400,000 Deaths in a Year and Failure at Every Level

C M Y K Nxxx,2021-01-18,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

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With No Unified Virus Plan, States Battled Experts, Lobbyists and the Public

This article is by Sarah Mervosh, federal level, where Mr. Trump Mike Baker, Patricia Mazzei and claimed that the virus would “dis- Mark Walker. appear,” clashed with his top sci- The path to beating the corona- entists and, in a pivotal failure, ab- virus was clear, but Kelley Voll- dicated responsibility for a pan- mar had never felt so helpless. demic that required a national ef- As the top health official in Mis- fort to defeat it, handing key souri’s Jefferson County, Ms. Voll- decisions over to states under the mar knew a mandate requiring assumption that they would take people to wear masks could help on the fight and get the country save lives. She pressed the gover- back to business. nor’s office to issue a statewide or- But governors and local offi- der, and hospital leaders were cials who were left in charge of the making a similar push. Even the crisis squandered the little mo- White House, at a time when Pres- mentum the country had as they ident Trump was sometimes sidelined health experts, ignored mocking people who wore masks, warnings from their own advisers was privately urging the Republi- and, in some cases, stocked their can governor to impose a man- advisory committees with more date. business representatives than Still, Gov. Mike Parson resisted, doctors. and in the suburbs of St. Louis, Nearly one year since the first Ms. Vollmar found herself under known coronavirus case in the attack. A member of the county United States was announced health board called her a liar. The north of Seattle on Jan. 21, 2020, sheriff announced that he would the full extent of the nation’s fail- not enforce a local mandate. After ures has come into clear view: anti-mask activists posted her ad- Continued on Page A6 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: OCTAVIO JONES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; BRYAN DENTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; CHANG W. LEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES; MADDIE McGARVEY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES dress online, Ms. Vollmar in- stalled a security system at her A Show of Strength and No-Show Protesters home. Government buildings around the country were fortified and on high alert this weekend, and the number of pro-Trump demonstra- “This past year, everything that tors was small. Clockwise from top left: St. Paul, Minn.; Lansing, Mich.; the U.S. Capitol, in Washington; Columbus, Ohio. Page A19. we’ve done has been questioned,” said Ms. Vollmar, whose own mother, 77, died from complica- tions of the coronavirus in Decem- ber. “It feels like the Lorax from Republicans Spin Capitol Attack We Just Followed Trump’s Cue, the old Dr. Seuss story: I’m here to save the trees, and nobody is lis- tening.” With Barrage of Misinformation Several Accused in Rioting Say For nearly the entire pandemic, political polarization and a rejec- tion of science have stymied the By ASTEAD W. HERNDON By ALAN FEUER and NICOLE HONG United States’ ability to control BRYAN DENTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES the coronavirus. That has been Protesting lockdowns in Hunt- Immediately after the attack on Matter movement, often exagger- In the two weeks since a raging In the past few days, a retired clearest and most damaging at the ington Beach, Calif., last May. the U.S. Capitol, all corners of the ating the unrest last summer mob stormed the Capitol, Presi- firefighter charged with assault- political spectrum repudiated the while minimizing a mob’s attempt dent Trump has shown no sign ing members of the Capitol Police mob of President Trump’s sup- to overturn an election. that he believes he shares respon- force told a friend he went to the porters. Yet within days, promi- The shift is revealing about how sibility for the worst incursion on building following “the presi- nent Republicans, party officials, conspiracy theories, deflection the halls of Congress in more than dent’s instructions,” according to Theory Buckles, Pardon Season conservative media voices and and political incentives play off two centuries. Shielding him fur- a criminal complaint, and a Texas rank-and-file voters began mak- one another in Mr. Trump’s G.O.P. ther, his loyalists have started real estate agent accused of ing a rhetorical shift to try to For a brief time, Republican offi- shifting blame for the attack to an breaching the building told a re- But QAnon Fan Enriches Allies downplay the group’s violent ac- cials seemed perhaps open to array of distracting boogeymen: porter that by protesting in Wash- tions. grappling with what their party’s far-left anti-fascists, Black Lives ington, she had “answered the call Hangs On Tight Of the President In one of the ultimate don’t-be- leader had wrought — violence in Matter activists, even vague con- of my president.” spiracies of a setup involving Vice lieve-your-eyes moments of the the name of their Electoral Col- A Virginia man has told the President Mike Pence. Trump era, these Republicans lege fight. But any window of re- F.B.I. that he and his cousin Every morning, Valerie By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT But one group of people has al- have retreated to the ranks of mis- flection now seems to be closing marched on the Capitol because Gilbert, a Harvard-educated and KENNETH P. VOGEL ready come forward and directly as Republicans try to pass blame Mr. Trump said “something about