VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,953 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2018

C M Y K Nxxx,2018-05-05,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

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WASHINGTON — On the nightbefore she announced her candi-dacy for governor, Stacey Evansgot a telephone call from Emily’sList, the fund-raising juggernautthat has helped elect hundreds ofDemocratic women who supportabortion rights. It was not a happyconversation.

The group, she learned, wouldnot be giving her its coveted en-dorsement this year. It was back-ing her primary challenger,Stacey Abrams, a rising Demo-cratic star who, like Ms. Evans, isa former Georgia state legislator.Ms. Evans thinks Emily’s Listshould have stayed out of the race.

“If I were a donor,” she said, “Iwould be very upset to know that

my dollars were going to fight forone pro-choice woman against an-other.”

Ms. Evans is not the only wom-an miffed at Emily’s List, thoughshe is among the few who are openabout it. At a time when recordnumbers of women are runningfor public office, the battle of the“two Staceys,” as the Georgia raceis known, is one of countlesscrowded Democratic primaries —many involving two or more wom-en — that have forced Emily’sList, one of the nation’s most pow-erful political action committees,to make difficult choices that havespawned resentment around thenation.

PAC Aiding Female DemocratsFaces Tough Calls as More Run

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

Continued on Page A10

The case was tabloid fodder,and news of it filled books andhours of television. The murder ofa 15-year-old girl in a genteel Con-necticut suburb went years with-out arrests, only to turn into adrawn-out legal battle that trans-

fixed much of the nation with itsconnections to the Kennedy fam-ily, questions about the influenceof wealth and privilege, and twistafter twist.

The latest turn, and quite possi-bly the last, came on Friday, whenthe Connecticut Supreme Courtvacated the conviction of MichaelC. Skakel, who had been foundguilty of killing the girl, Martha

Moxley, with a golf club in 1975.The decision was, in itself, anothersurprising development, revers-ing a ruling by the same court noteven two years ago.

Mr. Skakel, a Kennedy nephew,had been convicted in 2002 ofkilling Ms. Moxley, who lived inthe same neighborhood in Green-wich. He was found guilty after athree-week trial that brought to

light details including his drinkingand drug use. But as his legalteam waged an appeal in recentyears, they argued that he hadbeen failed repeatedly by his triallawyer.

Prosecutors will now have todecide whether they will try thecase again. On Friday, they saidthey were reviewing the decision,

New Twist in ’75 Murder: Kennedy Nephew’s Conviction Is VoidedBy RICK ROJAS

and KRISTIN HUSSEY

Continued on Page A18

The last time the unemploy-ment rate fell below the 4 percentthreshold was in 2000, during aperiod of frenetic activity remem-bered as the dot-com boom.

Nine years into a sustained, ifless feverish, economic recovery,that milestone has been achievedagain.

The Labor Department saidFriday that the jobless rate inApril fell to 3.9 percent, raisinganew the question of just howtight the labor market can get, andfor how long.

In the past half-century, onlythe late 1960s brought an ex-tended period when the ratestayed below 4 percent.

“We’ve continued to add jobsroutinely every month for so long,and the unemployment rate wehave reached is amazing,” said

Catherine Barrera, chief econo-mist of the online job siteZipRecruiter.

President Trump crowed aboutthe landmark on Friday, tweeting,“4% is Broken!”

The steady-as-she-goes econ-omy has produced a record 91straight months of job growth.That may represent a healthierfoundation than the dot-com era,when pride — or, as it wasbranded, “irrational exuberance”— went before a fall.

But the banner number an-nounced Friday did not resolveany of the broader questions thateconomists have about this unpar-alleled run.

The most prominent is a mys-tery that has proved imperviousto easy explanation: why wage in-creases haven’t been more robust,when the market continues toedge toward full employment.

