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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018
WORLD IN BRIEF
Meanwhile, administration officials are esca-
lating their pressure campaign against China.
The U.S. may soon release a list of products
that would be subject to the new tariffs Trump
has threatened to slap on $100 billion in Chi-
nese goods. And the U.S. Treasury is working
on plans to restrict Chinese technology invest-
ments in the United States.
Associated Press
Trump lawyers fight to
shield items seized in
FBI raid
NEW YORK — Lawyers for President Don-
ald Trump and his personal attorney, Michael
Cohen, told a federal judge in New York today
that they believe some of the documents and
devices seized from Cohen during an FBI raid
are protected by attorney-client privilege, and
they want a chance to review the items before
prosecutors get to examine them.
In the hour-long court hearing, U.S. District
Judge Kimba Wood said Cohen’s lawyers have
asked to “take the first cut at identifying doc-
uments that are relevant or not relevant to the
investigation.”
An attorney for the president, Joanna Hen-
don, appeared as well, telling the judge that
Trump has “an acute interest in this matter.”
“This is of most concern to him. I think the
public is a close second. And anyone who has
ever hired a lawyer a close third,” she said.
Federal agents seized records on a variety
of subjects in raids Monday on Cohen’s Man-
hattan office, apartment and hotel room, includ-
ing payments that were made in 2016 to women
who might have damaging information about
Trump.
The court hearing today didn’t provide new
insight into why agents seized the items, but the
judge, prosecutors and the attorneys all spoke
openly about an investigation that previously
has been shrouded in secrecy.
Wood adjourned the hearing until later in
the day. It was unclear whether that session will
be open or closed to the public. The judge said
sealing the proceedings might be needed to pro-
tect “the privacy interests of potentially inno-
cent people.”
FBI and Justice Department officials have
refused to say what crimes they are investi-
gating, but people familiar with the investiga-
tion have said the search warrant used in the
raids sought bank records, business records on
Cohen’s dealing in the taxi industry, Cohen’s
communications with the Trump campaign
and information on payments made to a former
Playboy model, Karen McDougal, and a porn
actress, Stephanie Clifford, who performs under
the name Stormy Daniels. Both women say they
had affairs with Trump.
Trump flips on trade
pact, weighs rejoining
Pacific-Rim deal
WASHINGTON — In a striking reversal,
President Donald Trump has asked trade offi-
cials to explore the possibility of the United
Backpage.com CEO
pleads guilty, will testify
against others
AP Photo/Matt York
Teachers at Humphrey Elementary school in Chandler, Ariz., participate in a state-
wide walk-in prior to classes Wednesday.
Arizona governor bends to teacher demands
PHOENIX — As recently as Tuesday,
a defiant Arizona governor refused to meet
with teachers threatening to strike over low
pay and said he was sticking with a 1 percent
raise proposal.
By Thursday, Republican Doug Ducey
managed to scrape $274 million from the
cash-starved state’s coffers to offer a 9 per-
cent wage hike starting this fall. He’s follow-
ing that with 5 percent more each in the 2019
and 2020 school years. He’s also counting the
1 percent raise the Legislature approved for
the current school year to call it a 20 percent
overall raise.
The teacher-led rebellion over low wages
and funding cuts spread from its genesis in
West Virginia to Arizona, Kentucky and
Oklahoma.
The Great Recession forced legislatures
nationwide to slash budgets and make major
cuts across all spending areas. However, in
Arizona legislators also passed major corpo-
rate tax cuts designed to phase in as the econ-
omy recovered. As such, Arizona’s budgets
are still exceptionally tight a decade after
the recession. In addition to a 20 percent pay
bump, Arizona teachers also demanded a per-
manent raise structure, a $1 billion boost to
put education funding at pre-recession levels
and no more tax cuts until per pupil spending
matches the national average.
Teachers who organized a grassroots
effort that drew nearly 45,000 members
were cool to the announcement, saying they
wanted details before reacting and lacked
trust in the governor.
States rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partner-
ship agreement, a free trade deal he pulled out
of during his first days in office as part of his
“America first” agenda.
Trump’s request comes as he faces pressure
from farm-state Republicans anxious that his
protectionist trade policies could spiral into a
trade war with China that would hit rural Amer-
ica. Trump spent the 2016 presidential cam-
paign ripping into the multi-national pact, say-
ing he could get a better deal for U.S. businesses
by negotiating one-on-one with countries in the
Pacific Rim. Now, faced with political con-
sequences of the action, Trump appears to be
reconsidering.
