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      2016 Trump Campaign to Pay $450,000 to Settle Nondisclosure Agreements Suit

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      The settlement with a former campaign aide who says she was the target of sexual harassment effectively invalidates agreements hundreds of 2016 Trump campaign officials signed.Former President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign will pay $450,000 as part of a settlement of a long court fight over its use of nondisclosure agreements, according to documents filed on Friday in a New York federal court.The proposed settlement with Jessica Denson, a former campaign aide whom the campaign tried to silence as she claimed she was the target of abusive treatment and sexual harassment by another campaign member, effectively invalidates the nondisclosure agreements that hundreds of officials from Mr. Trump’s first presidential run signed.Ms. Denson is set to receive $25,000, the filings show, and the rest will cover legal fees and other costs. The judge in the case, who has not yet approved the settlement, pushed back on efforts by the campaign to keep the paperwork sealed. The details were reported earlier by Bloomberg News.“We think that this N.D.A. was entirely unreasonable from the beginning,” said David K. Bowles, one of the lawyers for Ms. Denson, who initially represented herself in the case. “No attorney should have ever drafted it, and no campaign worker should have ever been compelled to sign it. We think the unwinding of the N.D.A. is a triumph for free speech, for democracy and for Jessica Denson, in particular, and we are very proud of our accomplishment tonight.”A representative for Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign did not respond to emails seeking comment.Mr. Trump has made broad use of nondisclosure agreements throughout his business career and, later, his political career. The agreements have generally sought to keep people from disclosing information about Mr. Trump, but he has also used them as a cudgel against a wide variety of aides. In Ms. Denson’s case, her lawyers argued the agreement was overly broad, among other flaws.Ms. Denson had been trying to make the suit a certified class action shortly before the matter was settled. She has a separate case pending related to her claim that she was harassed by a superior on the campaign. More

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      Scott Stringer Sues for Defamation Over Sexual Assault Claim

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      Mr. Stringer, the former New York City comptroller, said that a woman’s claims of sexual assault were lies and caused “irreparable harm” as he ran for mayor.Nearly 20 months after allegations of unwanted sexual advances derailed his campaign for New York City mayor, Scott M. Stringer sued one of his accusers for defamation on Monday, arguing that she smeared his reputation with falsehoods and misrepresentations.In a lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Stringer said that the woman, Jean Kim, had done “irreparable harm to him and his political future” by portraying what he called an “on-and-off” consensual relationship as predatory. He demanded that Ms. Kim retract her accusations and pay damages.“These defamatory statements have caused Mr. Stringer emotional pain and suffering, as well as injury to his reputation, honor and dignity,” lawyers for Mr. Stinger, a longtime Democratic politician and former New York City comptroller, wrote in the 12-page complaint.The legal action appears to be a calculated risk for Mr. Stringer, 62. If successful, it could help clear up his public image as he contemplates a political comeback. But it also serves to resurface Ms. Kim’s decades-old claims of misconduct, while posing the risk of an embarrassing legal defeat and reopening scrutiny into an earlier chapter in his life.Defamation cases are notoriously hard to prove, especially for public figures. To even get his case heard in court, Mr. Stringer must get around New York’s statute of limitations for defamation, and his lawyers are relying on a relatively novel legal theory to do so.They wrote in the suit that the matter was reopened legally in August 2022, when they assert — with scant detail — that Ms. Kim caused Representative Carolyn Maloney to resurface her defamatory statement against Mr. Stringer.The factual and legal issues are particularly relevant at a moment when New York and the country are still grappling with balancing the claims of women propelled by the #MeToo movement against the right to due process, and appraising what should happen to public figures like Mr. Stringer who are accused of misconduct decades after the fact.Ms. Kim and a lawyer who had represented her during the mayoral campaign did not comment on Monday morning, after the suit was filed.In an interview on Friday, Mr. Stringer said that he decided to take legal action now, after a needed “cooling-off period” for his family, to salvage his reputation. He acknowledged that waiting so long after the initial statements may have constrained his options legally.