VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,390 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2019

C M Y K Nxxx,2019-07-16,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

U(D54G1D)y+$!;!?!#!}

LOS ANGELES — The memoryof the rapper Nipsey Hussle stilllooms large over Los Angeles. Onone mural, his spray-painted im-age is adorned with angel wings;on others it is surrounded by in-spirational quotes. A city intersec-tion has been named in his honor.And a strip mall he owned in SouthLos Angeles has become a memo-

rial, with a steady flow of touristsand flowers.

Two days after Hussle was shotand killed in the parking lot of thatmall in March, city leaders stoodbehind a bank of microphones andaddressed a shaken Los Angeles.The mayor called Hussle “an art-ist who touched our city.” The po-lice chief hailed him as a peace-maker. The head of the police com-mission said he had plans to meetwith Hussle to discuss ways to re-

duce gang violence.Yet in the same moment that

the city’s leaders were rushing toembrace Hussle as a hero of SouthLos Angeles, officials in the PoliceDepartment and city attorney’soffice were investigating him. Ac-cording to the city authorities andothers briefed on the matter, theyhad an open investigation intoHussle, his property and his busi-ness associates to determinewhether the strip mall at the cor-

ner of Crenshaw Boulevard andSlauson Avenue was a hub of gangactivity.

The investigation into Hussle’sempire, which the city has notpublicized, continues in the wakeof the killing, raising the possibil-ity that the city will take actionagainst the rapper’s businesspartners. As part of the investiga-tion, the city pressured Hussle’s

Los Angeles Is Still Investigating a Rapper Who Died as Its HeroBy TIM ARANGO

Continued on Page A11

Shortly after Ghislaine Maxwellarrived in New York from Eng-land in the early 1990s, she waslooking for a new start. She hadjust lost her father, a British mediamogul, along with much of herfamily fortune and her socialstanding.

Soon she was on the rise withthe help of her new boyfriend,Jeffrey Epstein, a rich financier. Itwas the beginning of a mutuallybeneficial relationship. With Mr.Epstein, Ms. Maxwell was able toresurrect the lifestyle she cov-eted.

She flew on his private jet, shesettled into his mansions in NewYork and Florida and she eventu-ally landed her own five-storytownhouse in Manhattan. For Mr.Epstein, who had grown up in Co-ney Island and was a college drop-out, the gregarious Ms. Maxwellprovided new social pathways.Her friends in high places includ-ed Britain’s Prince Andrew, whobecame a frequent guest in Mr.Epstein’s homes.

Now, with Mr. Epstein underfederal indictment on charges ofsexually trafficking and abusing

girls, there are mounting ques-tions about what else happened inhis close relationship with Ms.Maxwell.

He has pleaded not guilty, andshe has denied any wrongdoingand has not been criminallycharged. But in recent years, Ms.Maxwell has struck confidentialsettlements in civil court with twowomen who say she participated

Scrutiny for ‘Lady of the House’At the Heart of a Financier’s Life

Jeffrey Epstein and GhislaineMaxwell in 2005. She workedwith him for over a decade.

JOE SCHILDHORN/PATRICK McMULLAN

Continued on Page A21

By MEGAN TWOHEYand JACOB BERNSTEIN

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump, under fire for commentsthat even members of his ownparty called racist, amplified hisattacks on four Democratic con-gresswomen of color on Monday,saying that they hated Americaand that one of the first two Mus-lim women elected to Congresssympathized with Al Qaeda.

In an extraordinary back andforth from opposite ends of Penn-sylvania Avenue, Mr. Trump ap-peared to revel in the viciousnessof his brawl with the four progres-sive women who have become theyoung faces of the DemocraticParty. He goaded them into a re-sponse from Capitol Hill in whichthey denounced the president’srhetoric and his policies, chargingthat he was pressing the agenda ofwhite nationalists from the WhiteHouse.