Trump first disclosed his request Thurs-
day to a group of lawmakers at a White House
meeting on trade. Lawmakers have been press-
ing Trump to shift course after escalating trade
threats, including China’s plan to slap tariffs on
soybeans and other U.S. crops.
The apparent decision comes after the 11
other TPP countries went ahead last month and
signed the pact in Santiago, Chile — without the
United States. The agreement is meant to estab-
lish freer trade in the Asia-Pacific region and put
pressure on China to open its markets to com-
pete with and perhaps eventually join the bloc.
Japan cautiously responded early today
to Trump’s request. Government spokesman
Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo said Japan welcomes
the request if it means Trump recognizes the
significance of the pact. He added, though, that
it would be difficult to renegotiate only parts of
the TPP, describing the agreement as delicate.
It’s unclear how willing the other 11 coun-
tries would be to reopen the agreement and
make concessions to lure the United States
back, though its economic power would likely
be an appeal.
SACRAMENTO — The chief executive of
Backpage.com pleaded guilty to state and fed-
eral charges including conspiracy and money
laundering, and agreed to testify in ongoing
prosecutions against others at the website that
authorities have dubbed a lucrative nationwide
“online brothel,” authorities said.
“For far too long, Backpage.com existed
as the dominant marketplace for illicit com-
mercial sex, a place where sex traffickers fre-
quently advertised children and adults alike,”
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in
a statement. “But this illegality stops right
now.”
Backpage brought in a half-billion dollars
since it began in 2004, mostly though prominent
risque advertising for escorts and massages,
among other services and some goods for sale,
according to federal prosecutors. Authorities
allege the site was often used to traffic underage
victims, while company officials said they tried
to scrub the site of such ads.
Chief Executive Officer Carl Ferrer will
serve no more than five years in prison under
a California agreement in which he pleaded
guilty to one count of conspiracy and three
counts of money laundering in California. Also
Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Pax-
ton announced the company pleaded guilty to
human trafficking.
And a federal judge in Phoenix unsealed an
April 5 plea deal revealing that Ferrer pleaded
guilty to conspiracy, and Backpage.com pleaded
guilty to money laundering conspiracy.
Under his plea agreement, Ferrer agreed
to make the company’s data available to law
enforcement as investigations and prosecutions
continue. The guilty pleas are the latest in a cas-
cade of developments in the last week against
the company founded by the former owners of
the Village Voice in New York City, Michael
Lacey, 69, and James Larkin, 68.
The U.S. Justice Department also seized and
shut down the website, and Ferrer’s federal plea
deal requires him to help the government seize
all the company’s assets.
Larkin and Lacey remain jailed in Arizona
while awaiting hearings on whether they should
be released after pleading not guilty to federal
charges alleging they helped publish ads for
sexual services.
Thank You from the North Coast Chapter of Ducks Unlimited
A special thank you to the committee: AK and Dimples
DONORS :
Aaron & Toni Smith
Adrian McSwain
Ag-Bag Forage Solutions
Al Severson
Allstate Insurance
Andy Carlson
Angelina’s Pizzeria
Astoria Auto & Truck Parts
Astoria Coffee Co
Astoria Eco Car Wash
Astoria Grooming
Astoria Liquor Store
Bank of the Pacific
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Big 5 Sporting Goods
Big O Saloon
Bill Antilla
BKS Sportsmen’s Club
Bogh Electric
Camp 18 Restaurant & Gift Shop
Carlson Contracting
Charlie’s Chowder House
Chris Davis
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City Lumber
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Coffee Addiction
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Country Market
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Dooger’s Seafood & Grill
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Fort George Brewery & Public House
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Hillcrest Inn
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Josephson’s Smokehouse
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Kit’s Apothecary
Klemp Family Dentistry
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Logger Restaurant
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Lower Columbia Bowl
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M & N Workwear
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McCall Tire Center of Seaside, Inc
McCall Tire Center, Inc
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Minkoff Custom Knives
Nike Factory Outlet
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Recology Western Oregon
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Rick Pass
Robert Martens Excavating
Rod’s Auto & Marine Electric
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Seaside Aquarium
Seaside Oceanfront Inn
Springer’s Garage/Tom & Lori Tetlow
Starley Family Dentistry
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Teevin & Fischer Quarry
Teevin Bros Land & Timber
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The Pet Works
The Wine & Beer Haus
TJ’s Auto Repair
Tsunami Sandwich Co
Tuck’s Tackle
Two Old Goats Farm & Feed
U Street Pub
Video Horizons, Inc
Vinson Bros Construction
Warrenton Auto & Marine
Wauna Federal Credit Union
West Coast Propellor
Western Fabrication
White’s Heating & Sheet Metal