“There are times you could just walk away,” Mr. Stringer said. “But it was a lie. It was just a total lie. And I can’t live with myself if I did not do everything in my power to expose it.”Ms. Kim came forward in April 2021, in the heat of the Democratic primary for mayor. At the time, Mr. Stringer, a liberal who had slowly risen through the ranks of city politics, was considered a top-tier candidate for the nomination, though he seldom led early public polls.In a news conference and media interviews, Ms. Kim said that Mr. Stringer sexually assaulted her in 2001 when she was working as an unpaid intern on his unsuccessful campaign for public advocate. She said Mr. Stringer, then a state assemblyman whom she viewed as an older mentor figure, repeatedly groped her without consent, put his hands down the back of her pants, pressured her to have sex — and then warned her not to tell anyone.“He constantly reminded me of his power by saying things like, ‘You want me to make a phone call for you to change your life,’ ‘You want me to make you the first Asian district leader,’” Ms. Kim later told The New York Times. Many prominent supporters quickly backed away from his campaign. Mr. Stringer stayed in the race, but ultimately finished fifth in a primary election won by Eric Adams, who went on to become mayor.Mr. Stringer disputed Ms. Kim’s account, saying they were peers and that their relationship had been consensual and public within the tight circles of Upper West Side Democratic politics. His campaign also presented documents that showed that Ms. Kim, who has worked as a political lobbyist, might have helped one of Mr. Stringer’s rivals, Andrew Yang, which she disputed.Monday’s lawsuit largely repeats the conflicting stories without new evidence, and seeks to highlight factual errors or inconsistencies in Ms. Kim’s claims.It remains unclear if Ms. Kim’s version of events can be independently corroborated; she has not provided any records, nor has she mentioned associates with whom she discussed the allegations at the time.Defamation, particularly cases involving public figures like Mr. Stringer, can be difficult to prove, and the contradictory claims by Ms. Kim and Mr. Stringer — involving shifting sexual and romantic mores, political power and few hard pieces of evidence — only add to that burden.Mr. Stringer appears to have even more pressing legal burdens, with Ms. Kim likely to argue for dismissal because her original statements fall outside New York’s statute of limitations.His argument that the timeline was restarted in August rests on photos on social media that apparently show Ms. Kim at a campaign event with Ms. Maloney, who was running in a primary contest against Representative Jerrold Nadler, a longtime mentor of Mr. Stringer’s.Two weeks later, the congresswoman attacked Mr. Nadler in The New York Post for supporting “a man accused of sexual assault.” The lawsuit argues that it should have been “reasonably foreseeable” for Ms. Kim that Ms. Maloney would “republish” her claims after their meeting.Some allies of Mr. Stringer, left, believe he should be considered a potential heir to his mentor, Representative Jerrold Nadler, right, if he decides to retire.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesLegal experts briefed on the issues raised by the case, though, said that the application of the theory known as “republication” would be ripe for challenge on multiple grounds. Though the suit insinuates that Ms. Kim somehow prompted Ms. Maloney’s statement, Mr. Stringer’s lawyers never actually state what, if anything, she told the congresswoman to encourage or direct her to reference Mr. Stringer. “If there’s no clear evidence that the defendant directed the third party to make the statement, it’s fairly likely the case would be dismissed,” said Lee Levine, a retired media lawyer with decades of experience litigating defamation cases, including some for The Times.Though The Times reviewed a draft of the complaint before it was filed, it agreed with Mr. Stringer not to share details of the case with Mr. Levine or anyone else ahead of time.Mr. Stringer and his lawyers were clearly aware of the statutory limits. The suit filed on Monday made no mention of a second woman, Teresa Logan, who followed Ms. Kim’s allegations by accusing Mr. Stringer of kissing and groping her at a bar he helped found in the 1990s. That instance, Mr. Stringer conceded, was clearly outside the statute of limitations.Mr. Stringer said in 2021 that he had “no memory” of the woman but added that if they had met, he was sorry to have made her uncomfortable.If the case proceeds, Mr. Stringer and his allies believe the discovery process will turn up new and relevant information related to Ms. Kim’s actions and whether she coordinated her public statements with any of his political rivals.Mr. Stringer is represented in the suit by Milton L. Williams Jr., a former federal prosecutor and white-collar criminal defense lawyer who currently serves as the chair of the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board.After his loss, Mr. Stringer finished out his term as comptroller last December and began a consulting practice. But he almost immediately began discussing a political comeback.He went as far as to briefly campaign for a State Senate seat in Manhattan this spring, but he never actually entered the race. Allies still believe he should be considered a potential heir to Mr. Nadler should the congressman decide to retire.Still, the accusations of misconduct would almost certainly complicate any effort to return to public office.“Right now, I don’t have any plans to run for office. It’s something I’m not ruling out someday,” Mr. Stringer said. “This lawsuit is what’s in front of me at the moment.” More

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      Power in the N.F.L.