Friday’s report showed that

JOBLESS RATE DIPSTO LOWEST LEVELSINCE 2000 BOOM

WAGES NOT KEEPING PACE

Duration of Recovery IsStriking, but Lagging

Pay Is Perplexing

By NATALIE KITROEFF

Continued on Page A15

THE NEW YORK TIMES

%12

10

8

6

4

2

3.9%

’60 ’70 ’80 ’90 ’00 ’10

The last time the unemployment rate

remained below 4 percent for a sustained

period was in the late 1960s.

RECESSIONS

Source: Federal Reserve

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump knew about a six-figurepayment that Michael D. Cohen,his personal lawyer, made to apornographic film actress severalmonths before he denied anyknowledge of it to reportersaboard Air Force One in April, ac-cording to two people familiarwith the arrangement.

How much Mr. Trump knewabout the payment to StephanieClifford, the actress, and who elsewas aware of it have been at thecenter of a swirling controversyfor the past 48 hours touched offby a television interview with Ru-dolph W. Giuliani, a new additionto the president’s legal team. Theinterview was the first time a law-yer for the president had acknowl-edged that Mr. Trump had reim-bursed Mr. Cohen for the pay-ments to Ms. Clifford, whose stagename is Stormy Daniels.

It was not immediately clearwhen Mr. Trump learned of thepayment, which Mr. Cohen madein October 2016, at a time whennews media outlets were poised topay her for her story about an al-leged affair with Mr. Trump in2006. But three people close to thematter said that Mr. Trump knewthat Mr. Cohen had succeeded inkeeping the allegations from be-coming public at the time the pres-ident denied it.

Ms. Clifford signed a nondisclo-sure agreement, and accepted thepayment just days before Mr.Trump won the 2016 presidentialelection. Mr. Trump has denied hehad an affair with Ms. Clifford andinsisted that the nondisclosureagreement was created to preventany embarrassment to his family.

Mr. Giuliani said this week thatthe reimbursement to Mr. Cohentotaled $460,000 or $470,000, leav-ing it unclear what else the pay-ments were for beyond the$130,000 that went to Ms. Clifford.One of the people familiar with thearrangement said that it was a$420,000 total over 12 months.

Allen Weisselberg, the chief fi-nancial officer of the Trump Orga-nization, has known since lastyear the details of how Mr. Cohenwas being reimbursed, which wasmainly through payments of

Trump’s DenialOn Hush FundsIs Contradicted

Legal Risk in Paymentto a Porn Actress

This article is by Michael D.Shear, Maggie Haberman, JimRutenberg and Matt Apuzzo.

STOCKHOLM — Faced with asexual-abuse scandal, accusa-tions of financial wrongdoing andhints of a cover-up, the SwedishAcademy announced on Fridaythat for the first time in 69 years itwould postpone awarding the No-bel Prize in Literature.

The decision to delay the awardmarked an extraordinary andseamy public reckoning for a 232-year-old cultural organizationthat has long been admired as oneof the world’s most prestigiousscholarly bodies — but also criti-cized as secretive, arbitrary andpatriarchal.

At the center of the firestorm isa member of the academy and herhusband, who is accused of grop-ing, harassing and assaulting atleast 18 women over the years.The couple ran a cultural organi-zation in Stockholm that receivedsizable payments from the acad-emy, giving him the access andleverage, accusers say, to pres-sure women into sex.

As revelations emerged overthe past five months, the academycut its ties to the organization; thepolice opened a criminal investi-gation; members of the academyresigned in disgust; and the firstwoman to lead the academy waspushed out — brought down byother members seeking to playdown the scandal, her defenderssay.

All along, the academy insistedthat it would proceed with thisyear’s prize as planned, with a lau-

LITERATURE PRIZEIS PUT ON PAUSE

Facing Scandal, AcademyWill Give Nobel in ’19

By CHRISTINA ANDERSONand RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Continued on Page A7

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Kilauea volcano erupted anew on the south end of the island of Hawaii. An uptick in earthquakes was also reported. Page A14.On Alert in Hawaii

Continued on Page A12

FAIR HAVEN, Vt. — When peo-ple who knew Jack Sawyer sawsomething, they said something.

