WAS MONEY PAID TARGET OF RAIDS

VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,929

? 2018 The New York Times Company

NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018

Late Edition

Today, plenty of sunshine, high 54. Tonight, increasingly cloudy, not as cold, low 44. Tomorrow, mostly cloudy, a milder afternoon, high 62. Weather map appears on Page B12.

$3.00

TARGET OF RAIDS WAS MONEY PAID TO HUSH WOMEN

A Legal Attack Dog's Trump Said to Weigh

Seized Files Could Removal of Deputy

Bite His Client

Attorney General

NAZEER AL-KHATIB/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE -- GETTY IMAGES

A camp in northern Syria on Tuesday. The United Nations said thousands had fled a suburb of Damascus, the capital. Page A8.

U.S. Considers

More Intensity

For Syria Strike

This article is by Peter Baker, Helene Cooper and Thomas GibbonsNeff.

WASHINGTON -- President Trump and his advisers on Tuesday weighed a more robust retaliatory strike against Syria than last year's missile attack, reasoning that only an escalation of force would look credible and possibly serve as a deterrent against further use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians.

A pair of Navy warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea were capable of launching the same sort of missile barrage that Mr. Trump ordered against a Syrian air base a year ago in response to a chemical attack thenthat killed more than 80 civilians.

But White House and national security officials worried that an operation of the same scale, as punishment for another suspected and deadly attack that killed dozens over the weekend, would not be effective at curbing the Syrian military's war effort.

Administration officials said they expected any new strike to be more expansive than last year's, but the question was how much more. Possible options included hitting more than a single target and extending strikes beyond a single day.

But even so, Mr. Trump remained reluctant to deepen American involvement over a longer term.

Mr. Trump and his team enlisted support for action against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. American officials expressed confidence that they would have the backing of France, which has been vocal about the need for a strong response, as well as Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qa-

Continued on Page A9

Wary Lawmakers Question Facebook's Founder

By KEVIN ROOSE

and CECILIA KANG

WASHINGTON -- Outside the Capitol Building on Tuesday sat dozens of cardboard cutouts depicting Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, wearing a characteristic T-shirt emblazoned with the message "Fix Fakebook."

Inside, clad in a navy suit and bright blue tie, Mr. Zuckerberg appeared before the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees as he really is: the billionaire leader of one of the world's most powerful commercial and civic enterprises.

Mr. Zuckerberg's appearance, his first before Congress, turned into something of a pointed gripe session, with both Democratic and Republican senators attacking Facebook for failing to protect users' data and stop Russian elec-

Senators Hint at New

Regulations to Rein

In Tech Giants

tion interference, and raising questions about whether Facebook should be more heavily regulated. Of specific interest were the revelations that sensitive data of as many as 87 million Facebook users were harvested without explicit permission by a political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, which was connected to the Trump campaign.

Mr. Zuckerberg, 33, appeared confident and answered questions directly, and his performance helped bolster Facebook's stock, which ended the day up 4.5 percent. It was the first of two mara-

thon hearings; the second will be before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

He was forced to admit mistakes and take responsibility for his company's actions -- as have the many tobacco, pharmaceutical and bank executives who have been summoned to Washington.

"I think it's pretty much impossible, I believe, to start a company in your dorm room and then grow it to be at the scale that we're at now without making some mistakes," Mr. Zuckerberg said.

Senator Richard Durbin, DemoContinued on Page A17

Blow to Billionaire Donors

Fallout from the Facebook datamining scandal has battered the Mercer family's nascent conservative political network. Page A16.

GABRIELLA DEMCZUK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Cardboard cutouts of Mark Zuckerberg were set up on Tuesday by the advocacy group Avaaz.

Groped by Fans, Pro Cheerleaders Say Bosses Have Advice: Smile

By JULIET MACUR and JOHN BRANCH

Cheerleaders for professional sports teams are often dancers with backgrounds in ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop and tap. After beating out dozens of other dancers for the job, they have a chance to show off the athletic and dancing skills they have honed for years.

But they quickly learn that performing at sporting events is only a small part of their job description. They are also required to fulfill what often is the unsavory side of the job: interacting with fans at games and other promotional events, where groping and sexual harassment are common.

In interviews with dozens of current and former cheerleaders -- most from the N.F.L., but also

from the N.B.A. and the N.H.L. -- they described systematic exploitation by teams that profit by sending them into pregame tailgating and other gatherings where they are subjected to offensive sexual comments and unwanted touches by fans.

"When you have on a push-up bra and a fringed skirt, it can sometimes, unfortunately, feel like it comes with the territory,"

said Labriah Lee Holt, a former cheerleader for the Tennessee Titans in the N.F.L. "I never experienced anything where someone on the professional staff or the team said something or made me feel that way. But you definitely experience that when you encounter people who have been drinking beer."

Team officials are aware of the Continued on Page A14

This article is by Mike McIntire, Jim Rutenberg and Maggie Haberman.

During the presidential campaign, Michael D. Cohen got a Google alert for a breaking story: "Russian President Vladimir Putin Praises Donald Trump as `Talented' and `Very Colorful.'"

For most American politicians, that article in December 2015 would hardly have been welcome news. But Mr. Cohen, whose role as personal lawyer and fixer for President Trump has been firmly rooted in the transactional world of his boss, saw opportunity. He emailed an old friend who had been talking about seeking Kremlin support to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, and sent him the article.