“He’s launching a blatantly rac-ist attack on four duly electedmembers of the United StatesHouse of Representatives, all ofwhom are women of color,” saidRepresentative Ilhan Omar, Dem-ocrat of Minnesota and the targetof Mr. Trump’s most outrageouscharges. “This is the agenda ofwhite nationalists, whether it ishappening in chat rooms, or it ishappening on national TV, andnow it’s reached the White Housegarden.”

The exchange was the latestepisode in a presidency in whichMr. Trump has skittered from con-demnations of black athleteskneeling during the national an-them to insults lobbed at develop-ing countries to a defense of pro-testers at a white supremacistmarch. But now Mr. Trump is go-ing after members of the majorityparty in the House, capable offighting back.

The congresswomen vowed notto be baited into a sprint to the bot-tom with a president they con-demned as racist, xenophobic, mi-sogynistic and criminal. Theirleader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi,pledged to put a resolution on thefloor condemning the president’slanguage — putting House Repub-licans on defense.

But Mr. Trump showed no sign

President Steps Up AttackOn Four Congresswomen

Democrats Fire Backin Extraordinary

War of Words

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

Continued on Page A14

WASHINGTON — The lack ofwidespread Republican con-demnation of President Trumpfor his comments about fourDemocratic congresswomen ofcolor illustrated both the tighten-ing stranglehold Mr. Trump hason his party and the belief ofmany Republicans that an attackon progressivism should in factbe a central element of the 2020campaign.

While a smattering of Republi-cans chastised Mr. Trump onMonday, most party leaders inthe House and Senate and muchof the rank-and-file remainedquiet about the president’s week-end tweets directing dissentersto “go back” where they camefrom. He followed up on thosecomments on Monday withharsh language directed at “peo-ple who hate America” — aninflammatory accusation to beleveled against elected membersof the House.

With Mr. Trump far morepopular with Republican votersthan incumbent Republicanmembers of Congress, most areloath to cross the president andrisk reprisals. The case of Repre-sentative Justin Amash, theMichigan lawmaker who wasforced to leave the party after hedared to suggest Mr. Trumpshould be impeached, serves as acautionary tale.

At the same time, many Re-publicans are seeking to label thefour congresswomen and theirideas as “far left,” seeing it as apotential foundation of a sweep-ing critique of Democrats in2020. In an appearance on FoxNews, Senator Lindsey Graham,Republican of South Carolina,called the four “a bunch of com-munists,” a step beyond thepresident, who said he was at themoment only willing to go so faras calling them “socialists.”

Both the willingness of Repub-licans to attach extremist labelsto Democrats and the Democrat-ic assault against Mr. Trump as aracist and white supremacistpresage a particularly bitter 2020campaign.

NEWS ANALYSIS

Muted G.O.P. SendsSignal for 2020

By CARL HULSE

Continued on Page A14

It was a scene straight out ofSouth Florida, circa Election 2000,only there were no hanging chadsor butterfly ballots to obsess over.

With a hand recount of some91,000 votes cast in a Democraticprimary for a district attorneypost in New York City just begin-ning on Monday, it did not takelong for the first commotion toarise: a stray mark discovered ona ballot.

A crowd immediately gathered.Lawyers for the two leading can-didates, Melinda Katz and TiffanyCabán, surrounded the ballot,along with officials from the Boardof Elections. A poll worker heldthe ballot aloft, as eyes peered in.

Was the mark an accidentalstroke? Or deliberate? If the lat-ter, the vote, which had been castfor Ms. Cabán — who is trailingMs. Katz by only 16 votes — wouldbe declared invalid.

The contest, for Queens districtattorney, has local and nationalimplications. It is seen as a meas-ure of how willing Democratic vot-ers are to soften the tough-on-crime policies that have long typi-fied this working-class borough,and to follow the example ofplaces like Boston and Philadel-phia, where criminal justice re-formers have won top prosecutorjobs.

The election also served as an-other test of the power of progres-sives to take control of the Demo-cratic Party.

