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Shira A. Scheindlin PAGE A27

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

WASHINGTON — Roger J.Stone Jr., a longtime friend andadviser of President Trump, wassentenced Thursday to more thanthree years in prison in a political-ly fraught case that put the presi-dent at odds with his attorneygeneral, stirred widespread con-sternation in the Justice Depart-ment and provoked the judge inthe case to denounce pressure onthe justice system.

In announcing the 40-monthsentence, Judge Amy BermanJackson of United States DistrictCourt in Washington suggestedthat attacks on federal judges,prosecutors and juries should be awake-up call about the threatsnow endangering an independentjustice system. While she nevermentioned Mr. Trump by name,her remarks seemed directed athim.

“The dismay and the disgust atthe attempts by others to defendhis actions as just business as usu-al in our polarized climate shouldtranscend party,” the judge said ofMr. Stone. “The dismay and dis-gust at any attempt to interferewith the efforts of prosecutors andmembers of the judiciary to fulfilltheir duty should transcendparty.”

The case was thrown into disar-ray last week when Attorney Gen-eral William P. Barr overruled asentencing recommendation byfour career prosecutors, who thenquit the case in protest. Mr. Barrsaid he decided on his own that theprosecutors’ request for a prisonterm of seven to nine years wastoo harsh. But his move coincidedwith Mr. Trump’s public com-plaints about the prosecutors’ rec-ommendation and elicited wide-spread criticism that he had bentto the president’s will.

The attorney general, facing abacklash within the department,asked Mr. Trump in a nationallytelevised interview to cease hisrunning commentary about thedepartment’s criminal cases.

Yet less than three hours after

Trump Adviser Sentenced to 40 Months

By SHARON LaFRANIERE

Roger J. Stone Jr., convicted of lying to protect the president, arriving for his sentencing Thursday.ANNA MONEYMAKER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A12

Attacks by PresidentGrow in Stone Case

When the abuse began,Migdalia could not call for help.

She was 57 but with the mind ofa child. She had never spoken andcould not form words. She lived ina Bronx group home with two doz-en other adults who also weremostly nonverbal and helpless.

Bruises started appearing onher arms and legs. What lookedlike a shoe print on her belly.

A state investigation later con-cluded that she and other resi-dents had been beaten by some ofthe home’s employees, the peoplewho had been entrusted with hercare. In Migdalia’s case, the abuserepresented an especially deepbetrayal.

Migdalia and thousands likeher had grown up in the Willow-brook State School, a notorious in-stitution on Staten Island. For dec-ades, the state used the facility asa warehouse for children andadults with developmental dis-abilities. They were left unattend-ed, naked or in rags. Some werestrapped in beds or chairs; otherswere left to rock endlessly onfilthy, locked wards.

Exposure of these conditionsled to a landmark 1975 federalcourt settlement in which NewYork agreed to move Willow-brook’s residents into small grouphomes. The state pledged that

each individual had a “constitu-tional right to protection fromharm.”

But that vow has been broken:Many of the institution’s 2,300alumni who are alive today still

suffer from mistreatment, a NewYork Times investigation found.

Last year alone, there were 97reported allegations of physicalabuse by group home workers

Broken Promise of Better Life After Being Abused at WillowbrookBy BENJAMIN WEISER

Horrifying conditions at the Willowbrook State School led to a 1975 deal to protect the victims.BILL PIERCE/THE LIFE IMAGES COLLECTION, VIA GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page A22

Michael R. Bloomberg had putin the hours, his people said —holding mock debate sessionswith top aides and meeting atlength to prepare in New York andPalm Springs, Calif.

His campaign had anticipatedthe unsurprising questions aboutallegations of a hostile workplacefor women at his company, stop-and-frisk policing in his city, theunseemliness of a Democraticcontender who has long written

checks to Republicans. And Mr.Bloomberg recognized that hewould have to answer them, or atleast deflect serviceably enoughto survive.

But Mr. Bloomberg’s debateperformance on Wednesdayproved so lackluster that bothsupporters and rivals countedthemselves taken aback, leavinghis campaign more rattled than at

any point since he entered therace. While Mr. Bloomberg soughtto project a steely calm on Thurs-day during a swing through Utah,he and his team have been left toexplain away a comedown that ex-posed some of his gravest liabil-ities.

Howard Wolfson, one of Mr.Bloomberg’s closest advisers, onThursday shouldered the blamefor the outcome of the debate.

“I led the debate prep and I ac-cept the responsibility for inade-quately preparing him,” Mr. Wolf-son said.

Several people close to the

Bloomberg Was Primed. Why Did He Sputter?This article is by Matt Flegen-

heimer, Alexander Burns andJeremy W. Peters.

Liabilities Are Exposed, Rattling Campaign

Continued on Page A14

New York State’s attorney gen-eral on Thursday accused NewYork City of committing fraud byartificially inflating the value ofyellow taxi medallions and de-manded $810 million from the cityto compensate the thousands ofcabdrivers who are now saddledwith enormous debt.

The city’s Taxi and LimousineCommission marketed the medal-lions — city-issued permits re-quired to own a yellow cab — as “asolid investment with steadygrowth” and reaped a profit fromthe sale of thousands of them atauction at exorbitant prices from2004 to 2017, according to an in-vestigation by the attorney gener-al’s office.

The attorney general, Letitia A.James, said the city had to providefinancial relief to the debt-riddentaxi medallion owners within 30days or she would sue for fraud,unlawful profit and other vio-lations of state law.

