VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,901 + © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018

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WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump ousted his secretary ofstate, Rex W. Tillerson, on Tues-day, the most dramatic in a cas-cade of personnel moves that sug-gest Mr. Trump is determined tosurround himself with loyalistsmore willing to reflect his “Amer-ica First” views.

Mr. Trump announced he wouldreplace Mr. Tillerson with MikePompeo, the C.I.A. director andformer Tea Party congressman,who has cultivated a close rela-tionship with the president andhas taken a harder line than Mr.Tillerson on critical issues likeIran and North Korea.

Mr. Tillerson’s dismissal, on theheels of Gary D. Cohn’s resigna-tion as Mr. Trump’s chief eco-nomic adviser after a dispute oversteel tariffs, pulls the Trump ad-ministration further out of the eco-nomic and foreign policy main-stream and closer to the national-ist ideas that animated Mr.Trump’s 2016 presidential cam-paign.

It also suggests that after a yearof chaotic on-the-job training, Mr.Trump has developed more confi-dence in his own instincts andwants aides and cabinet memberswith whom he has good chemistryand who embrace his positions.

As the White House absorbedthe news about Mr. Tillerson, ru-mors swirled that the national se-curity adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. Mc-Master, and the secretary of Vet-erans Affairs, David J. Shulkin,would soon follow him out thedoor. The sense of disarray wasdeepened by the purging of Mr.Tillerson’s inner circle and thesudden dismissal of a personalaide to Mr. Trump.

“I’m really at a point wherewe’re getting very close to havingthe cabinet and other things Iwant,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday

TILLERSON OUSTEDAS TRUMP SILENCESDISSENT IN CABINET

President Trump viewing border wall prototypes on Tuesday in San Diego, on his first trip to California as president. Page A11.DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Pompeo Is Chosen toLead State Dept.

This article is by Mark Landler,Maggie Haberman and GardinerHarris.

Continued on Page A13

WASHINGTON — Just over ayear after the Sept. 11 attacks, theC.I.A. dispatched the veteranclandestine officer Gina Haspel tooversee a secret prison in Thai-land. Shortly after, agency con-tractors in the frantic hunt for theconspirators waterboarded aQaeda suspect three times andsubjected him to brutal interroga-tion techniques.

Ms. Haspel’s time running theprison, code-named Cat’s Eye, be-gan her deep involvement in theagency’s counterterrorism opera-tions and showed her willingnessto take part in the agency’s rendi-tion, detention and interrogationprogram, which shaped her ca-reer. She was a rising star untilthat dark chapter in C.I.A. historybegan to emerge publicly.

But under President Trump,her fortuneschanged, andon Tuesday, heannounced thathe intended toname her direc-tor of the C.I.A.

With his ele-vation of Ms.Haspel, nowthe agency’sdeputy direc-tor, Mr. Trumpdisplayed a willingness to ignorethe widespread denunciations ofwaterboarding, sleep deprivation,confinements in boxes and otherinterrogation techniques thatwere used by the C.I.A. more thana decade ago.

Her nomination is certain to re-ignite the wrenching debate overtheir use and the resulting psy-chological damage for terrorismsuspects. Though lawmakers, hu-man rights activists and otherseventually condemned the inter-rogation methods as torture, theprogram had defenders. Amongthem was Mr. Trump, who vowedduring his campaign to bring back

Pick for C.I.A. ChiefRan Secret Prison

By ADAM GOLDMAN

Continued on Page A12

Gina Haspel

A former top aide to Gov. An-drew M. Cuomo was found guiltyon Tuesday of three corruption-re-lated charges, a repudiation of themurky back-room dealings in Al-bany laid bare during the nearlyeight-week trial.

The conviction capped a stun-ning fall for the former aide, Jo-seph Percoco, once the governor’sexecutive deputy secretary andlongtime confidant. He was con-victed of soliciting and acceptingmore than $300,000 in bribes fromexecutives working for two com-panies with state business.

And even though Mr. Cuomo, aDemocrat, was not accused ofwrongdoing, the verdict still un-derscored ethical lapses and ille-gal activity at a time when Mr.Cuomo is seeking re-election.

In a statement several hours af-ter the verdict, the governor saidthat while he was saddened forMr. Percoco’s young daughters, hebelieved there should be “no toler-ance” for lapses of integrity inpublic service.

“The verdict demonstrated thatthese ideals have been violated bysomeone I knew for a long time.That is personally painful,” thegovernor said. “However, wemust learn from what happenedand put additional safeguards inplace to secure the public trust.Anything less is unacceptable.”

At the height of his influence,Mr. Percoco, whom Mr. Cuomohad once described as his father’s“third son,” was known as the gov-ernor’s enforcer, responsible foreverything from keeping lawmak-ers in line and intimidating Mr.Cuomo’s political rivals to makingsure chairs and thermostats werein order for the governor’s publicappearances.

After eight days of strained de-liberations, the jury in Federal

EX-AIDE TO CUOMOIS FOUND GUILTY

Corruption Case Verdicta Rebuke to Albany

By VIVIAN WANGand BENJAMIN WEISER

Continued on Page A18

LONDON — The Russian oppo-sition figure Vladimir L. Ashurkovbreathed a sigh of relief when hefled Moscow for London in 2014.After months of being followed bythe Kremlin’s intelligence agentsto meetings, culminating in a tele-vised raid of his apartment, he fi-nally let his guard down, disap-

pearing into the elegant, polyglotstreets of Kensington.

