HSFC_2017_01_11

A6|Wednesday,January 11, 2017|SFChronicle.com XXXXX•

WASHINGTON—The
chiefsofU.S. intelligenceagen-
cieslastweekpresentedPresi-
dent ObamaandPresident-
electDonaldTrumpwitha
summaryofunsubstantiated
reportsthatRussiahadcollect-
edcompromisingandsalacious
personalinformationabout
Trump,twoofficialswith
knowledgeofthebriefingsaid.
Thesummaryisbasedon
memosgeneratedby political
operativesseekingtoderail
Trump’scandidacy.Detailsof
thereportsbegancirculatingin
thefallandwerewidelyknown
amongjournalistsandpoli-
ticiansinWashington.
Thetwo-page summary, first
reportedby CNN,waspresent-
edasanappendixtothein-
telligenceagencies’reporton
theRussianhackingofthe
election,theofficialssaid.The
materialwasnotcorroborated,
andtheNewYork Ti meshas
notbeenabletoconfirmthe
claims.Butintelligenceagencies
consideredit sopotentially

explosive thattheydecided

Obama,Trumpandcongressio-

nalleadersneededtobetold

aboutit andthattheagencies

wereactively investigatingit.

Intelligenceofficialswere

concernedthattheinformation

wouldleakbeforetheyin-

formedTrumpofitsexistence,

saidtheofficials,whospokeon

theconditionofanonymity

becausethesummaryisclassi-

fiedandtalkingaboutit would

beafelony.

OnTuesdaynight,Trump

respondedonTwitter:“FAKE

NEWS -ATOTALPOLITI-

CALWITCHHUNT!”

In anappearancerecorded

forNBC’s“LateNightWith

SethMeyers,”Trump’sspokes-

woman,KellyanneConway,

saidoftheclaimsintheopposi-

tionresearchmemos,“Hehas

saidheisnotawareofthat.”

Thedecisionoftopintelli-

genceofficialstogive thepresi-

dent,thepresident-electand

whatiscalledtheGangofEight

—RepublicanandDemocratic

leadersofCongressandthe

intelligencecommittees—what

theyknowtobeunverified,

defamatorymaterialwasex-

tremelyunusual.

Theappendixsummarized

oppositionresearchmemos

preparedmainlyby aretired

Britishintelligenceoperative for

aWashingtonpoliticaland

corporateresearchfirm.The

firmwaspaidforitswork first

by Trump’sRepublicanrivals

andlaterby su pportersofhis

Democraticopponent,Hillary

Clinton.TheTimeshaschecked

ona numberofthedetailsin-

cludedinthememosbuthas

beenunabletosubstantiate

them.

Thememossugg estthatfor

manyyears,thegovernmentof

RussianPresidentVladimir

Putinhaslookedforways to

influenceTrump,whohas

traveledrepeatedlytoMoscow

toin vestigaterealestatedealsor

tooverseetheMissUniverse

competition,whichheowned

forseveralyears.Trumpnever

completedanymajordealsin

Russia,thoughhediscussed

themforyears.

TheformerBritishintelli-

genceofficerwhogatheredthe

materialaboutTrumpisconsid-

eredacompetentandreliable

operative withextensive experi-

enceinRussia,U.S. officials

said.Buthepassedonwhathe

heardfromRussianinformants

andothers,andwhattheytold

himhasnotyetbeenvettedby

U.S. intelligence.

Thememosdescribesexvid-

eosinvolvingprostituteswith

Trumpina2013visittoaMoscow

hotel.Thevideosweresupposed-

ly preparedaskompromat,or

compromisingmaterial,withthe

possiblegoalofblackmailing

Trumpinthefuture.

Thememosalsosugg estthat

Russianofficialsproposed

variouslucrati ve deals,es-

sentiallyasdisguisedbribes,in

ordertowininfluenceoverthe

realestatemagnate.

Thememosdescribeseveral

purportedmeetingsduringthe

2016presidentialcampaign

betweenTrumprepresentatives

andRussianofficialstodiscuss

mattersofmutualinterest,

includingtheRussianhacking

oftheDemocraticNational

CommitteeandClinton’s cam-

paignchairman,JohnPodest a.

ScottShane, MatthewRosenberg

andAdamGoldmanareNewYork

Timeswriters.

Timothy A. Clary / AFP / GettyImages

President-elect DonaldTrump was briefed lastweek on unsubstantia ted salaciousreports, officials said.

WASHINGTON

Russia may have gathered

damaging info on Trump

By ScottShane,
Matthew Rosenberg
and Adam Goldman

WASHINGTON—Congress
maybemovingtorepealthe
AffordableCareActbutmil-
lionsofpeoplearestillsigning
up.Theadministrationsaid
Tuesdaythat11.5millionen-
rollednationwidethroughDec.
24,aheadoflastyear’s pace.
Administrationofficialssaid
about290,000morepeoplehave
signedupthanatthesametime

last year, evidencethattheAf-

fordableCareActisonsound

footingdespiterisingpremi-

ums,dwindlingchoiceand

healthypeopleholdingback

fromgettingcoverage.

Administrationofficialssaid

thelatestnumbersrefuteclaims

byGOPleadersthatthelawisin

a“deathspiral”andaboutto

collapsebecauseofitsown

problems.AmongtheRepub-

licansmakingsuchclaimsare

President-electDonaldTrump,

HouseSpeakerPaulRyanof

WisconsinandSenateMajority

LeaderMitch McConnellof

Kentucky.

“Thismarketisnotmerely

stable;itisontrackforgrowth,”

saidAvivaAron-Dine,asenior

adviserattheDepartmentof

HealthandHumanServices.

