VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,401 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2019

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Health workers treating an Ebola patient in Beni, Congo. The country is trying a new plan after failing to tame the outbreak. Page A7.As Ebola Persists, a Change in Strategy

The American economy is slow-ing, dragged down by trade ten-sions and weak growth overseas.But there are few signs that thedecade-long expansion is on thebrink of stalling out.

Gross domestic product, thebroadest measure of goods andservices produced in the economy,rose at a 2.1 percent annual rate inthe second quarter, according topreliminary data released by theCommerce Department on Friday.

That is significantly lower thanthe 3.1 percent growth rate in thefirst quarter. And it falls far shortof the 3 percent target that Presi-dent Trump has repeatedly prom-ised. Data revisions released onFriday wiped away what had beena prized talking point for the

White House: G.D.P. grew 2.5 per-cent for all of 2018, down from the3 percent previously reported.

During the 2016 campaign, Mr.Trump slammed PresidentBarack Obama for being “the firstpresident in modern history not tohave a single year of 3 percentgrowth.” Nonetheless, Mr. Trumphailed the report on Friday, evenas he renewed his criticism of theFederal Reserve, calling its poli-cies an “anchor wrapped aroundour neck” in a post on Twitter.

Fed officials have said repeat-edly that Mr. Trump’s commentswill not affect their decisions. Still,they are expected to cut interest

ECONOMY GROWS,BUT NOT AT RATETRUMP PROMISED

CASE AGAINST STIMULUS

Recovery Still on Course,but Weaker Spots

Cause Concern

By BEN CASSELMAN

Continued on Page A14

Source: Bureau ofEconomic Analysis THE NEW YORK TIMES

Second-quarter estimate +2.1%

Annual rate of change in gross

domestic product, based on

quarterly figures and adjusted for

inflation and seasonal fluctuations.

’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19

+3

+4%

+2

+1

0

REAL ECONOMIC GROWTH

HONG KONG — The police offi-cers wrestled with Colin Cheungin an unmarked car. They neededhis face.

They grabbed his jaw to forcehis head in front of his iPhone.They slapped his face. Theyshouted, “Wake up!” They priedopen his eyes. It all failed: Mr.Cheung had disabled his phone’sfacial-recognition login with aquick button mash as soon as theygrabbed him.

As Hong Kong convulses amidweeks of protests, demonstratorsand the police have turned iden-tity into a weapon. The authoritiesare tracking protest leaders on-line and seeking their phones.Many protesters now cover theirfaces, and they fear that the policeare using cameras and possiblyother tools to single out targets forarrest.

And when the police stoppedwearing identification badges asthe violence escalated, some pro-testers began to expose officers’identities online. One fast-grow-ing channel on the social messag-ing app Telegram seeks and pub-lishes personal information aboutofficers and their families. Thechannel, “Dadfindboy,” has over50,000 subscribers and advocatesviolence in crude and cartoonishways. Rival pro-governmentchannels seek to unmask pro-testers in a similar fashion.

Mr. Cheung, who was arrestedlast week on suspicion of “conspir-ing and abetting murder,” sub-scribes to the “Dadfindboy” chan-nel, although he denied beingamong its founders as the policehave said and he condemnedposts calling for violence. He be-lieves he was targeted by the po-lice because he developed a toolthat could compare imagesagainst a set of photos of officersto find matches — a project he lat-er abandoned.

“I don’t want them to be like se-cret police,” said Mr. Cheung, whowas released on bail and was notcharged with wrongdoing. “If lawenforcement officers don’t wearanything to show their identity,they’ll become corrupt. They’ll beable to do whatever they want.”

“With the tool, ordinary citizens

STREETS CLOGGEDBY THE FACELESS

In Hong Kong, IdentityBecomes a Weapon

By PAUL MOZUR

Continued on Page A5

In May 1997, Alicia Arden, amodel in California, was intro-duced to a man who identifiedhimself as a talent scout for Vic-toria’s Secret. He invited her to hisSanta Monica hotel room to audi-tion for the brand’s catalog. Whenshe arrived, Ms. Arden said, theman grabbed her, tried to undressher and said he wanted to “man-handle” her. Ms. Arden, then 27,fled in tears.