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      The owner of the Washington Commanders has survived numerous allegations in the image-conscious N.F.L.By now, this is a familiar story: A powerful Washington denizen scrambles to hold onto his position while facing misconduct accusations. The institution I want to tell you about today, though, is not Capitol Hill or the White House, but the N.F.L. The person: Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Commanders.Snyder faces allegations of malfeasance, some direct and others under his watch, that are as varied as they are extensive: sexual harassment, racism, witness intimidation, financial malpractice and office dysfunction. The latest round came when ESPN reported last week that Snyder had told people that he had accumulated dirt on other team owners and league personnel.The saga has significance beyond sports. In a league that is one of America’s most popular cultural institutions, now pulling in about $18 billion in annual revenue, Snyder is one of just 32 team owners who have deep influence over how the N.F.L. conducts itself. So his case is a lesson in how elite figures exercise power, particularly to advance their own agendas.With each revelation, fans and critics have called on the N.F.L. to step in and make a change. I’ve covered the league for 15 years, and in today’s newsletter, I’ll explain how Snyder has remained in control of the team. (The answer has nothing to do with football success — Washington, a storied franchise that won three Super Bowls in the ’80s and ’90s, has rarely been competitive since. The team is 2-4 this season and last in its division.)Snyder has denied wrongdoing, and the team asserts that it has transformed its culture, while pointing to an earlier business dispute as the source of its problems. “For over two years there has been an active and well-funded campaign to spread false and malicious stories and accuse Dan Snyder of things that never actually happened in an effort to coerce the Snyders to sell their team,” a Commanders representative said in a statement.N.F.L. team owners will convene in New York today for a quarterly meeting, where they will almost certainly discuss Snyder, at least informally.Roger Goodell, the N.F.L. commissioner, testifying before a House committee about the Commanders.Elizabeth Frantz/ReutersThe accusationsSnyder has owned the team since 1999, but in recent years his grasp has become more tenuous. As he has resolved some complaints, others have emerged. The image of a mismanaged organization has persisted. The allegations include:Targeting other owners. Snyder instructed his lawyers to hire investigators to gather any damaging information on other owners and even on the N.F.L. commissioner, Roger Goodell, according to the ESPN report. His lawyers called those details “categorically false.” While such tactics would be unheard-of among the selective club of team owners, there’s no question that Snyder has tested his peers’ patience over the past two years. The mere possibility of his having collected compromising information could give him leverage against fellow billionaires used to privacy.Snyder’s representatives have also accused three former part-owners of the team, who sought to sell their stakes in 2020 and were bought out by Snyder last year, of engaging in a smear campaign to force him to sell the team.Sexual harassment claims. More than 40 women have said they were sexually harassed or verbally abused while working for the team, including more than a dozen cited in a pivotal Washington Post article in 2020. The Post also reported that in 2009, the team reached a confidential $1.6 million settlement with an employee who said Snyder had sexually harassed and assaulted her; he denied the allegation. The news came after team cheerleaders told The New York Times in 2018 that they had been required to take part in a topless photo shoot and a night out with male sponsors. Altogether, the accounts showed that a toxic culture had taken hold, and the team said it would investigate.The N.F.L. soon took over that inquiry, which affirmed that widespread disrespect and harassment marked the team’s workplace. As a result, the team was fined $10 million and Snyder was told last year to step away from the club’s day-to-day operations. The N.F.L., though, was criticized for keeping the details of its findings private, prompting the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to begin its own investigation, saying that what happens in the N.F.L. has implications for workplaces across America.The committee found another claim of sexual harassment against Snyder, which led to a second N.F.L. investigation and which he has also denied.Financial malfeasance. A former