Trump’s 6-Page DiatribeBelittles ImpeachmentAs an ‘Attempted Coup’

Democrats Marshal Enough Support on Eve of Votes

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Continued on Page A16

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump on Tuesday angrily de-nounced the looming House votesto impeach him as a “Star Cham-ber of partisan persecution” byDemocrats, describing the effortto remove him from office as an“attempted coup” that wouldcome back to haunt them at theballot box next year.

On the eve of the historic votes,Democrats reached a criticalthreshold, gathering majoritysupport to impeach Mr. Trump, asthe president raged against theproceedings. In an irate and ram-bling six-page letter to SpeakerNancy Pelosi, Mr. Trump por-trayed himself as the victim of en-emies determined to destroy his

presidency with false accusations.“This is nothing more than an il-

legal, partisan attempted coupthat will, based on recent senti-ment, badly fail at the votingbooth,” Mr. Trump declared, de-scribing a process enshrined inthe Constitution as an attemptedgovernment overthrow.

“History will judge you harshlyas you proceed with this impeach-ment charade,” he wrote.

In a missive full of unprovencharges, hyperbole and long-sim-mering grievances against hisown government — at one point,he referred to leaders of the F.B.I.

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They were the coaches whocould make you or break you, de-manding legends of the 1980s and1990s who controlled a launchpadfrom New York City’s streets tocollege and the pros that cata-pulted future stars like Ron Artest

and Kenny Anderson.But in recent weeks, several

coaches from that era, includingErnest Lorch of the RiversideHawks, one of the city’s best clubbasketball teams, have beennamed in lawsuits against institu-tions with which they were affili-ated, accused of preying upontheir underage players.

The accusations are coming tolight now or being revived be-cause of new laws allowing vic-tims to sue adults who abusedthem years ago.

More than 1,000 cases havebeen filed in New York, against in-dividuals and institutions like theCatholic Church, the Boy Scouts ofAmerica and school districts, with

at least 60 of the lawsuits accusingsports coaches of predatory be-havior. Lawyers say dozens moreinvolving coaches are beingdrafted.

New York’s law, the Child Vic-tims Act, with its “look-back win-dow” allowing victims one year to

New York Coaching Legends Accused of Abuse Face a ReckoningBy DAVID W. CHEN

Continued on Page A31

WASHINGTON — A secretivefederal court accused the F.B.I. onTuesday of misleading judgesabout the rationale for wiretap-ping a former Trump campaignadviser and ordered the bureau topropose changes in how investi-gators seek their permission fornational security surveillance tar-geting Americans.

In an extraordinary public or-der, the presiding judge on theForeign Intelligence SurveillanceCourt, Rosemary M. Collyer, gavethe F.B.I. a Jan. 10 deadline tocome up with a proposal. It wasthe first public response from thecourt to the scathing findings re-leased last week by the JusticeDepartment’s independent in-spector general about the wire-tapping of the former Trump ad-

viser, Carter Page, as part of theRussia investigation.

“The frequency with which rep-resentations made by F.B.I. per-sonnel turned out to be unsup-ported or contradicted by infor-mation in their possession, andwith which they withheld infor-mation detrimental to their case,calls into question whether infor-mation contained in other F.B.I.applications is reliable,” JudgeCollyer wrote.

The court “expects the govern-ment to provide complete and ac-curate information in every filing,”she added, using italics to empha-size the court’s anger.

While the inspector general,Michael E. Horowitz, debunkedthe claims by President Trump

Berating F.B.I., Federal CourtOrders Fix to Wiretap Process

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

Continued on Page A23

BRYAN ANSELM FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Gathering in Jersey City, N.J., for Detective Joseph Seals, gunned down a week ago. Page A29.A Final Salute

ZHENGZHOU, China — Chinais ramping up its ability to spy onits nearly 1.4 billion people to newand disturbing levels, giving theworld a blueprint for how to builda digital totalitarian state.

Chinese authorities are knittingtogether old and state-of-the-arttechnologies — phone scanners,facial-recognition cameras, faceand fingerprint databases and

many others — into extensivetools for authoritarian control, ac-cording to police and private data-bases examined by The New YorkTimes.

Once combined and fully opera-tional, the tools can help the policegrab the identities of people as

they walk down the street, find outwho they are meeting with andidentify who does and doesn’t be-long to the Communist Party.

The United States and othercountries use some of the sametechniques to track terrorists ordrug lords. Chinese cities want touse them to track everybody.

The rollout has come at the ex-pense of personal privacy. TheTimes found that the authoritiesstored the personal data of mil-

China’s Blueprint for a Digital Totalitarian StateBy PAUL MOZUR

and AARON KROLIK

Continued on Page A10

Creating a NationwideSurveillance Net

For the past two months, televi-sion ads across central Virginiahave sounded a lot like PresidentTrump’s Twitter feed.

