VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,435 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019

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The Trump administration laidout on Thursday a far-reachingplan to cut back on the regulationof methane emissions, a majorcontributor to climate change.

The Environmental ProtectionAgency’s proposed rule aims toeliminate federal requirementsthat oil and gas companies installtechnology to detect and fix meth-ane leaks from wells, pipelinesand storage facilities. It wouldalso reopen the question ofwhether the E.P.A. had the legalauthority to regulate methane as apollutant.

The rollback plan is particularlynotable because major energycompanies have, in fact, spokenout against it — joining automak-ers, electric utilities and other in-dustrial giants that have opposedother administration initiatives todismantle climate-change and en-vironmental rules.

The weakening of the methanestandard is the latest in the marchof environmental-policy rollbacksby the Trump administration de-signed to loosen regulations on in-dustry.

Mr. Trump has sought to openmillions of acres of public land andwater to drilling, including theArctic National Wildlife Refuge,and has lifted an Obama-era mor-atorium on new coal miningleases on public land. This month,the Interior Department com-pleted a plan to weaken the En-dangered Species Act. Later thisyear the E.P.A. plans to roll backclean-water regulations affectingstreams and wetlands.

E.P.A. TO WEAKENCONTROLS ON GASTIED TO WARMING

LOOSER METHANE RULES

Major Energy CompaniesOppose Reversal of an

Obama-Era Policy

By LISA FRIEDMAN and CORAL DAVENPORT

Continued on Page A22

New methane standards wouldbenefit the oil and gas industry.

NICK OXFORD/REUTERS

In the power circles of Tehran,where “Death to America” is regu-larly chanted, the idea has takenhold that Iran must eventually ne-gotiate with President Trump, ac-cording to several people withknowledge of the shift.

These people said Iran’s leader-ship had concluded that Mr.Trump could be re-elected andthat the country cannot withstandsix more years of the oneroussanctions he has imposed.

It is a remarkable turnabout forthe political establishment inTehran, which for the past 40years has staked its legitimacy ondefiance of the United States buthas been particularly hostile to-ward Mr. Trump.

President Hassan Rouhani ofIran teased a possible meetingwith Mr. Trump earlier this week,indicating he would be willing if itwould benefit Iranians.

Mr. Rouhani reversed himselfwithin 24 hours, suggesting hemay have been overruled byIran’s supreme leader, AyatollahAli Khamenei. But the people withknowledge of the Iranian hierar-chy’s thinking said Mr. Rouhani’sbehavior should be viewed as partof the emerging new strategy.

They said the strategy was fol-lowing two parallel tracks: dis-playing a more defiant position onIran’s military and nuclear energypolicies to irritate Mr. Trump,while signaling a willingness totalk under certain conditions, ap-pealing to what are seen as hisdeal-maker instincts.

“Iran has completely shifted,”said Abbas Abdi, a onetime leaderof the students who took hostagesat the United States Embassy in1979 and now a prominent figurein a faction known as the reform-ists, which is open to dialogue withthe Americans.

Hard-liners who have opposedsuch dialogue, Mr. Abdi said, had“concluded that what works nowwith America is being tough butopen to talks if Trump offers someguarantees.”

Iranian leaders were predict-ably outraged last year after Mr.Trump abandoned Iran’s 2015 nu-clear agreement with world pow-ers, demanded a more stringentaccord and reimposed cripplingsanctions on Iran.

While some may have hopedMr. Trump could be dismissed as aone-term president, that view hasfaded.

The new strategy, those whospoke about it said, was also predi-cated on dangling a foreign-policy

Iran’s Leaders Accept a Need

For U.S. Talks

No Longer Waiting for Trump’s Successor

By FARNAZ FASSIHI

On the American aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Aug. 10. Tensions with Iran carry a risk of military conflict.BRYAN DENTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A11

How do genes influence oursexuality? The question has longbeen fraught with controversy.