Six months passed before he re-alized that he was still being fol-lowed.

An old friend returned from atrip to Russia with unnervingnews: In Moscow, security offi-cials had asked detailed questionsabout a private conversation hehad with Mr. Ashurkov in a Lon-don cafe. As he built his life in Lon-

don, Mr. Ashurkov learned to lookfor Russian agents reflexively —men in dark suits sitting alone atémigré gatherings, dinner-partyacquaintances rumored to be in-formants.

“You can’t do much about it,” hesaid. “Even after you escape fromMoscow to London, you knowthey have long hands.”

Russia now has more intelli-

As Putin’s Foes Fled to London, Spies FollowedBy ELLEN BARRY

Continued on Page A6

NEW ROLE If confirmed, Mike Pompeo will be the first person to serveas both the United States’ top spy and its top diplomat. PAGE A12

IN SYNC The pick for secretary of state is a true believer in PresidentTrump’s “America First” views. News Analysis. PAGE A13

Richard Meier, the celebratedarchitect and Pritzker Prize win-ner who designed the Getty Cen-ter in Los Angeles, established agraduate scholarship in Januaryat his alma mater, Cornell Univer-sity’s architecture school. In-tended to honor the 55th anniver-sary of his practice, the schol-arship was designed to “recruitand retain the most talented wom-en applicants.”

But four women who haveworked for Mr. Meier — and an-other who met him when he wasworking on the Getty — have de-scribed encounters when the ar-chitect, now 83, was, in fact, not

good to women.Two of the women have de-

scribed episodes over the past 10years in which they were sent toMr. Meier’s New York apartment,where he exposed himself, accord-ing to interviews with one of thewomen and several former em-ployees of the architect’s firm.

A third woman said in an inter-view that Mr. Meier grabbed herunderwear through her dress at afirm holiday party, and a fourthsaid he asked her to undress at hisapartment so she could be pho-tographed.

A fifth woman, who did not work

‘He Grabbed Me’: Women AllegeHarassment by a Star Architect

By ROBIN POGREBIN

Continued on Page A18

A poor Afghan farming family named achild Donald Trump, hoping the otherTrump’s good fortune would rub off onhim. So far, only misfortune, and notluck, has been the family’s lot. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-8

A Donald Trump in Afghanistan

As American produce aisles fill withimports, should we worry? There areboth pluses and minuses for consumersand farmers. PAGE D1

FOOD D1-8

Imported Fruit on the Scale

In preventing a Qualcomm takeover bya Singapore-based company and inimposing tariffs, the president hasbegun wielding national security like aclub against other countries. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-7

The National Security Defense

Some districts and schools are allowingstudents from third grade and up toparticipate in a nationwide protestagainst gun violence. PAGE A9

NATIONAL A9-16

Elementary-Level Walkouts

Facial-recognition systems are quietlybeing used at Madison Square Garden,and some experts say the technologyraises questions about privacy and data security. PAGE B8

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B8-12

Welcome to the Garden. Smile.

Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, 98, hasbeen team chaplain for the LoyolaUniversity-Chicago’s basketball pro-gram since 1994. PAGE B8

A Nun in the Huddle

The artist, with a new show coming out,says he doesn’t want to deceive anyone,but maintains that every great work ofart contains lies. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

The Truth About Damien Hirst

Frank Bruni PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

A United States ally on North Koreanuclear disarmament is scrambling toremain diplomatically relevant as SouthKorea acts as a mediator between Pres-ident Trump and Kim Jong-un. PAGE A4

Japan Fears Being Left Behind

CANONSBURG, Pa. — TheDemocrat and the Republican in aspecial House election in the heartof Pennsylvania’s Trump countrywere divided by a few hundredvotes in a race that was too closeto call late Tuesday — an ominoussign for Republicans in a districtthat Donald J. Trump won bynearly 20 points.

With 99 percent of votescounted, Conor Lamb, a Demo-crat, was clinging to a 579-votelead over Rick Saccone, a Republi-can. But a few thousand absentee

ballots had not yet been counted,suggesting that no winner wouldbe declared until Wednesday atthe earliest. And it was possiblethat a legal battle could ensue.

Neither of the candidates tookthe stage before midnight, but acheer went up at Mr. Lamb’s partywhen it was announced that hehad decisively won the absenteevote in Allegheny County, themost populous part of the district.

House Democrats did not waitfor a final count to claim victory,but no matter the final outcome,Mr. Lamb’s strong showing dem-onstrated that the Trump-inspiredenergy propelling Democratsacross the country is not confined

to liberal-leaning regions. Repub-licans were left with the prospectsof defending a far broader sectionof districts this fall than they hadhoped.

A first-time candidate and for-mer Marine, Mr. Lamb, 33, forcedRepublicans to pour over $10 mil-lion into a southwestern Pennsyl-vania district where Democratsdid not even field a candidate inthe past two congressional elec-tions.

Yet whoever wins here may nothold the seat for very long. TheState Supreme Court ruled in Jan-uary that Pennsylvania’s House

House Race in Trump Territory Is Too Close to CallBy JONATHAN MARTIN

and ALEXANDER BURNS

Continued on Page A10

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The physicist and author roamed the cosmos from a wheelchair. Full obituary at nytimes.com.Stephen Hawking Dies at 76

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