House approval of the bill

was delayed as lawmakers hag-

gled over the text. One hurdle

was a Trump administration re-

quest that the stopgap measure

reimburse the agency providing

aid to farmers affected by the

trade war with China. While

House Democrats didn’t include

money for the agency in an

early draft, they acceded in the

bill that passed Thursday. The

bill incorporates provisions

scrutinizing the aid and the im-

pact of the trade war after Sen-

ate Minority Leader Chuck

Schumer (D., N.Y.) and other top

Democrats pushed for them.

BYANDREWDUEHREN

House

Approves

Stopgap

Funding

WASHINGTON—The Depart-

ment of Homeland Security will

once more consider requests

from unauthorized immigrants

to temporarily stay in the

country, typically to receive

lifesaving medical treatment,

after facing fierce criticism for

announcing that it would no

longer accept such appeals.

A spokesman for U.S. Citi-

zenship and immigration Ser-

vices, an agency under DHS,

said in a statement Thursday

that at the direction of Acting

Homeland Security Secretary

Kevin McAleenan, it “is resum-

ing its consideration of non-

military deferred action re-

quests on a discretionary,

case-by-case basis.”

USCIS had handled deferred

action requests but announced

in August it was transferring

that authority to Immigration

and Customs Enforcement, the

agency that carries out deporta-

tions. The move raised fears

among immigration-rights ad-

vocates that ICE would take a

tougher stance against these im-

migrants, effectively ending the

possibility that anyone would be

granted deferred action.

The program permits mi-

grants to defer deportation for

up to two years at a time.

Most people covered by the

program came to the U.S. le-

gally on a visa or other legal

status and have requested to

stay longer. The government

said it receives about 1,

such requests a year.

The government didn’t for-

mally announce its initial deci-

sion to end the program for

several weeks until several im-

migrants receiving medical at-

tention were unexpectedly de-

nied requests to remain in the

country and told they needed

to leave within 33 days.

BYMICHELLEHACKMAN

Move to

Deport

Patients Is

Dropped