writer and actress, wakes up in WASHINGTON — As Presi- information, claiming it was Black implicated Mr. Trump in the riot at her Upper East Side apartment; dent Trump prepares to leave of- Lives Matter protesters and far- and to compare last summer’s the Capitol: some of his own sup- taking Pennsylvania Avenue.” feeds her dog, Milo, and her cats, fice in days, a lucrative market for left groups like antifa who lawlessness, which was con- porters who were arrested while And a lawyer for the so-called Marlena and Ce- pardons is coming to a head, with stormed the Capitol — in spite of Continued on Page A16 taking part in it. In court papers QAnon Shaman — who invaded KEVIN leste; brews a cup some of his allies collecting fees the pro-Trump flags and QAnon and interviews, at least four pro- the building in a Viking costume of coffee; and sits from wealthy felons or their asso- symbology in the crowd. Others Trump rioters have said they — said that Mr. Trump was culpa- ROOSE down at her oval ciates to push the White House for have argued that the attack was FOX NEWS The network amplified joined the march that spiraled into ble and that he planned to ask the dining room table. THE SHIFT clemency, according to docu- no worse than the rioting and loot- lies that radicalized Trump sup- violence in part because the presi- White House for a pardon. Then, she opens ments and interviews with more ing in cities during the Black Lives porters, Ben Smith writes. PAGE B1 dent encouraged them to do so. Continued on Page A16 her laptop and begins fighting than three dozen lobbyists and the global cabal. lawyers. Ms. Gilbert, 57, is a believer in The brisk market for pardons QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory. Like all QAnon faith- reflects the access peddling that In Battle of Wills With Putin, Navalny Is Jailed in Moscow Return ful, she is convinced that the has defined Mr. Trump’s presiden- world is run by a satanic group cy as well as his unorthodox ap- of pedophiles that includes top proach to exercising unchecked Democrats and Hollywood elites, presidential clemency powers. By ANTON TROIANOVSKI Pardons and commutations are and IVAN NECHEPURENKO and that President Trump has spent years leading a top-secret intended to show mercy to deserv- MOSCOW — Aleksei A. Na- mission to bring these evildoers ing recipients, but Mr. Trump has valny returned to his home coun- to justice. used many of them to reward per- try Sunday, five months after a She unspools this web of false- sonal or political allies. near-fatal nerve-agent attack, and hoods on her Facebook page, The pardon lobbying heated up was arrested at the border, a show where she posts dozens of times as it became clear that Mr. Trump of fearlessness by Russia’s most a day, often sharing links from had no recourse for challenging prominent opposition leader and right-wing sites like Breitbart his election defeat, lobbyists and of anxiety by President Vladimir and The Epoch Times or QAnon lawyers say. One lobbyist, Brett V. Putin. memes she has pulled off Twitter. Tolman, a former federal prosecu- In hours of live-streamed On a recent day, her feed includ- tor who has been advising the drama that played out in Berlin, in ed a rant against Covid-19 lock- White House on pardons and com- the air and at two Moscow air- downs, a grainy meme accusing mutations, has monetized his ports, Mr. Navalny careened Congress of “high treason,” a clemency work, collecting tens of headlong into near-certain deten- post calling Lady Gaga a Sa- thousands of dollars, and possibly tion after deciding to leave the rel- tanist and a claim that “covfefe,” more, in recent weeks to lobby the ative safety of Germany, where he a typo that Mr. Trump acciden- White House for clemency for the had been recovering from last tally tweeted three years ago, son of a former Arkansas senator; summer’s poisoning. was a coded intelligence mes- the founder of the notorious online Hundreds of people braved the sage. drug marketplace Silk Road; and bitter cold outside Moscow’s “I’m the meme queen,” Ms. a Manhattan socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme. Vnukovo Airport to greet Mr. Na- MSTYSLAV CHERNOV/ASSOCIATED PRESS Gilbert told me. “I won’t produce Mr. Trump’s former personal valny, but the low-cost Russian Aleksei A. Navalny before his flight left Berlin on Sunday. He had been in Germany since August. them, but I share a mean meme, airline he was flying was diverted and I’m kind of raw.” lawyer John M. Dowd has mar- just before landing to a different These are confusing times for keted himself to convicted felons Moscow airport. There, at pass- “I am not afraid,” Mr. Navalny criminal cases against me are fab- Russia’s rising domestic discon- followers of QAnon, a deranged as someone who could secure par- port control, Mr. Navalny was con- told reporters just before he was ricated.” tent and the Kremlin’s jitters over conspiracy theory birthed in the dons because of his close relation- fronted by uniformed policemen detained, standing in front of a Mr. Navalny’s arrest had been it. bowels of the internet. They were ship with the president, accepting in black masks. neon sign at the airport that por- expected, but the day offered Scores of riot police officers in told that Mr. Trump would be tens of thousands of dollars from a He embraced his wife, Yulia Na- trayed the Kremlin. “I know that I some of the most dramatic images camouflage uniforms and shiny re-elected in a landslide, and that wealthy felon and advising him valnaya, before being led away. am in the right and that all the of recent years underlining both Continued on Page A12 Continued on Page A17 Continued on Page A14

