S E RV I N G T H E P U B L I C S I N C E 1 878 • W I N N E R O F 1 8 P U L I TZ E R P R I Z E S
SATURDAY • 01.20.2018 • $2.00
SHUTDOWN
Government closes shop as lawmakers search for deal BY ZEKE MILLER, ANDREW TAYLOR AND ALAN FRAM Associated Press
‘When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform.’
WASHINGTON • The federal
government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday, halting all but the most essential operations and marring the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction. Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. Behind the scenes, however, leading Republicans and Democrats were already moving toward a next step, trying to work out a compromise to avert a lengthy shutdown. Because the shutdown began at the start of a weekend, many of the immediate effects will be muted for most Americans. But damage could build quickly if the closure is prolonged. And it comes with no shortage of embarrassment and political risk for the president and both parties, as they wager that voters will punish the other at the ballot box in November. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called a shutdown “100-percent avoidable� and blamed Democrats for filibustering a bill he called “noncontroversial.� The vote failed 50-49. “Perhaps across the aisle some of our Democratic colleagues are feeling proud of themselves, but what has their filibuster accomplished? What has it accomplished? The answer is simple: Their very own government shutdown,� McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor. Social Security and most other safety net programs are unaffected by the lapse in federal spending authority. Critical gov-
WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT
3 women have alleged they were assaulted by the basketball players BY ASHLEY JOST AND STU DURANDO St. Louis Post-Dispatch
‘Compromise is the essence of democracy. If there ever was a time for a deal maker ‌’ SEN. CLAIRE McCASKILL, D-MO.
‘I think what is also totally unreasonable is dragging these DACA kids into this fight.’ SEN. ROY BLUNT, R-MO.
CLAYTON • A lawyer representing three of the four St. Louis University basketball players involved in a campus and ongoing criminal investigation says his clients have been suspended from school. Attorney Scott Rosenblum said Friday that his clients, whom he declined to identify, had been suspended for 18 months to two years. The fourth player, whom he does not represent, was expelled, Rosenblum said. Lawyer John Rogers, who represents the fourth player, said in a text message: “Rosenblum has no 1st hand knowledge of what sanctions my client has received.â€? He declined to comment further. See SLU • Page A4
Frederickson: Players’ attorney signals his clients won’t go quietly • B1
‘In another month, we’ll be right back here ... with the same web of problems at our feet, in no better position to solve them.’ SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, D-N.Y.
‘I think the president’s been very clear: He’s not leaving until this is finished.’ BUDGET DIRECTOR MICK MULVANEY
Campaign office for Greitens splits space with dark money group BY KURT ERICKSON St. Louis Post-Dispatch
JEFFERSON CITY • On at least four
mocracy,â€? tweeted Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who is one of several Democratic incumbents in a tough political place because of the circumstances. “If there ever was a time for a deal maker ‌â€? The ellipses were intended to lead to Trump, who earlier in the day tried to pin the blame on the Democratic donkey,
occasions last year, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens visited the offices of the nonprofit formed to promote his agenda, according to a Post-Dispatch review of his daily calendar. He must have liked what he saw. In campaign finance reports filed this week, the now-embattled governor reported that his campaign operation is leasing space in the same warren of offices housing A New Missouri, the dark money group that he says he has no day-to-day responsibility in managing. The close proximity of the offices,
See BLAME • Page A5
See GREITENS • Page A4
See SHUTDOWN • Page A5
In Shutdown City, the finger pointing is never-ending BY CHUCK RAASCH St. Louis Post-Dispatch
NEWS ANALYSIS
WASHINGTON • Let the blame game commence. Congress and President Donald Trump’s White House veered on Friday toward another collision with futility, like multiple cars sliding in slow motion down a frozen hill, helpless to stop slam-
ming into one another before coming to a stop someplace. Twitter taunts and sighs of resignation were the order of the day as Washington flirted one more time with becoming Shutdown City at midnight. “Compromise is the essence of de-
Man whose gunshot killed girl, 9, on day his son was born is going to prison
TRUMP YEAR ONE
Transformation and turbulence
tion as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. The deal resulted in the dismissal of a gun charge and an armed criminal action charge and a recommendation CLAYTON • A man left the maof 22 years in prison. ternity ward and his own baby In court, Assistant Circuit boy to fire shots that killed Brown Attorney Melissa Price Smith a 9-year-old Ferguson girl, Jamyla Bolden, in 2015, prosecutors said that police were called about said after the man pleaded guilty and 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 18, 2015, and discovered one of the victims was “a was sentenced Friday. De’Eris Brown, 23, pleaded guilty beautiful, innocent 9-year-old child in St. Louis County Circuit Court to who was laying on the bed doing her second-degree murder, unlawful use homework.â€? of a weapon-shooting at a building and two counts of armed criminal ac- See BROWN • Page A4 BY JOEL CURRIER AND ROBERT PATRICK St. Louis Post-Dispatch
BY JULIE PACE Associated Press
WASHINGTON • In his first year in office, President Donald Trump has frequently bent Washington to his will, shattering long-standing norms, plunging politics to a new level of corrosiveness and wielding his executive power to start rolling back his predecessor’s policies on the environment, education and America’s role around the world. See TRUMP • Page A5
TODAY
Three SLU athletes are suspended, 1 expelled, lawyer says
Grichuk traded to Toronto
Love nor money
56°/44° MOSTLY CLOUDY
TOMORROW
60°/47° SHOWERS LIKELY
WEATHER B10
SPORTS
CNN: FBI opened inquiry into Greitens • A3 BJC shows off new patient tower • A6
Guard leading MU to top SPORTS
2 M Vol. 140, No. 20 Š2018
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