“A rigged process. A sham im-peachment. No quid pro quo. ButPelosi’s witch hunt continues,” anad from the Republican nonprofitgroup America First Policiescried, as images of Abigail Span-berger, who represents the regionin Congress, flickered onscreen.

Like many of her fellow fresh-men Democratic colleagues, Ms.Spanberger has faced a barrageof attack ads from the RepublicanNational Committee, nonprofitgroups and super PACs alignedwith President Trump.

During the roughly two monthsthat the impeachment inquiry hasbeen underway, Mr. Trump andhis Republican allies have floodedthe airwaves, spending more than$16.7 million on ads critical of theimpeachment effort. A vast major-ity of those ads attack HouseDemocrats rather than defend thepresident, according to Advertis-ing Analytics, an ad tracking firm.

Democratic groups are notfighting back directly and arechoosing instead to focus mainlyon other issues like health care.They are spending just $5.4 mil-lion on television ads specific toimpeachment. Instead, the mostprominent Democratically-funded message on television atthis moment is this: “Mike Bloom-berg for President.”

The former New York mayor isspending more than $109 million,primarily on biographical TV adsacross the country and an addi-tional fraction of that on Facebookand Google ads, all without men-tion of the drama unfolding inWashington this week.

He is investing some resourcesin impeachment: Mr. Bloombergpledged a week ago to donate $10million to the House Majority PACto help defend House Democrats,which is nearly twice what Demo-

Spending Flurry andOnslaught of Adsby Republicans

By NICK CORASANITI

Continued on Page A20

TULSA, Okla. — The teenagerhad pink cheeks from the cold anda matter-of-fact tone as she ex-plained why she had started usingmethamphetamine after becom-ing homeless last year.

“Having nowhere to sleep,nothing to eat — that’s wheremeth comes into play,” said thegirl, 17, who asked to be identifiedby her nickname, Rose. “Thosethings aren’t a problem if you’reusing.”

She stopped two months ago,she said, after smoking so muchmeth over a 24-hour period thatshe hallucinated and nearlyjumped off a bridge. Deaths asso-ciated with meth use are climbinghere in Oklahoma and in manyother states, an alarming trend fora nation battered by the opioidepidemic, and one that publichealth officials are struggling tofully explain.

The meth problem has sneakedup on state and national leaders.In Oklahoma, meth and relateddrugs, including prescriptionstimulants, now play a role inmore deaths than all opioids com-bined, including painkillers, her-oin and fentanyl, according to theCenters for Disease Control andPrevention.

The spending package that law-makers agreed on this week in-cludes legislation from SenatorsJeanne Shaheen, Democrat of

A Call to ActionAs Deaths RiseFrom Meth Use

By ABBY GOODNOUGH

Continued on Page A28

In a remote Japanese village, a womanand her friends compensated for thelack of children with hundreds of hand-made dolls in scenes evoking the realpeople who once lived there. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-13

An Unreal, Childless Life

A kidnapping of a girl captured on videoriveted New Yorkers still reeling from astudent’s stabbing. The girl was found.And then it got stranger. PAGE A29

NEW YORK A29-31

Kidnapping Is Said to Be HoaxRock-bottom interest rates are driving aproperty boom in Europe that is pricingmany residents out of big cities andcausing concern among policymakersabout a dangerous new bubble. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Fearing a Bad End to a Boom

The House approved a giant mix ofspending and policy measures designedto ensure their passage and fund thegovernment through next fall. PAGE A22

NATIONAL A14-28

A Step to Avert a Shutdown

Two patches of land in Tulsa, Okla., mayhold mass graves from a 1921 attack bya white mob in a prosperous areaknown as Black Wall Street. PAGE A28

Seeking Clues to a Massacre

Brewers, racehorse owners, churcheswith parking lots and some producersof wind energy were among the tax-break winners in a last-hour agreementon spending. PAGE B1

Tax Gifts From Congress

How a 1994 Christmas song by MariahCarey finally made it to the top of theBillboard singles chart. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

Finally Got All She Wanted Drought and other stresses take theirtoll on the Hatch chile, a mainstay ofNew Mexico’s economy. PAGE D1

FOOD D1-10

Too Hot for Chiles

Debbie Dingell PAGE A33

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A32-33

JOSH HANER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

In Oakland, Calif., more than 100 homeless encampments sit just across the Bay from the opulence of San Francisco. Page A24.Homeless in a Land of Plenty

The president sent a ramblingletter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,545 © 2019 The New York Times Company WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2019

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Some sun far north. Mostly sunnyelsewhere. Highs in 20s to 30s.Mostly clear tonight. Cold. Lows inteens and lower 20s. Some clouds to-morrow. Weather map, Page A26.

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