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-8 ARTS C1-6 400,000 Excess Deaths in U.S. Exploring Black Identity Deaths nationwide were 18 percent Adrienne Kennedy’s plays are never higher than normal from March 15 to easy, but a four-play retrospective Dec. 26, an analysis of data from the reminds us they’re worth the effort, C.D.C. shows. PAGE A4 Maya Phillips writes. PAGE C1

INTERNATIONAL A9-12 BUSINESS B1-5 NATIONAL A13-19, 22 SPORTSMONDAY D1-4 OBITUARIES D6-8 Fear in the Afghan Capital Tech Giants’ Secret Deal King’s Words Still Reverberate Chiefs and Buccaneers Advance Influential Music Producer A new wave of violence and a growing Facebook was going to compete with The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s With Patrick Mahomes injured, Chad Phil Spector generated a string of pop uncertainty about the country’s future Google on ad sales, but a deal changed speeches have a particular resonance Henne sealed Kansas City’s win over hits in the 1960s. However, in 2009, he have left Kabul on edge. PAGE A9 that, court documents say. PAGE B1 after a tumultuous year. PAGE A13 Cleveland. Tampa Bay beat New Orleans was convicted of murder and sentenced in the other N.F.L. playoff game. PAGE D3 to 19 years to life. He was 81. PAGE D8 Guatemala Battles Caravan Where’s That Peloton? The New Inner Circle A group of up to 7,000 migrants hopes Deliveries of the exercise bikes have A look at President-elect Joseph R. EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21 to reach the United States, where asy- been delayed, sometimes by months, Biden Jr.’s 28 cabinet nominees and lum rules may later change. PAGE A10 angering new customers. PAGE B1 senior advisers. PAGE A22 Kara Swisher PAGE A21 U(D54G1D)y+z![!#!$!#