employee said the team kept two sets of books to conceal revenue that was supposed to be shared with all 32 N.F.L. clubs. The House committee forwarded the accusation to federal regulators.Personal attacks. The committee also found that Snyder had tried to interfere with the N.F.L.’s first investigation, again by using private investigators, this time to harass and intimidate witnesses, and that he had sought to deflect blame onto Bruce Allen, the longtime team president whom he fired in 2019.Longstanding resistance to changing the team name. For years, Snyder rejected pressure to change the name of the franchise from the Redskins, long considered a racist slur. He relented in 2020 during a national reckoning over race because of pressure from, among others, FedEx, whose name is on the team’s stadium. The franchise went by the Washington Football Team before adopting the Commanders nickname ahead of this season.Snyder’s staying powerThe allegations against Snyder have prompted recurring negative headlines for the N.F.L., which is a deeply image-conscious organization.Snyder has shown no signs of selling the team. Can the league force his hand? Removing Snyder would require a vote by 24 of the league’s 32 clubs, generally a high bar to clear. Some owners are awaiting the results of the ongoing investigations, yet they are also mindful that Snyder has been unable to secure government subsidies to help him build a new stadium. Local lawmakers have cited the turmoil at the club as a reason for backing away from a deal.You may be wondering: Could a stadium really matter more than accusations of misconduct? That priority for some owners reveals a cynical reality of the N.F.L.: Most everything comes down to money.Related: The N.F.L. has dealt with many off-field crises. Here’s how it stays popular.THE LATEST NEWSPoliticsPrimary voting in Cheyenne, Wyo., this year.Stephen Speranza for The New York TimesVoters believe American democracy is in peril but are apathetic about the danger, a Times/Siena College poll found.Right-wing leaders are preparing people to aggressively monitor and challenge midterm elections.The Trump Organization charged the Secret Service exorbitant rates — more than $1.4 million — to stay at its hotels while protecting Donald Trump and his family.More than eight million Americans have applied for student debt forgiveness since applications became available yesterday. In last night’s Utah Senate debate, Evan McMullin, an independent, criticized Senator Mike Lee for supporting Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Lee denied wrongdoing.Here are takeaways from last night’s debates for governor of Georgia and for the Senate in Ohio.War in UkraineRussian missiles struck Kyiv this morning, apparently targeting energy infrastructure. Cities across Ukraine are dealing with power outages.“What comes from this is unity.” Ukrainians are responding with defiance to the attacks on Kyiv.Russia and Iran are turning to each other for support, an alliance built on hostility toward the U.S.Other Big StoriesLokoja, Nigeria, last week.ReutersFlooding in Nigeria linked to climate change has displaced more than a million people and killed at least 600 others.Xi Jinping, China’s leader, is pushing for more state control of businesses.The police said they had found the dismembered bodies of four men who disappeared in Oklahoma.Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the failed start-up Theranos who’s waiting to be sentenced for fraud, asked for a new trial after a witness visited her at home.The seven pop stars of the South Korean band BTS said they would serve their military conscriptions. They plan to regroup in 2025.Shehan Karunatilaka won the Booker Prize for “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida,” a novel about the trauma of war in Sri Lanka.OpinionsBritain’s Liz Truss may limp on, but her prime ministership is finished, Tanya Gold writes.She sought a tax break for her reindeer-herding dog. The Swedish government’s treatment of Indigenous cultures stood in her way, Maria Fredriksson argues.Fantasy and science fiction let us explore the differences among people, N.K. Jemisin argues on “The Ezra Klein Show.”MORNING READS“Completely ignored”: Half the world has a clitoris. Why don’t doctors study it?Well: A guide to hearing aids, which are now available over the counter.