It was the type of crisis thatshould not have come as a com-plete surprise to leaders at L

Brands, the parent company ofVictoria’s Secret.

In the mid-1990s, two senior ex-ecutives had discovered that thesame man, a close adviser to thecompany’s chief executive, LeslieH. Wexner, was trying to pitchhimself as a recruiter for Vic-toria’s Secret models. Mr. Wexnerwas alerted, according to the twoexecutives.

It is unclear what if any actionMr. Wexner took in response. Butthe man — Jeffrey E. Epstein, aNew York financier — had devel-oped an unusually strong hold onMr. Wexner, one of the country’smost influential corporate titans.

Within years of meeting Mr. Ep-stein, Mr. Wexner handed himsweeping powers over his fi-nances, philanthropy and privatelife, according to interviews withpeople who knew the men as well

Epstein Soared on a Friendship With Few LimitsThis article is by Emily Steel,

Steve Eder, Sapna Maheshwari andMatthew Goldstein.

Retail Tycoon Seemedto Give a Financier

Carte Blanche

Continued on Page A11

The events that led to the politicaldemise of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló ofPuerto Rico. PAGE A12

NATIONAL A9-15

The Days Before the EndWomen and girls perform “la danza delos tecuanes,” the dance of the jaguars,to honor their Mexican roots. PAGE A16

NEW YORK A16-17

Breaking, and Saving, Tradition

Marianne Williamson, the self-helpauthor in the 2020 race, explains herposition on antidepressants. PAGE A9

Weighing In on Mental Health

As record temperatures blanketedmuch of the Continent this week, offi-cials scrambled to find ways to protecttheir suffering residents. PAGE A8

INTERNATIONAL A4-8

Europe Seeks Solutions to HeatWhen Vinícius Júnior, the hottest youngplayer in Brazil, signed with Real Ma-drid, it wasn’t just him heading toSpain. About a dozen family membersand friends came, too. PAGE B8

SPORTSSATURDAY B8-12

The Life of a Soccer Prodigy

A video went viral of a posse striking ayoung female tiger with sticks andmachetes in a jungle clearing. PAGE A6

Killing of Tiger Outrages India

In the industrial region of Franceknown as Plastics Valley, factories arestarving for skilled workers. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-7

18,000 Jobs, but Few TakersBill de Blasio, badly trailing in thepresidential race, embraces the insultsto elevate his national profile. PAGE A17

Mayor Welcomes Trump’s Ire

A storm shortened Friday’s stage andallowed the Colombian Egan Bernal totake the overall lead from JulianAlaphilippe, a blow to hopes for aFrench winner. PAGE B10

Tour de France Lead Changes

Bret Stephens PAGE A19

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A18-19

SUBPOENAS Prosecutors areseeking flight logs from two ofJeffrey Epstein’s pilots. PAGE A17

THIS WEEKEND

WASHINGTON — The Su-preme Court on Friday gave Pres-ident Trump a victory in his fightfor a wall along the Mexican bor-der by allowing the administra-tion to begin using $2.5 billion inPentagon money for the construc-tion.

In a 5-to-4 ruling, the courtoverturned an appellate decisionand said that the administrationcould tap the money while litiga-tion over the matter proceeds. Butthat will most likely take manymonths or longer, allowing Mr.Trump to move ahead before thecase returns to the Supreme Courtafter further proceedings in theappeals court.

While the order was only oneparagraph long and unsigned, theSupreme Court said the groupschallenging the administrationdid not appear to have a legal rightto do so. That was an indicationthat the court’s conservative ma-jority was likely to side with theadministration in the end.

The court’s four more liberaljustices dissented. One of them,Stephen G. Breyer, wrote that hewould have allowed the adminis-tration to pursue preparatorywork but not construction, whichhe said would be hard to undo if itultimately lost the case.

