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WASHINGTON — Lawmakersare facing mounting pressure toend Capitol Hill’s culture of se-crecy over sexual harassment asthey return from a holiday break,with members of both parties call-ing for Congress to overhaul itshandling of misconduct claimsand to unmask lawmakers whohave paid settlements using tax-payer money.
On Sunday, the roiling debateover sexual harassment cost onelawmaker who has paid such asettlement — RepresentativeJohn Conyers Jr. of Michigan —his post as the top Democrat onthe House Judiciary Committee,at least temporarily. Mr. Conyers,the longest-serving member ofthe House, announced that he was
stepping aside as the HouseEthics Committee investigates al-legations that he sexually har-assed aides.
And on the other side of the Cap-itol, Senator Al Franken, the Min-nesota Democrat who has beenaccused of groping several wom-en, told a home state newspaperthat he would return to work onMonday feeling “embarrassedand ashamed.”
The announcements by Mr.Conyers and Mr. Franken came asboth Democrats and Republicanstook to the Sunday morning tele-vision talk shows to call for great-er transparency in how har-assment claims are dealt with. Un-der a 1995 law, complaints are han-dled confidentially. Lawyers forthe House and the Senate have re-quired that settlements be keptconfidential as well.
“All of this, as difficult as it is insome respects for our society, isreally important because I think itwill end up changing people’s atti-tudes and changing our culture,”Senator Rob Portman, Republicanof Ohio, said on NBC’s “Meet thePress.” “So I am glad it’s being dis-
CONGRESS FACINGCALLS TO DISCLOSESEX SETTLEMENTS
DEALS ARE KEPT SECRET
Conyers Is Leaving Postas Demands Increase
for Transparency
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERGand YAMICHE ALCINDOR
Congressman John Conyers Jr.BILL CLARK/CQ ROLL CALL, VIA A.P.
Continued on Page A15
WASHINGTON — For years, acoalition of well-funded groups onthe religious right have waged anuphill battle to repeal a 1954 lawthat bans churches and other non-profit groups from engaging in po-litical activity.
Now, those groups are edgingtoward a once-improbable victoryas Republican lawmakers, withthe enthusiastic backing of Presi-dent Trump, prepare to rewritelarge swaths of the United Statestax code as part of the $1.5 trilliontax package moving through Con-gress.
Among the changes in the taxbill that passed the House thismonth is a provision to roll backthe 1954 ban, a move that is cham-pioned by the religious right, butopposed by thousands of religiousand nonprofit leaders, who warnthat it could blur the line betweencharity and politics.
The change could turn churchesinto a well-funded political force,with donors diverting as much as$1.7 billion each year from tradi-tional political committees tochurches and other nonprofitgroups that could legally engagein partisan politics for the firsttime, according to an estimate bythe nonpartisan congressionalJoint Committee on Taxation.
The Senate will begin voting asearly as midweek on its own ver-sion of the sweeping tax rewrite,which the leaves the ban un-touched, and differs in other keyways from the House version. TheSenate bill has yet to garnerenough support from Republicansto pass along party lines, with Re-publican senators raising con-cerns about the bill’s cost and ap-proach, including how small busi-nesses are treated and the elimi-nation of the Affordable Care Actrequirement that most Americanshave health insurance or pay apenalty.
Among those on the fence areSenator James Lankford, Republi-can of Oklahoma, who has ex-pressed concerns about the bill’simpact on the budget deficit butfavors ending the 1954 ban. In apossible sign of the horse tradingto come to try to secure votes, aspokesman for Mr. Lankford saidon Sunday that the senator wasworking to insert language intothe Senate bill to roll back the ban,and believed it had a good chanceof being included.
If the bill passes the Senate,lawmakers will still need to re-solve key differences between theHouse and Senate bills, includingwhether to make the tax cuts forindividuals permanent, as theHouse bill does, or temporary, as
Religious RightStands to Gain
In Tax Debate
Push to Let ChurchesTake Part in Politics
By KENNETH P. VOGELand LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Continued on Page A13
TEHRAN — The busiest squarein Tehran is dominated by anenormous billboard with a draw-ing of a young man in the uniformof the Revolutionary GuardsCorps, extending his hand to in-vite Iranians to follow his path.Underneath the image, teenagersline up, flashing victory signs, asthey take selfies with the placardin the background.
