Officer Nector Martinez took the wit-ness stand in a Bronx courtroom on Oct.10, 2017, and swore to tell the truth, thewhole truth, and nothing but the truth, sohelp him God.

There had been a shooting, OfficerMartinez testified, and he wanted to

search anearby apart-ment for evi-dence. A wom-an stood in thedoorway, car-

rying a laundry bag. Officer Martinezsaid she set the bag down “in the middleof the doorway” — directly in his path. “Ipicked it up to move it out of the way sowe could get in.”

The laundry bag felt heavy. When heput it down, he said, he heard a “clunk, athud.”

What might be inside?Officer Martinez tapped the bag with

his foot and felt something hard, he testi-

fied. He opened the bag, leading to thediscovery of a Ruger 9-millimeter hand-gun and the arrest of the woman.

But a hallway surveillance cameracaptured the true story: There’s no laun-dry bag or gun in sight as Officer Mar-tinez and other investigators questionthe woman in the doorway and thenstride into the apartment. Inside, theydid find a gun, but little to link it to thewoman, Kimberly Thomas. Still, had thecamera not captured the hallway scene,Officer Martinez’s testimony might wellhave sent her to prison.

When Ms. Thomas’s lawyer sought toplay the video in court, prosecutors in theBronx dropped the case. Then the courtsealed the case file, hiding from view aproblem so old and persistent that thecriminal justice system sometimes re-sponds with little more than a shrug:false testimony by the police.

“Behind closed doors, we call it testily-ing,” a New York City police officer, Pedro

Kimberly Thomas was arrested on gun charges, but her case was dropped when a video contradicted an officer’s testimony.HILARY SWIFT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

‘Testilying’ by Police PersistsAs Cameras Capture Truth

BLUE LIES

Dishonesty in the Ranks

Images from a video of Ms. Thomas’s ar-rest show there was no laundry bag orgun in sight, as an officer had claimed.

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN

Continued on Page A16

VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,906 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2018

C M Y K Nxxx,2018-03-19,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

U(D54G1D)y+#!?!#!=!:

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump on Sunday abandoned astrategy of showing deference tothe special counsel examiningRussia’s interference in the 2016presidential election, lashing outat what he characterized as a par-tisan investigation and alarmingRepublicans who feared he mightseek to shut it down.

Mr. Trump has long suggestedthat allegations that he or his cam-paign conspired with Russia to in-fluence the election were a “hoax”and part of a “witch hunt,” but un-til this weekend he had largelyheeded the advice of lawyers whocounseled him not to directly at-tack Robert S. Mueller III, the spe-cial counsel, for fear of antagoniz-ing prosecutors.

“Why does the Mueller teamhave 13 hardened Democrats,some big Crooked Hillary sup-porters, and Zero Republicans?”Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “An-other Dem recently added...doesanyone think this is fair? And yet,there is NO COLLUSION!”

The attack on Mr. Mueller, alongtime Republican and formerF.B.I. director appointed by a Re-publican president, George W.Bush, drew immediate rebukesfrom some members of the partywho expressed concern that itmight presage an effort to fire thespecial counsel. Such a move, theywarned, would give the appear-ance of a corrupt attempt to short-circuit the investigation and setoff a bipartisan backlash.

“If he tried to do that, that wouldbe the beginning of the end of his

HIS ANGER RISING,TRUMP TAKES AIMAT MUELLER TEAM

DIRECT ATTACK IN TWEET

Some Republicans WarnPresident Not to Fire

Special Counsel

By PETER BAKER

Continued on Page A13

WASHINGTON — Americanand British lawmakers demandedon Sunday that Facebook explainhow a political data firm with linksto President Trump’s 2016 cam-paign was able to harvest privateinformation from more than 50million Facebook profiles withoutthe social network’s alerting us-ers. The backlash forced Face-book to once again defend the wayit protects user data.