The Queens Democratic Partyhad been run by Joseph Crowley,the once-powerful Democrat wholost in an upset last year to Repre-sentative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Ms. Cabán, 31, a former public

Queens PeersAt Each Vote,

Blots and AllBy JOHN LELAND

Election officials examined ballots Monday as part of a recount in the Queens district attorney’s race, which hangs on a 16-vote gap.MICHELLE V. AGINS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A19

WASHINGTON — Long beforea surge of migrants from CentralAmerica overwhelmed the south-western border, the Trump admin-istration was already waging abroad assault on the rules deter-mining who can seek asylum inthe United States.

But on Monday, the administra-tion announced one of its most re-strictive rules yet for a system, en-shrined in international law, thatMr. Trump has called “ridiculous”and “insane.”

In a move that would stop virtu-ally all Central American familieswho are fleeing persecution andpoverty from entering the UnitedStates, Trump administration offi-cials said they would deny asylumto migrants who failed to apply for

protections in at least one countrythey passed through on their waynorth.

Under the new rule, Honduransand Salvadorans would have toapply for — and be denied — asy-lum in Guatemala or Mexico be-fore they were eligible to apply forasylum in the United States. Gua-temalans would have to apply forand be denied asylum in Mexico.

The rule would effectively limitasylum protections to Mexicansand those who cross the UnitedStates’ southwestern border bysea. But migrants from Honduras,

El Salvador and Guatemala makeup the vast majority of asylumseekers who have tried to enterthe United States in record num-bers this year. Border Patrol hasarrested 510,412 migrant familymembers from Honduras, El Sal-vador and Guatemala at thesouthwestern border so far in fis-cal year 2019, compared withmore than 3,200 Mexican familymembers.

Many Africans, Cubans andHaitians who travel through Mex-ico to the southwestern borderwould also be barred from obtain-ing the protections.

The administration made the

Trump Moves to Block Another Road to AsylumBy MICHAEL D. SHEAR

and ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS

PAYDAY The ex-head of a nonprof-it shelter group made $3.6 millionin the last fiscal year. PAGE A12

Migrants being ferried from Guatemala to Mexico last month. Under a new rule, Guatemalanswould have to apply for and be denied asylum in Mexico before applying in the United States.

OLIVER DE ROS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued on Page A13

Migrants Must Apply inat Least One Country

They Pass Through

Natural disasters are pushing chemi-cals into the environment, exposingpeople to an array of ailments. PAGE A10

NATIONAL A10-16

Storms Stir Stew of ToxinsAn ex-NASA intern who bought video-tapes of the moon landing for a songexpects to hear good news soon. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

One Giant Leap for His WalletThe anxiety over feared health risksfrom wireless technology can be tracedto a single scientist and a single chart.But both of them were wrong. PAGE D1

SCIENCE TIMES D1-8

Turning Off a Big 5G Alarm

“There is no alternative” to the 2015nuclear agreement that PresidentTrump has rejected, the E.U.’s foreignpolicy chief said. PAGE A8

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

A Push to Salvage Iran DealRevenue the United States has collectedfrom tariffs on $250 billion worth ofChinese goods does not cover the costof the president’s bailout for farmershurt by China’s retaliation. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-5

Tariff Profits Fall Short of Costs

Scores of reports to Colorado’s childabuse hotline landed in an inbox no-body knew to check. PAGE A11

4 Years of Abuse Tips UnreadDozens of Alaskan writers and advisershelped create a PBS children’s serieswith a Native American lead. PAGE C1

A More Inclusive PBS

Michelle Goldberg PAGE A22

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

As television and movie writers findthemselves in a standoff with the fourmajor talent agencies, some of them arebeginning to criticize their unions’tactics. PAGE B1

Dissent in Writers’ RanksThe year-old outbreak has now reachedGoma, a heavily populated city near theborder with Rwanda. PAGE A6

Ebola Spreads in Congo

Activists are pushing FIFA to keep Iranout of the 2022 World Cup unless its banon female spectators is lifted. PAGE B8

SPORTSTUESDAY B6-9

Leverage for Iranian Women

Late EditionToday, partly sunny, warm, high 89.Tonight, partly cloudy, low 75. To-morrow, hot, more humid, afternoonthunderstorms in spots, high 91.Weather map appears on Page A24.

$3.00