“These taxi medallions weremarketed as a pathway to theAmerican dream, but instead be-came a trapdoor of despair for me-dallion owners harmed by theT.L.C.’s unlawful practices,” Ms.James said. “The very govern-ment that was supposed to ensurefair practices in the marketplaceengaged in a scheme that de-frauded hundreds of medallionowners, leaving many with nochoice but to work day and nightto pay off their overpriced medal-lions.’’

Bhairavi Desai, the executive

State DeclaresNew York CityBilked Cabbies

By WINNIE HU

Continued on Page A23

HANAU, Germany — Hanau, asmall city in western Germany,considered itself a melting pot, anisland of tolerance. That was be-fore a racist extremist opened fireat a hookah bar Wednesday night,killing nine mostly young peoplein Germany’s worst attack in re-cent memory.

A working-class communityjust outside Frankfurt, Hanau wasethnically diverse long before theissue of immigration began tear-ing apart German politics with thearrival of nearly a million asylumseekers five years ago.

“We have lived very peacefullytogether,” said Metin Kan, a 43-year-old of Turkish descent, whosaid he was a friend of one of thevictims, the owner of the Midnightbar.

The attack Wednesday didmore than shock Germany. Itdrove home a fear that no part ofthe country is immune to the po-

In German City,A Racist Attack‘Against Us All’

By JACK EWINGand MELISSA EDDY

Mourners in Hanau, Germany,where nine people were killed.

SASCHA STEINBACH/EPA, VIA SHUTTERSTOCK

Continued on Page A8

WASHINGTON — Intelligenceofficials warned House lawmak-ers last week that Russia was in-terfering in the 2020 campaign totry to get President Trump re-elected, five people familiar withthe matter said, a disclosure toCongress that angered Mr.Trump, who complained thatDemocrats would use it againsthim.

The day after the Feb. 13 brief-ing to lawmakers, the presidentberated Joseph Maguire, the out-going acting director of nationalintelligence, for allowing it to takeplace, people familiar with the ex-change said. Mr. Trump was par-ticularly irritated that Represent-ative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat ofCalifornia and the leader of the im-peachment proceedings, was atthe briefing.

During the briefing to theHouse Intelligence Committee,Mr. Trump’s allies challenged theconclusions, arguing that he hadbeen tough on Russia and that he

had strengthened European secu-rity.

Some intelligence officialsviewed the briefing as a tacticalerror, saying the conclusionscould have been delivered in a lesspointed manner or left out entirelyto avoid angering Republicans.The intelligence official who deliv-ered the briefing, Shelby Pierson,is an aide to Mr. Maguire and has areputation for speaking bluntly.

Though intelligence officialshave previously told lawmakersthat Russia’s interference cam-paign was continuing, last week’sbriefing included what appearedto be new information: that Rus-sia intended to interfere with the2020 Democratic primaries aswell as the general election.

On Wednesday, the presidentannounced that he was replacingMr. Maguire with Richard Grenell,the ambassador to Germany andan aggressively vocal Trump sup-porter. And though some currentand former officials speculatedthat the briefing might haveplayed a role in that move, two ad-

HOUSE IS WARNED OF RUSSIAN EFFORTTO BOLSTER TRUMP

President Is Said to Fear Democrats Will‘Weaponize’ Disclosure in Race

This article is by Adam Goldman,Julian E. Barnes, Maggie Ha-berman and Nicholas Fandos.

Continued on Page A11

Delivery drivers, ubiquitous in China,are being hailed as heroes during thevirus outbreak for giving a lifeline tomillions holed up at home. PAGE A7

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Hope Arrives by Motorbike

Kevin Stitt’s demands for higher feesfrom Native American casinos in Okla-homa start a feud with powerful tribes— including his own. PAGE A10

NATIONAL A10-19

Tribes Unite Against Governor

Why does it cost so much to build anaffordable housing unit? Land, laborand legal issues are part of the equationas the state tries to solve its growinghousing crisis. PAGE A19

California’s $750,000 Question

Seeking to quell criticism from civilliberties advocates, the New York Po-lice Department announced it is over-hauling its rules for collecting and usingDNA evidence. PAGE A20

NEW YORK A20-23

Revamping DNA Rules

The team owners sent a proposal toplayers that would expand the playoffsto 14 teams and extend the regularseason to 17 games. PAGE B7

SPORTSFRIDAY B7-11

A Longer N.F.L. Season?

An all-star team of female drivers, in-cluding Katherine Legge, below, did wellin the International Motor Sports Asso-ciation. Then the money ran out. PAGE B7

Obstacles for Women in Racing

Leslie H. Wexner, 82, will leave thehelm of L Brands and sell its controllingstake in Victoria’s Secret. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Retail Pioneer Steps Away

The Whitney exhibition on Mexicanpainters is stupendous and complicated,Holland Cotter says. Above, “Zapatis-tas” by Clemente Orozco. Page C11

WEEKEND ARTS C1-22

Bordering on Genius

BLAMING KREMLIN Britain and Australia joined the State Department’seffort to deter Moscow from meddling in the 2020 vote. PAGE A5

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,610 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Late EditionToday, plenty of sunshine, anothercold day, high 36. Tonight, clear, notas cold as last night, low 29. Tomor-row, plenty of sunshine, milder, high50. Weather map is on Page B12.

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