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Min-nesota, a Democratic member ofthe Senate Judiciary Committee,went so far as to press for MarkZuckerberg, Facebook’s chief ex-ecutive, to appear before the pan-el to explain what the social net-work knew about the misuse of itsdata “to target political advertis-ing and manipulate voters.”

The calls for greater scrutinyfollowed reports on Saturday inThe New York Times and The Ob-server of London that CambridgeAnalytica, a political data firmfounded by Stephen K. Bannonand Robert Mercer, the wealthyRepublican donor, had used theFacebook data to develop meth-ods that it claimed could identifythe personalities of individualAmerican voters and influencetheir behavior. The firm’s so-called psychographic modelingunderpinned its work for theTrump campaign in 2016, thoughmany have questioned the effec-tiveness of its techniques.

But Facebook did not inform us-ers whose data had been har-vested. The lack of disclosurecould violate laws in Britain and inmany American states.

Damian Collins, a Conservativelawmaker in Britain who is lead-ing a parliamentary inquiry intofake news and Russian meddlingin the country’s referendum toleave the European Union, saidthis weekend that he, too, wouldcall on Mr. Zuckerberg or anothertop executive to testify. The socialnetwork sent executives who han-dle policy matters to answer ques-

Facebook RoleIn Data Misuse

Sets Off Storm

U.S. and U.K. Lash OutOver Secret Harvest

By MATTHEW ROSENBERGand SHEERA FRENKEL

Continued on Page A11

WASHINGTON — A few hoursafter Conor Lamb, the Pennsylva-nia Democrat, claimed victory in aHouse race with a vow to opposehis party’s leader, Nancy Pelosi,the once-and-perhaps-futurespeaker was explaining to a groupof female congressional candi-dates why she did not retire after2016.

She intended to do so after Hil-lary Clinton won, Ms. Pelosi re-called Wednesday at a Demo-cratic Congressional CampaignCommittee reception here. Butshe stayed to ensure Washingtonhad at least one woman in power.

To some lawmakers in the roomwho described her remarks, themessage was clear: Ms. Pelosi isnot going anywhere — a point sheunderscored in an interview.

Yet her resolve is at odds withgrowing numbers of Democraticcandidates who view her as poli-tically toxic and are pledging tovote against her as their leader, asMr. Lamb did without sufferingconsequences with voters and do-nors. These candidates and somecurrent House Democrats — tiredof years of attack ads invoking Ms.Pelosi as a “San Francisco liberal,”and impatient to see a younger set

Pelosi Is SureShe Will Lead;Her Party Isn’t

By JONATHAN MARTINand ALEXANDER BURNS

Continued on Page A12

Black boys raised in America,even in the wealthiest familiesand living in some of the mostwell-to-do neighborhoods, stillearn less in adulthood than whiteboys with similar backgrounds,according to a sweeping newstudy that traced the lives ofmillions of children.

White boys who grow up richare likely to remain that way.Black boys raised at the top,however, are more likely to be-come poor than to stay wealthyin their own adult households.

Even when children grow upnext to each other with parentswho earn similar incomes, blackboys fare worse than white boysin 99 percent of America. Andthe gaps only worsen in the kindof neighborhoods that promiselow poverty and good schools.

According to the study, led byresearchers at Stanford, Harvardand the Census Bureau, incomeinequality between blacks andwhites is driven entirely by whatis happening among these boysand the men they become. Blackand white girls from familieswith comparable earnings attainsimilar individual incomes asadults.

“You would have thought atsome point you escape the pov-erty trap,” said Nathaniel Hen-dren, a Harvard economist andan author of the study.

Black boys — even rich blackboys — can seemingly neverassume that.

The study, based on anony-mous earnings and demographicdata for virtually all Americansnow in their late 30s, debunks anumber of other widely heldhypotheses about income in-equality. Gaps persisted evenwhen black and white boys grewup in families with the same

income, similar family struc-tures, similar education levelsand even similar levels of accu-mulated wealth.