In life, the man on the billboard,26-year-old Mohsen Hojaji, was
just as anonymous as the thou-sands of other Iranians who haverotated in and out of war zones inIraq and Syria in recent years. Butafter having been taken prisoner,videotaped and later beheaded bythe Islamic State in August, Mr.Hojaji has been transformed byIran’s government into a warhero, the face of a new surge inIranian nationalism.
After years of cynicism, sneer-ing or simply tuning out all thingspolitical, Iran’s urban middle-classes have been swept up in awave of nationalist fervor.
The changing attitude, whilesome years in the making, can beattributed to two related factors:the election of President Donald J.Trump and the growing competi-tion with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s sec-tarian rival, for regional domi-nance.
Iranians listened during the2016 campaign as Mr. Trump de-nounced the Iran nuclear treatyas “the worst deal ever negotiat-ed” and promised to tear it up.They watched in horror when, aspresident, he sold more than $100billion worth of weapons to thekingdom of Saudi Arabia and par-ticipated in a traditional wardance in Riyadh. And they arealarmed at the foreign policymoves of the young Saudi crownprince, Mohammed bin Salman,who they see as hotheaded and in-experienced.
At the same time, they now be-lieve they have something to beproud of, with Iranian-led militiasplaying a central role in defeatingthe Islamic State militant group inSyria and Iraq, increasing Iran’sregional influence in the process.
IRANIANS UNITEDBY FOREIGN FOES
Trump and Saudis FuelNationalist Fervor
By THOMAS ERDBRINK
A billboard in Tehran featuring Mohsen Hojaji, whom the government is depicting as a martyred war hero. It says “Let’s go.”ARASH KHAMOOSHI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
TEHRAN’S TURN
The New Patriots
Continued on Page A8
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Shehad traded in her new normal inPuerto Rico — no electricity, no in-ternet, no classes — for the sub-urbs of Long Island and the com-forts of a Residence Inn. AurelysAlers-Ortiz traveled with severalother University of Puerto Ricolaw students who took up TouroLaw Center’s offer to flee the dev-astation of Hurricane Maria andfinish their semester here.
But as she returned to therhythms of campus life, with lec-tures on intellectual property andcopyrights and socializing withother students, her mind has oftenbeen pulled back home, where herfamily has stayed and where rou-tines and livelihoods remain un-raveled by the storm.
“I’m just lying in bed, with theair-conditioning,” she said, “andthinking of my mom.”
An influx of Puerto Ricans ar-riving in the continental UnitedStates has swelled in recentweeks, now reaching the tens ofthousands, as a sluggish recoverycompounds the island’s devasta-
tion. Officials in several states aregrappling with how to accommo-date the needs of the newcomers,who require housing and healthcare and are enrolling their chil-dren in school in growing num-bers. In Florida, which has seen
the biggest infusion of Puerto Ri-cans, the resettlement stands toreshape the state’s demographicsand perhaps its politics.
But the population shift poses apotentially much larger challenge
Escaping Puerto Rico, but Not the Guilt of FleeingBy RICK ROJAS
Natalia Roman and Francois Franceschini in Central Park. Afterthe storm, they left Puerto Rico, now in “the Dark Ages,” he said.
TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Continued on Page A20
YANGON, Myanmar — Themost powerful person in Myan-mar, Senior Gen. Min AungHlaing, was little known outsidethe country’s military circles untilthe villages started burning.
Within just a few weeks in 2009,his forces drove tens of thousandsof people out of two ethnic en-claves in eastern Myanmar —first the Shan, near the Thai bor-der, then the Kokang, closer toChina. Locals accused his soldiersof murder, rape and systematic ar-son.
Two years later, the general,who is scheduled to meet withPope Francis this week, was pro-moted to commander in chief ofthe armed forces, in a countrywhere the Constitution keeps themilitary in power despite the ve-neer of democratic elections.
The techniques that his forcesused in 2009 have all been on dis-play this year as the military hasdriven over 620,000 RohingyaMuslims out of Myanmar in acampaign the United States hasdeclared to be ethnic cleansing.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the No-bel laureate who is the de factohead of government, has beenharshly criticized for allowing theRohingya’s expulsion. But underthe Constitution, which was writ-
ten by the military, she has no au-thority over the armed forces.
