VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,551 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2019

C M Y K Nxxx,2019-12-24,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

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Paul Krugman PAGE A24

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A24-25

Richard Chow discovered hisyounger brother’s taxi abandonedoutside Carl Schurz Park, a 15-acre Manhattan oasis overlookingthe East River. He began to panic.

For months, he had watched hisbrother and fellow cabdriver,Kenny, struggle under enormousdebt. Kenny had grown distant

and despondent. Now he had dis-appeared.

Richard searched the taxi andthen the park, scouring aroundthe gardens, the playgrounds anda bronze statue of Peter Pan. Fi-nally, he called the police.

An economic crisis has sweptover New York City’s taxi indus-try, spreading financial ruin andpersonal despair, especially forowners of medallions, the permits

that let people operate cabs. Morethan 4,000 drivers used their lifesavings to buy medallions. Rich-ard and Kenny were among them.

For more than a decade, as TheNew York Times has reported thisyear, taxi industry leaders artifi-

cially inflated medallion pricesand channeled purchasers intoexploitative loans that they couldnot afford. The medallion bubblebegan to collapse in late 2014.Prices plummeted. But the driv-ers remained stuck with massiveloans.

Thousands of owners, almostall born outside the United States,have lost all of their savings. More

A $750,000 Taxi Permit, a Driver’s Suicide and a Brother’s Guilt

By BRIAN M. ROSENTHAL

Continued on Page A20

TAKEN FOR A RIDE

American Dream Shattered

SPOKANE, Wash. — Matt Sheawas 34 when he ran for the StateLegislature in Eastern Washing-ton, but he had already estab-lished credentials that made him apromising Republican candidate.

A lawyer trained at GonzagaUniversity who had served a tourin Iraq with Washington’s ArmyNational Guard, Mr. Shea pitchedvoters in 2008 on a platform of lim-iting taxes and punishing crimi-nals, opposing same-sex mar-riage and supporting gun rights.He went on to win with nearly 60percent of the vote, and then moveup the ranks in the Legislature,reaching the powerful position ofchair of his party’s caucus in 2017.

Back in his home district, Mr.Shea also began attracting the at-tention of law enforcement for hisgrowing embrace of fringe ideolo-gies and conspiracy theories. Henetworked with local militiagroups, talked about plans to cre-

ate a 51st state called Liberty anddistributed to his closest followersa “Biblical Basis for War” docu-ment that calls for the “surren-der” of those who favor abortionrights, same-sex marriage, “idola-try” and communism. “If they donot yield — kill all males,” it said.

Last week, a report commis-sioned by the State Legislature as-serted that Mr. Shea had engaged

A Legislator Rose in the G.O.P.While Preparing for a Civil War

By MIKE BAKER

Matt Shea, from WashingtonState, at a rally for gun rights.

TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued on Page A16

5 miles

1,000 people

600

200

Number of people without shelter

H O L LY W O O DH O L LY W O O D

L O SA N G E L E S

L O SA N G E L E S

I N G L E W O O DI N G L E W O O D

C R E N S H A WC R E N S H A W

D O W N T O W ND O W N T O W N

C O M P T O NC O M P T O N

S A N TAM O N I C A

S A N TAM O N I C A

L O N GB E A C HL O N G

B E A C H

W AT T SW AT T S

10

405

110

Note: Not all areas of Los Angeles County are shown.Source: 2019 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Street Count THE NEW YORK TIMES

Black people, like Timothy Wynn, above, are vastly overrepresented among those living on the streets of Los Angeles, where thebright future promised to earlier generations has been blunted by the bitter inheritance of structural racism. Page A14.

In Los Angeles, No Place They Can Call HomeBETHANY MOLLENKOF FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Boeing said on Monday that ithad fired its chief executive, Den-nis A. Muilenburg, who was un-able to stabilize the company aftertwo crashes involving its best-selling 737 Max plane killed 346people and set off the worst crisisin the manufacturing giant’s 103-year history.

The plane has been groundedby regulators since March, andthe company and its airlinecustomers have lost billions of dol-lars. Boeing has faced a series ofdelays as it tries to fix the Max,and the jetliner’s return to the airremains months away at best.

President Trump recentlycalled Mr. Muilenburg for an up-date on how the company was do-ing, underscoring its importanceto the American economy. Lastweek, Boeing said it would tempo-rarily shut down production of theMax, a decision that will forcesome of the 8,000 companies inthe supply chain to scale back pro-duction and perhaps lay off work-ers.

Mr. Muilenburg’s performanceduring the crisis angered lawmak-ers, airlines, regulators and vic-tims’ families. He repeatedlymade overly optimistic projec-tions about how quickly the planewould be allowed to fly again. Thatcreated chaos for airlines, whichhad to cancel thousands of flights.

The Federal Aviation Adminis-tration saw the pronouncementsas an attempt to pressure it toclear the Max for service. Mr.Muilenburg’s attempts to offersincere public apologies for the ac-cidents, including comments attwo congressional hearings in Oc-tober, have been clumsy, inflictingfurther damage on Boeing’s repu-tation.

The firing of Mr. Muilenburg,55, adds to Boeing’s challenges.The company said David L. Cal-houn, its chairman, would replaceMr. Muilenburg on Jan. 13. Untilthen, Boeing’s chief financial offi-cer, Greg Smith, will serve as in-terim chief executive.

BOEING FIRES BOSSAS CRISIS FESTERSWITH THE 737 MAX

AN ABRUPT TURNAROUND

Board Loses Its PatienceWith Management of

Crash Aftermath

By DAVID GELLESand NATALIE KITROEFF

Continued on Page A18

MOSCOW — Its economy, al-ready smaller than Italy’s, may besputtering but, two decades aftera virtually unknown formerK.G.B. spy took power in theKremlin on Dec. 31, 1999, Russiaand its president, Vladimir V.Putin, have just had what could betheir best year yet.