The disparities that remainalso can’t be explained by differ-ences in cognitive ability, anargument made by people whocite racial gaps in test scores thatappear for both black boys andgirls. If such inherent differences

For Black Men, Growing Up Rich May Not HelpThis article is by Emily Badger,

Claire Cain Miller and KevinQuealy.

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

10th pctile. 20th 30th 40th 50th 60th 70th 80th 90th pctile.

RICHER PARENTSPOORER PARENTS

THE NEW YORK TIMES

The sons of black millionaires

have about the same chance of

being incarcerated on a given

day as the sons of white families

earning about $36,000.

Share of men ages 27 to 32 who were incarcerated on April 1, 2010.

Source: Equality of Opportunity Project

White men

Black men

Same incarceration rate

Continued on Page A14

STUNG TRANG, Cambodia — As the sun rose over the murk of

the Mekong River, the man whohas ruled Cambodia for more thanthree decades, Prime MinisterHun Sen, clasped hands with theChinese ambassador and beamed.

“The Chinese leaders respectme highly and treat me as anequal,” Mr. Hun Sen said lastmonth during the groundbreakingof a $57 million Chinese-fundedbridge in the district of StungTrang.

“Let me ask those of you whohave accused me of being tooclose to China,” he added. “Whathave you offered me besides curs-

ing and disciplining me andthreatening to put sanctions onme?”

For a quarter century, the Westhelped rebuild Cambodia while itwas still reeling from the genocid-al Khmer Rouge. The UnitedStates and Europe tied billions ofdollars in aid to an effort to trans-form Cambodia into a liberal de-mocracy.

That campaign has failed. In-stead, Cambodia has come tostand as the highest watermarkfor China’s influence in SoutheastAsia and as the stage for Mr. HunSen’s evolution into one of Asia’s

Cambodia’s Ruler Tightens Grip,Energized by Beijing’s Blessings

By HANNAH BEECH

Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia with factory workers.ADAM DEAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A9

FOLLOWING HIS GUT White Houseaides say that President Trump isfeeling emboldened. PAGE A13

The kidnappings in Dapchi, Nigeria,have signaled a resurgent Boko Haramand frustrated state officials. PAGE A7

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Few Answers on Missing Girls

Vladimir V. Putin’s popularity — andfirm grip — assured him a fourth termas Russia’s president. PAGE A8

Six More Years. At Least.

Some 2,000 acts are performed at theSouth by Southwest Music Festival inAustin. A mosh pit formed quickly forShame’s Charlie Steen, below. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Lifted Up in Texas

Busking twin brothers who play mostlyBeatles songs have gone from the sub-way to the stage. PAGE A19

NEW YORK A15-19

Here Come the Sons

The explosion was reported hours afterofficials had raised the reward andappealed directly to whoever had beenplanting package bombs. PAGE A14

NATIONAL A10-14

Another Blast Rattles Austin

In 2016, a sheriff’s deputy and two coun-selors wanted Nikolas Cruz to be forcedinto a psychiatric evaluation. PAGE A12

Effort to Commit Gunman

China plans to name a new central bankchief, a signal that Beijing will continuea major financial shake-up. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-5

China’s New Central Banker

Florida State upset the Musketeers, thesecond No. 1 seed to fall in the N.C.A.A.tournament. Two No. 2 seeds — NorthCarolina and Cincinnati — and a No. 3seed, Michigan State, also lost. PAGE D7

Top-Seeded Xavier Eliminated

Charles M. Blow PAGE A21

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21Richard A. Carranza will lead New YorkCity’s school system after only modestbig-district experience. PAGE A15

Crash Course for Chancellor

Buoyed by financial assistance notavailable to civilians, military veteransare taking up new sports and compet-ing in greater numbers on the UnitedStates Paralympic team. PAGE D1

SPORTSMONDAY D1-7

Veterans Can Thrive as Rookies

Late EditionToday, sunny, chilly, high 45. To-night, increasingly cloudy, chilly,low 31. Tomorrow, cloudy, breezy,cold, a little rain and snow showers,high 40. Weather map is on Page D8.

$3.00