An ambitious new study — thelargest ever to analyze the genet-ics of same-sex sexual behavior —found that genetics does play arole, responsible for perhaps athird of the influence on whethersomeone has same-sex sex. Theinfluence comes not from onegene but many, each with a tiny ef-fect — and the rest of the explana-

tion includes social or envi-ronmental factors — making it im-possible to use genes to predictsomeone’s sexuality.

“I hope that the science can beused to educate people a little bitmore about how natural and nor-mal same-sex behavior is,” saidBenjamin Neale, a geneticist atthe Broad Institute of M.I.T. andHarvard and one of the lead re-searchers on the internationalteam. “It’s written into our genesand it’s part of our environment.”

The study of nearly half a mil-

lion people, funded by the Na-tional Institutes of Health andother agencies, found differencesin the genetic details of same-sexbehavior in men and women. Theresearch also suggests the genet-ics of same-sex sexual behaviorshares some correlation withgenes involved in some mental

health issues and personalitytraits — although the authors saidthat overlap could simply reflectthe stress of enduring societalprejudice.

Even before its publication on-line Thursday in the journal Sci-ence, the study had generated de-bate and concern, includingwithin the renowned Broad Insti-tute itself. Several scientists whoare part of the L.G.B.T.Q. commu-nity there said they were worriedthe findings could give ammuni-

Research Finds Not One ‘Gay Gene,’ but a Multitude of InfluencesBy PAM BELLUCK Study Spurs Questions

and Fears of Fallout

Continued on Page A23

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wasin a bind.

With less than three weeks untilthe deadline to get into the fallpresidential debates — which shedeemed crucial to keeping hercampaign alive — she was ontrack to fall well short. She hadneither the 130,000 donors sheneeded nor the necessary supportin the polls. What she did havewas a stockpile of cash. So, in oneHail Mary heave, she unloaded$1.5 million on a two-week televi-sion buy in the doldrums of Au-gust to try to improve her num-bers in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“The alternative to not going allin,” said Glen Caplin, a senior ad-viser to Ms. Gillibrand, “was not aviable alternative.”

The gamble would prove to be afinal miscalculation. If the com-mercials caused any discernible

Gillibrand bump, it would go un-detected: No Iowa or New Hamp-shire polls that could have quali-fied her were even conducted af-ter her ads aired. On Wednesday,with the deadline just hours away,Ms. Gillibrand dropped out.

“It’s important to know whenit’s not your time,” Ms. Gillibrandsaid in a video.

How Ms. Gillibrand, 52, soswiftly went from a rising star ofthe Democratic resistance and“the #MeToo senator,” as “60 Min-utes” had memorably tagged herin 2018, to a 2020 afterthought andearly primary casualty is a tale ofmistakes, misfortune and a mes-sage that did not meaningfullyhold sway in a historicallycrowded field.

Ms. Gillibrand, of New York, en-tered the race pitching herself as

Full Lane and Sparse Support:How Gillibrand’s Run Fizzled

By SHANE GOLDMACHER

Continued on Page A16

Haley Robson was a 16-year-oldSouth Florida high school studentwhen an acquaintance fromschool approached her at a localpool with an intriguing offer: Didshe want to make extra moneygiving massages to a billionaire inPalm Beach?

She agreed. When Jeffrey Ep-stein tried to grope her while she

was giving him a massage, wear-ing nothing but a thong, shebrushed his hand away, Ms. Rob-son said in a 2009 deposition for acivil case. But she continued tovisit Mr. Epstein’s mansion doz-ens more times, in a lucrative newrole: a recruiter of other teenagegirls from her school.

“I didn’t have to convincethem,” she said in the deposition.“I proposed to them. They took it.”

After Mr. Epstein’s suicide in aManhattan jail cell in early Au-gust, federal authorities have re-focused their investigation on themore than half-dozen employees,girlfriends and associates whomprosecutors say he relied on tofeed his insatiable appetite forgirls, according to two people withknowledge of the inquiry. Ms. Rob-son, now 33, is among them.