"Now is the time," Mr. Cohen wrote. "Call me."

Mr. Cohen's efforts put him under scrutiny in the Trump-Russia inquiries and hinted at the somewhat murky space he occupied in the Trump Organization, where his precise duties were unclear. Since then, a series of disclosures have revealed the unusual range of Mr. Cohen's portfolio.

Agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided his office and hotel room on Monday, seeking records related to payments made shortly before the 2016 election to two women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with Mr. Trump. The investigation poses a legal threat to Mr. Cohen -- and possibly his client. Few people closer to Mr. Trump have more knowledge of what the president has been involved with over the years.

"Michael Cohen would lay his life down for Donald Trump," said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran New York political strategist who knows both men. "He is the ultimate Trump loyalist."

Mr. Trump values few things more than loyalty, but secrecy is one of them. For years, to keep the circle of people involved as small as possible, he chose to have Mr. Cohen serve as his legal attack dog from a perch inside Trump Tower in Manhattan instead of having outside counsel deal with his problems, said two people familiar with their relationship.

Continued on Page A19

This article is by Michael D. Shear, Matt Apuzzo and Sharon LaFraniere.

WASHINGTON -- The F.B.I. agents who raided the office of President Trump's personal lawyer on Monday were looking for records about payments to two women who claim they had affairs with Mr. Trump as well as information related to the role of the publisher of The National Enquirer in silencing one of the women, according to several people briefed on the investigation.

The search warrant carried out by the public corruption unit of the United States attorney's office in Manhattan sought information about Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claims she carried on a nearly yearlong affair with Mr. Trump shortly after the

DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

The president described the inquiries as a "total witch hunt."

birth of his youngest son in 2006. Ms. McDougal was paid $150,000 by American Media Inc., The Enquirer's parent company, whose chief executive is a friend of Mr. Trump's.

Agents were also searching the office and hotel room of the lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, for information related to Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress, who also said she had sex with Mr. Trump while he was married. Mr. Cohen has acknowledged that he paid Ms. Clifford $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement to secure her silence days before the 2016 presidential election.

The president, who reacted to Continued on Page A20

The Met Appoints an Outsider To Juggle Art and Technology

By ROBIN POGREBIN

For the first time in 60 years, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has reached beyond its own doors for a new leader, choosing a Vienna-born museum director who is conversant in the old masters, modern art and Minecraft to steer the venerable institution through the digital age.

The Met announced on Tuesday that Max Hollein, 48, currently the director and chief executive of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and a veteran of Germany's oldest art foundation, will become its 10th director this summer. He will take command of the Met at a time when museums are under increasing pressure to remain relevant, raise funds and attract new audiences.

"The Met is one of its kind," Mr. Hollein said in an interview at the museum. "The museum has the opportunity to be not just an art destination," Mr. Hollein added, but "a major provider of under-

PETER PRATO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Max Hollein, 48.

standing and different narratives to a global audience."

Unlike his recent predecessors Philippe de Montebello, who served for 31 years, and Thomas P. Campbell, who served for eight, Mr. Hollein did not ascend from the Met's curatorial ranks. He was reportedly a runner-up when Mr. Campbell was chosen in 2008.

But he was an appealing candi-

Continued on Page A22

BUSINESS DAY B1-6

Bringing Food to the Country

A farm couple's start-up has brought online food delivery to rural Pennsylvania. We rode along. PAGE B1

`How Long Can We Last?'

Tariffs on Chinese steel have already taken a toll on a Pennsylvania manufacturer, Eduardo Porter writes. PAGE B1

INTERNATIONAL A4-10

Polar Bears and the Climate

How are polar bears doing? That ques-

tion has become part of the debate on

climate change.

PAGE A7

Out of Hospital After Poisoning

Yulia Skripal had been fighting for her

life since she and her father, a former

Russian spy, were poisoned with a nerve

agent in Britain in March.

PAGE A7

NEW YORK A21-23

End for Housing Official

Scandal and scrutiny capped Shola Olatoye's tenure as head of the nation's largest public housing system. PAGE A21

NATIONAL A11-20

On the Hunt for Death Threats

The E.P.A. is scouring the internet in an attempt to justify the costly security detail for its chief, Scott Pruitt. PAGE A13

Cosby Defense Opens Fire

A lawyer for Bill Cosby attacked the accuser in his sexual assault retrial as a "con artist" seeking a payday. PAGE A12

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B7-11

A First Seed in Their First Year

The Golden Knights broke the N.H.L. record for wins by an expansion team -- two months ago. Now Vegas, the West's top club, is set for the playoffs. PAGE B7

ARTS C1-10

The Versatile Cardi B

An album from the social-media-savantturned-reality-TV-scene-stealer-turnedrapper wins our critic's praise. PAGE C1

A Comic With a Clean Streak

Brett Davis is a big fan of pro wrestling, and is madly in love with a particular brand of laundry detergent. PAGE C1

FOOD D1-8

Ice Cream, With Grumbles

What kind of monster complains about an old-fashioned chocolate sundae for dessert? Pete Wells, of course. PAGE D1

At Restaurants, a Call for Help

With Americans eating out more often,

owners are scrambling to find employ-

ees wherever they can.

PAGE D1

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

Walter F. Mondale

PAGE A27

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