Mr. Trump promptly posted onTwitter that he was delighted withthe ruling: “Wow! Big VICTORYon the Wall. The United States Su-preme Court overturns lowercourt injunction, allows SouthernBorder Wall to proceed. Big WINfor Border Security and the Ruleof Law!”

The ruling came on the sameday that Mr. Trump signed anagreement with Guatemala thatwas intended to slow the flow ofCentral American migrants seek-ing refuge in the United States.Migrants who travel norththrough Guatemala will be re-quired to seek asylum there first.

The border wall case, Trump v.Sierra Club, No. 19A60, concernedinjunctions entered by a trialjudge that blocked the transfer ofmilitary funds to wall construc-tion. An appeals court refused tostay the trial judge’s ruling while itconsidered the administration’sappeal. The Supreme Court’s rul-ing on Friday allows constructionto proceed while the litigation con-tinues.

Dror Ladin, a lawyer with theAmerican Civil Liberties Union,

Ruling AllowsShift of Funds

To Build Wall

A Win for Trump as aLegal Battle Goes On

By ADAM LIPTAK

Continued on Page A14

IVOR PRICKETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Najla Imad Lafta lost three limbs in a bombing in Iraq. Now she’s a table tennis champion. Page A6.Through Darkness, a Champion Emerges

WASHINGTON — Col.Kathryn A. Spletstoser of theArmy says she had returned toher hotel room and was putting onface cream on the night of Dec. 2,2017, after a full day at the annualReagan National Defense Forumin California, when her boss, AirForce Gen. John E. Hyten, thecommander of United States Stra-

tegic Command, knocked on herdoor and said he wanted to talk toher.

The military’s itinerary of Gen-eral Hyten’s movements that dayin Simi Valley, which was viewedby The New York Times, said hewas having “executive time.”Colonel Spletstoser said in an in-terview this week that her boss“sat on the bed in front of the TVand asked me to sit down next tohim.”

According to her account, Gen-eral Hyten reached for her hand.She became alarmed, and stoodback up. He stood up too, she said,and pulled her to him and kissedher on the lips while pressing him-self against her, then ejaculated,getting semen on his sweatpantsand on her yoga pants.

In April, President Trumpnominated General Hyten to be

Colonel Accuses Top Military Nominee of AssaultBy HELENE COOPER

Continued on Page A13

The House Judiciary Commit-tee on Friday asked a federaljudge to unseal grand jury secretsrelated to Robert S. Mueller III’sinvestigation, using the court fil-ing to declare that lawmakershave already in effect launched animpeachment investigation ofPresident Trump.

In a legal maneuver that carriessignificant political overtones, thecommittee told a judge that itneeds access to the grand jury evi-dence collected by Mr. Mueller asspecial counsel — such as witnesstestimony — because it is “investi-gating whether to recommend ar-ticles of impeachment” againstthe president.

“Because Department of Jus-tice policies will not allow pros-ecution of a sitting president, the

United States House of Repre-sentatives is the only institution ofthe federal government that cannow hold President Trump ac-countable for these actions,” thefiling told the judge, Beryl A. How-ell, who supervised Mr. Mueller’sgrand jury.

Referring to the part of the Con-stitution that gives Congress thepower to impeach and remove apresident, the filing continued:“To do so, the House must have ac-cess to all the relevant facts andconsider whether to exercise allits full Article I powers, includinga constitutional power of the ut-most gravity — approval of arti-cles of impeachment.”

With the filing, the committee’schairman, Representative Jerrold

Weighing Impeachment Case,House Seeks Secret Evidence

By NICHOLAS FANDOS and CHARLIE SAVAGE

Continued on Page A15

MIGRANT DEAL Trump and Guate-mala agreed to put the brakes onasylum seekers. PAGE A14

Late EditionToday, sunshine and patchy clouds,seasonable, high 86. Tonight, partlycloudy, low 72. Tomorrow, mostlysunny, very warm, more humid,high 89. Weather map, Page A18.

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