The United States, an implaca-ble foe during the Cold War butnow presided over by a presidentdetermined to “get along withRussia,” is convulsed and dis-tracted by impeachment; Britain,

the other main pillar of a trans-At-lantic alliance that Mr. Putin hasworked for years to undermine, isalso turning inward and just votedfor a government that vows to exitthe European Union by the end ofJanuary.

The Middle East, where Ameri-can and British influence once

reigned supreme, has increas-ingly tilted toward Moscow as itturned the tide of war in Syria,provided Turkey, a member ofNATO, with advanced missile sys-tems, and signed contracts worthbillions of dollars with Saudi Ara-bia, America’s closest ally in theArab world. Russia has alsodrawn close to Egypt, anotherlongtime American ally, become akey player in Libya’s civil war, andmoved toward what looks moreand more like an alliance withChina.

It has been barely five years

Putin’s Russia Gains Stature as Its Rivals WitherBy ANDREW HIGGINS Ailing Economy Aside,

Moscow Is Rewarded as West Stumbles

Under President Vladimir V. Putin, a Kremlin adviser wrote in a Moscow newspaper, Russia “is playing with the West’s minds.”PAVEL GOLOVKIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued on Page A6

BEIRUT, Lebanon — SaudiArabia sentenced five men todeath and three to prison termsover the killing of the Saudi dissi-dent writer Jamal Khashoggi inIstanbul, a ruling widely dis-missed as punishing low-levelagents while protecting their lead-ers.

The sentences, announced by agovernment spokesman on Mon-day, reflected the Saudi argumentthat the killing was not ordered bythe royal court, but was instead alast-minute decision by agents onthe ground — a narrative that con-tradicts ample indications that theagents arrived in Istanbul lastyear with an intent to kill and thetools to do so.

While subject to appeal, the ver-dicts also raised the possibilitythat Saudi Arabia could beheadthe men who carried out thekilling while shielding those whoordered it. The kingdom has de-nied any involvement by its crownprince and de facto ruler, Moham-med bin Salman, and his top aides,who foreign analysts say wereprobably behind the killing.

A United Nations expert who in-vestigated the killing dismissedthe verdicts as “a mockery.”

The death of Mr. Khashoggi, 59,a veteran Saudi journalist whofled the kingdom and wrote col-umns for The Washington Post,caused international outrage andbattered the image of Prince Mo-hammed as a young ruler workingto open up his kingdom’s economyand society.

It also caused widespread an-ger in Washington among diplo-mats, lawmakers and intelligence

Sentencing of 8In Saudi KillingPersuades Few

‘Justice’ for KhashoggiAvoids Royal Blame

By BEN HUBBARD

Continued on Page A9

For the first time in more than 200years, Christmas Mass will not be cele-brated at the Paris cathedral. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Silent Day at Notre-DameA new play, starring Paddington Bear,above left, delighted children, as well asour reviewer, Laurel Graeber. PAGE C2

ARTS C1-8

Off Broadway’s Fuzzy StarThe river, considered sacred by many,contains drug-resistant bacteria. Above,pilgrims at a source stream. PAGE D1

SCIENCE TIMES D1-6

The Germs of the Ganges

Projects like “The Morning Show” and“Bombshell” take a new look at sexualharassment in the media. PAGE C1

The Anchorwoman’s Burden

Ignition interlock devices are becomingubiquitous, but they can distract driversand cause crashes. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Risk to Curbing Driving Drunk

Senator Chuck Schumer said onMonday that newly releasedemails showing that military aidto Ukraine was suspended 90 min-utes after President Trump de-manded “a favor” from Ukraine’spresident were “explosive.” Theystrengthened, he said, Democrat-ic demands for far more internaladministration documents aheadof Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial.

The emails, made public overthe weekend, included one from aWhite House budget office aide,Michael Duffey, telling Pentagonofficials to keep quiet “given thesensitive nature of the request.”

The timing of the email — justan hour and a half after Mr. Trumpraised investigations of his Demo-cratic rivals with PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine— added an element to Demo-crats’ contentions that they saybecome clearer with every newrelease of evidence: Mr. Trumpabused the power of his office tosolicit Ukraine to help him win re-election in 2020.

“What happened over theweekend has only bolstered the

Schumer CitesEmails in Bid

For Evidence

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERGand CATIE EDMONDSON

Continued on Page A11

Teachers at some international schoolsface intrusive questions to identify theirsexual orientation. PAGE A8

Indonesia Rejects Gay Teachers

Amy Klobuchar is still lagging PeteButtigieg in the quest to win over thestate’s moderate Democrats. PAGE A17

NATIONAL A10-18

Fighting for the Middle in Iowa

Female mayors are much more likelythan male mayors to experience psy-chological and physical abuse, a newstudy found. PAGE A16

Women Get Abuse at City Hall

NEW C.E.O. David Calhoun facesone of the biggest challenges incorporate America. PAGE B1

A hip-hop house party in Harlem movedto the Barclays Center. Now, organizersplan to take it global. PAGE A19

NEW YORK A19-22

‘Best Party in America’

M.L.B. says it needs to take a broadlook at the structure of the sport, but itsproposal to trim the minor leagues risksundercutting part of what makes itspecial, Tyler Kepner writes. PAGE B7

SPORTSTUESDAY B7-10

Slimmer Minors, Major Loss?

Late EditionToday, sunshine, cooler, high 46. To-night, partly cloudy, low 33. Tomor-row, mostly sunny, high 45. Windsbelow 10 miles per hour in the south-west. Weather map is on Page C8.

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