A mother told the police that Mr.Sawyer, who had seemed troubledin the past, had just bought a gun.A friend of the young man alsocontacted the police: He was talk-ing admiringly of the school mas-sacre in Parkland, Fla., the friendwarned, and hinting at sinisterplans of his own.

The police soon detained Mr.Sawyer, 18, a former student atFair Haven Union High School.They said they had found a journalin his car that laid out disturbingplans for a shooting at the high

school. “I’m aiming to kill as manyas I can,” the journal read. Theschool resource officer, the journalwent on, might have to be shot“point blank” in the head.

Mr. Sawyer was charged withaggravated assault, two counts ofattempted aggravated murderand one count of attempted first-degree murder — all felonies —and held without bail. Many inFair Haven, a town of 2,700 resi-

dents on the western edge of Ver-mont, exhaled, believing they hadstopped America’s next massshooting.

But last month, a ruling by theVermont Supreme Court castdoubt on the viability of thecharges against Mr. Sawyer. Themost serious charges were soondropped, leaving only misde-meanors, and he was released onbail last week.

Residents were outraged —fearful for their safety and angryat a legal system that seemed notto take into account the realities ofschool shootings. In recent weeks,school officials said, the districtspent $150,000 on new school se-

‘I’m Aiming to Kill,’ He Wrote. Was That a Crime?By JESS BIDGOOD

Continued on Page A15

Separating Words FromActions in a Struggle

to Protect Schools

ALYSSA SCHUKAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Sarah Zorn is the military college’s first female regimental commander, the top cadet. The SouthCarolina school once fought admitting female cadets as if they were an invading army. Page A9.

In Command at the Citadel

DOUBTS A judge challenged thespecial counsel’s case against PaulManafort as a bid to get leverageon the president. PAGE A13

QUESTIONS The special counselspoke to one of the Russians whowere sanctioned for meddling inthe 2016 election. PAGE A13

Two women from the Deep South — onewhite, one black — have struck up anunlikely friendship because of theirconnection to a 1912 lynching. PAGE A14

NATIONAL A9-15

Bound by a Painful Past

The government will end protections for86,000 Hondurans who have been in thecountry since 1999. PAGE A11

Hondurans Are Told to Leave

New York City Ballet’s gala showedRobbins’s Broadway and ballet sideswith world premieres by Warren Car-lyle and Justin Peck. A review. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-7

A Jerome Robbins Celebration

Bill Cosby’s wife is the latest to useTill’s killing as a synonym for injustice,sometimes stirring up anger. PAGE C1

Invoking Emmett Till

Support for President Daniel Ortega isslipping as bodies pile up in a student-led uprising that poses the biggestthreat to his office since 2007. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-8

Deaths Mount in NicaraguaArgentina, trying to stabilize the peso,raised a key interest rate to 40 percent.The decision settled the markets butintensified doubts about PresidentMauricio Macri’s bold agenda. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-6

A Drastic Move on Currency

Joe Drape (Bolt d’Oro) and MelissaHoppert (Good Magic) weigh in on thecontenders for the 144th running of theKentucky Derby. PAGE D2

SPORTSSATURDAY D1-6

Handicapping the Derby

The city plans to upgrade 13 crossingsover the Harlem River with new bikelanes and pedestrian areas. PAGE A16

NEW YORK A16-18

Bridge Upgrades Coming

The government of the Philippineswants Victoria Tauli-Corpuz declared aterrorist. The Saturday Profile. PAGE A5

Standing Tall Against Power

THIS WEEKEND

Adam B. Schiff PAGE A21

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21

Late EditionToday, periodic clouds and sunshine,cooler, high 73. Tonight, cloudy, peri-odic rain late, low 59. Tomorrow,cloudy, showers, cooler, high 65.Weather map appears on Page C8.

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