Theadministrationhasseta

goalof13.8millionpeople

signedupforcoveragein

bythetimeopenenrollment

endsonJan.31.Officialsbelieve

astrongfinishwillbolsterthe

caseforpreservingPresident

Obama’ssignaturedomestic

policyachievement,largely

responsibleforreducingthe

nation’s uninsuredratetoa

historiclowofabout9percent.

Withthefinaldead lineless

thanthreeweeks away,the

administrationisplanning

advertisingandgrassroots

outreachtomillionsofpeople

whoqualifyforsubsidized

coverageunderthelaw, but

remainuninsured.Thehealth

lawexpandedcoveragethrough

acombinationoftaxpayer-

subsidizedprivateinsurance

andastateoptiontoexpand

Medicaidforlow-incomepeo-

ple.

RicardoAlonso-Zaldivarisan

AssociatedPresswriter.

AFFORDABLECARE ACT

Health law posts solid signups despite repeal vow

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

RALEIGH,N.C. — The U.S.

Supreme Court on Tuesday

temporarily blocked a lo wer

courtruling orderingNorth

Carolina legislators to redraw

state legislative districtsby

March 15 and hold special elec-

tions within the altered dis-

tricts thisfall.

Tuesday’s court order grant-

ed the request ofNorth Caroli-

na Republican legislative lead-

ers andstate officials todelay

November’s ruling by a three-

judge panel.The same lower

court lastsummer threw out 28

state House and Senate dis-

tricts as illegal racialgerry-

manders.

The Supreme Court says its

order willstay in placeat least

until the courtdecideswhether

to hear theappeal.If the justic-

es takeup the case, thestay will

remain in effect pending a

decision.

If no special elections are

required, the next round of

GeneralAssembly elections

would be held in late 2018.The

GOP holds majorities large

enough tooverride anyvetoes

by newly installed Democratic

Gov. Roy Cooper. Special elec-

tionswould give Democrats a

chance to narrow those mar-

gins and give leverage to Coo-

per.

The voters who sued alleged

that Republican lawmakers

drew the boundaries to create

more predominantlywhit e and

Republican districtsby effec-

tively cramming black voters

into adjac ent Democratic dis-

tricts. GOP lawmakers said the

boundarieswere drawn to

protect themagainst lawsuits

alleging they violated theU.S.

Voting Rights Act.

The state’ s attorneys filed the

request for adelay of the lower

court’sruling with theU.S.

Supreme Court late last month.

They noted that the Supreme

Court already had heard oral

arguments in lawsuits in volv-

ing congressional districts in

North Carolina andstate leg-

islati ve districts inVirginia,

and thatits decisions in those

cases are pending.

Gary D.Robertson is an

Associated Press writer.

NORTH

CAROLINA

Court

puts new

elections

on hold

By Gary D. Robertson

_ 1 Trump lawsuit:When Donald
Trump onWednesday says how he’ll
separate himself from hisvast family
business empire, lawyer Mitchell
Wine will greetit with ashrug. He’s
leading a lawsuit againstTrump in
Canada on behalf of investors that
threatens to follow the president-
elect into office. A Canadian court
has allowed the lawsuit to proceed
againstTrump and his business
partners in thefailed TrumpIn-
ternationalHotel &Tower in Toron-
to. Trump leased his name toRus-
sian emigres in Canada,who built a
luxury hotel and condo tower in
Toronto.But the Russians’ company,
Talon International Development
Inc., which built theluxury tower,
defaulted onits loans in mid-
and went into bankruptcy receiver-
ship last year. That made it hard for
buyers to win compensation from
Talon, and that turned buyers’ atten-
tion on theowners and partners.

_ 2 Pipeline police

cost:The cost of

policing the Dakota

Access pipeline

protests inNorth

Dakota isat least

$22 million — more

than$5 million

more than thestate

set aside lastyear.

The four-state, $3.

billion pipeline is to

carryNorth Dakota

oil to Illinois. Oppo-

nents believe the

project threatens

drinkingwater and

AmericanIndian

cultural sites,which

Texas developer

Energy Transfer

Partnersdenies.

There have been

nearly 600 arrests

sinceAugust.

_ 3 Catholic records:Two of Boston’s mostvenerable institutions are

teamingup to create an online database ofhundreds of thousands of

Roman Catholic Churchdocuments to help people trace theirfamily

histories.The New EnglandHist oric Genealogical Society and the

Archdiocese of Boston on Tuesday announced the project thatwas first

talkedabout twoyears ago. It’s the first time a significantnumber of

sacramental records from anyU.S. diocese have been digitized on this

scale, the organizations said.

_ 4 Fisher’s death:CarrieFisher’s death certificate confirms that the

actress died of a heartattack, but it says more investigation is needed to

determine the underlying cause.The Los Angeles County Department of

PublicHealth issued thedeath certificate in the name of CarrieFrances

Fisher. Fisher had the heartattack on a flight fromLondon toLos Angeles

on Dec. 23.She diedat age 60 on Dec.27 at UCLA Medical Center.

_ 5 Bank hostages freed:

A group of hostages was

freed, unharmed, and a

man with a gunwas arrest-

ed Tuesdayat a credit

union branch near theUni-

versity of Alabama, police

said. Lt.Teena Richardson,

a Tuscaloosa police spokes-

woman, said the incident

ended peacefullywhen

about eight hostages be-

lieved to be credit union

workers were released after

officers entered the build-

ing. Responding to a rob-

bery report, officers arrived

so quickly the man couldn’t

get out of the building,

prompting thestandoff,

officials said. Anderson

said members of aSWAT

team entered the building

and arrested thesuspect

afterdetermining the man

was located in an areaaway

from the hostages.

ChronicleNews Services

NEWS OF THEDAYFrom Across the Nation

NATION

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