Inner Circle Lured Girls for Epstein, Accusers SayThis article is by Amy Julia Har-

ris, Frances Robles, Mike Baker andWilliam K. Rashbaum.

Continued on Page A25

Small Cadre of Women Now Under Scrutiny

WASHINGTON — The formerF.B.I. director James B. Comey vi-olated policy by disclosing memosabout his interactions with Presi-dent Trump to people outside thebureau, said a blistering JusticeDepartment inspector general re-port released on Thursday. The re-port admonished him for setting“a dangerous example” for offi-cials with access to governmentsecrets.

The inspector general, MichaelE. Horowitz, faulted Mr. Comeyfor handing the memos over to hislawyers, one of whom providedthe contents of one document to aNew York Times reporter at Mr.Comey’s request. Though officialsretroactively determined thatthey contained classified informa-tion, prosecutors declined tocharge Mr. Comey with illegallydisclosing the material.

Mr. Comey has said he helpedmake the information public inpart to bring about the appoint-ment of a special counsel. “Comeyviolated F.B.I. policy and the re-quirements of his F.B.I. employ-ment agreement when he chosethis path,” the report said.

Mr. Trump wasted little time us-ing the report’s conclusions to at-tack Mr. Comey, whom the presi-dent fired abruptly in 2017 andpartly blames for opening theRussia investigation. “He shouldbe ashamed of himself!” Mr.Trump wrote on Twitter, dismiss-ing Mr. Comey as “thoroughly dis-graced and excoriated” by the re-port.

The White House press secre-tary, Stephanie Grisham, accusedMr. Comey in a statement of being

Comey Receives Stinging RebukeFor Memo Leak

By ADAM GOLDMAN

Continued on Page A20

Long summer holidays are consideredsacred in France, but Yellow Vest pro-testers can’t afford them. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-13

Vacationing at a Traffic CircleAt Etgar 36, teenagers travel nation-wide to hear opposing arguments abouthotly debated subjects. PAGE A14

NATIONAL A14-23

A Camp for Hot-Button IssuesWe offer a listing of art shows that areclosing over the next month. Above, the“Camp: Notes on Fashion” costumeexhibition at the Met. PAGE C11

WEEKEND ARTS C1-16

A Labor Day Art Guide

President Trump’s whiplash-inducingChina moves have sent American com-panies scrambling. We look at how fourare trying to adapt. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-7

Navigating Trade Uncertainties

A vow from the former leader of guer-rilla fighters could signal the unravelingof a 2016 peace agreement. PAGE A6

Call to Resume War in Colombia

Frustrated by steep commissions anddiscounts, restaurants in India areopting out of popular services likeZomato and Uber Eats. PAGE B1

Backlash Against Dining Apps

While there is accord on the need toprotect American interests in space, fewagree on how to go about it. PAGE A18

Space Command Is Authorized

Paul Krugman PAGE A26

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

ULI SEIT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Coco Gauff, 15, above, advanced to the third round of the United States Open, where she will facetop-ranked Naomi Osaka, and Taylor Townsend, 23, upset fourth-seeded Simona Halep. Page B8.

Rising Stars Shine Again

Selfies are replacing the signature as asports collectible, and players on theU.S. women’s soccer team, who areexperts at interacting with fans, arequite good at taking them. PAGE B9

SPORTSFRIDAY B8-11

Point. Smile. Click. Repeat.

After fast-food rivals touched off aTwitter beef over their chicken sand-wiches, the overwhelming demandbecame a logistical nightmare. PAGE B1

The Chicken Tweets

“Nice and not bumpy,” one driver saidof her trip across the newly openedKosciuszko Bridge span that connectsBrooklyn and Queens. PAGE A24

NEW YORK A24-25

Pleasantly Changing Boroughs

Late EditionToday, plenty of sunshine, verywarm afternoon, high 85. Tonight,clear, low 67. Tomorrow, mostlysunny, not as warm, low humidity,high 81. Weather map, Page B14.

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