That is solely the province ofGeneral Min Aung Hlaing, 61.
His campaign against the Ro-hingya has further cemented hisstatus, creating an air of crisis thathas galvanized support both
within the ranks and the country’sBuddhist majority.
“They are pinching them-selves,” David Scott Mathieson,an analyst in Yangon, said aboutthe military leadership. “They hitthe jackpot. They are six yearsinto the democracy era, and theyare more popular than in dec-ades.”
General Min Aung Hlaing haseffectively sidelined Ms. Aung
Ethnic Purge Elevates Myanmar’s Other LeaderBy RICHARD C. PADDOCK
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, far left, has mostly sidelined thede facto head of government, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, far right.
SOE ZEYA TUN/REUTERS
Continued on Page A10
DIPLOMATIC DILEMMA FOR POPE
Pope Francis has been told not torefer to Myanmar’s persecutedMuslims as Rohingya. Page A11.
TEACHERS’ PERK One tax billwould kill an educator deduction;one would double it. PAGE A16
New York City aims to transform Broad-way Junction in Brooklyn from a pass-through to a destination stop. PAGE A18
NEW YORK A18-21
Makeover for Tired Transit Hub
Ester Ledecka is trying to become thefirst Olympian to compete in both ski-ing and snowboarding. PAGE D1
Speaking of 2-Way Athletes . . .
Shohei Ohtani, a two-way star in Japan,seeks a dual role in the major leagues —a feat not seen in generations. PAGE D1
SPORTSMONDAY D1-7
A Potential Ace, and SluggerA show in Paris examines photos takenby Malick Sidibé when West Africanbaby boomers were doing the twist orgrooving to the Rolling Stones. PAGE C6
ARTS C1-8
The Mali of a Different Era
The looming deportation of a patriarchmars the holiday season for a familyseeking political asylum. PAGE A21
Detained at the Holidays
The U.S. trial of two men accused ofhelping Turkey violate the Iran embar-go has captivated their nation. PAGE A7
INTERNATIONAL A4-11
Trial With Global Undertones
Roya Sadat toiled for years to make amovie on women’s rights, and now it’sAfghanistan’s Oscar entry. PAGE A4
Film Resonates in Afghanistan
Jamie Kalven exposed details of theChicago police shooting of a teenager.Now lawyers are seeking his sources asthe officer prepares for trial. PAGE A12
NATIONAL A12-16
A Showdown for a Journalist
Meredith Corporation, in a deal backedby the Koch brothers, agreed to a cashtransaction valued at nearly $3 billionto take over the publisher of Time,Sports Illustrated and People. PAGE B1
BUSINESS DAY B1-6
Meredith Buys Time Inc.
In a push for market share and moreprofit, Amazon is aggressively recruit-ing merchants in India to sell productslike textiles, kitchenware and jewelrydirectly on its site. PAGE B1
Amazon Woos India’s Vendors
David Leonhardt PAGE A23
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23
The battle over who will leadthe federal government’s top con-sumer financial watchdog agencyis now headed to court.
The extraordinary fight, whichintensified on Sunday night, addsto the uncertainty over the fate ofthe Consumer Financial Protec-tion Bureau, a regulator created inthe aftermath of the global finan-cial crisis of nearly a decade ago.It encapsulates dueling visions ofhow the American financial sys-tem could be regulated, as Presi-dent Trump moves to loosen regu-
lation created under the Obamaadministration to rein in the finan-cial industry.
Leandra English, the deputy di-rector of the bureau, filed a law-suit late Sunday night to block Mr.Trump’s choice of a temporarychief from taking control of theagency on Monday morning.
Mr. Trump has been seeking toinstall his budget director, MickMulvaney, as the agency’s actingdirector. The bureau had been a“total disaster” and needed new
Suit Aims to Block Trump’s PickFrom Leading Consumer Agency
By STACY COWLEY
Continued on Page A15
Late Edition
VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,794 © 2017 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2017
Today, sunshine and clouds, cool,breezy, high 50. Tonight, mainlyclear, dry, cool, low 35. Tomorrow,sunshine, not as cool, high 54.Weather map appears on Page A14.
$2.50