“Shut it down!” A Washington Post critic pans the new restaurant from Jon Taffer of “Bar Rescue.”Advice from Wirecutter: Get toasty with flannel sheets.Lives Lived: James McDivitt commanded NASA’s first spacewalk mission and took part in the first crewed orbital flight of a lunar module. He died at 93.SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETICYankees and Guardians rained out: Inclement weather in New York forced the decisive Game 5 of the A.L.D.S. to shift to today.Chargers limp to win: Dustin Hopkins nailed a 39-yard field goal in overtime, despite clearly being injured, to give Los Angeles a 19-16 win against the Broncos.N.B.A. starts tonight: The Sixers and Celtics open the season after months of league drama. Here are season predictions from The Athletic and a team-by-team preview from The Times.ARTS AND IDEAS Indian sweet shops across the country are preparing for Diwali.Elizabeth Lippman for The New York TimesHoliday treatsDiwali, the South Asian festival of lights, is prime time for mithai, or sweets. At Brij Mohan Indian Sweets and Restaurant in Sharonville, Ohio, cooks work from morning till night for the holiday. “We don’t close for three days,” said Saakhi Grover, an assistant manager.In The Times, Priya Krishna profiles five shops — each serving a U.S. metro area with a growing South Asian community — that make mithai by hand. From spongy rasgula and deep-fried kaja to colorful burfi topped with edible silver foil, the photos are mouthwatering.PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookFred R. Conrad/The New York TimesPair these Indian corn pakoras with a flavorful mango-tamarind chutney (and here are more Diwali recipes).What to WatchDwayne Johnson plays a lot of muscular good guys. In “Black Adam,” he’s ready to be an antihero.What to ReadRalph Macchio’s memoir explores how playing Daniel LaRusso in “The Karate Kid” has shaped his life.Now Time to PlayThe pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was touched. Here is today’s puzzle.Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Building wing (five letters).And here’s today’s Wordle. After, use our bot to get better.Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow.P.S. Slate’s Lowen Liu is joining The Times as The Upshot’s deputy editor.Here’s today’s front page.“The Daily” is about housing in Florida.Matthew Cullen, Lauren Hard, Lauren Jackson, Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti and Ashley Wu contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. More

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      As G.O.P. Candidates Face Accusations, Rivals Tread Carefully

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      In several states, Republican candidates are contending with allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault. Few of their primary rivals want to talk about it.WASHINGTON — When fresh allegations of domestic violence were lodged against former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens last month, one of his Republican rivals for the state’s open Senate seat, Representative Vicky Hartzler, stepped up and called for him to end his campaign.Then she moved on to an issue perhaps more resonant with Republican primary voters: transgender women in sports.“Eric Greitens is a toxic candidate unfit to hold office,” Michael Hafner, a spokesman for Ms. Hartzler’s Senate campaign, said, before declaring the central message of her campaign: “Missouri family values, freedom, and taking back our country.”In Missouri, Georgia, Ohio and now Nebraska, Republican men running for high office face significant allegations of domestic violence, stalking, even sexual assault — accusations that once would have derailed any run for office. But in an era of Republican politics when Donald J. Trump could survive and thrive amid accusations of sexual assault, opposing candidates are finding little traction in dwelling on the issues.Political scientists who have studied Republican voting since the rise of Trumpism are not surprised that accused candidates have soldiered on — and that their primary rivals have approached the accusations tepidly. In this fiercely partisan moment, concerns about personal behavior are dwarfed by the struggle between Republicans and Democrats, which Republican men and women see as life-or-death. Increasingly, Republicans cast accusations of sexual misconduct as an attempt by liberals to silence conservatives.The candidates who do speak of their opponents’ domestic violence and assault allegations often raise them not as disqualifications in looming Republican primaries, but as matters ripe for exploitation by Democrats in the fall.“It’s a horrible problem; he’ll never be elected, and that’s the educational process we’re going through right now,” Gary Black, Georgia’s agriculture commissioner, said of domestic violence and assault allegations leveled at Herschel Walker, his Trump-backed Republican rival to take on Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in November. “There’s a great desire for Republicans to get their seat back. Electability is going to be the issue over the next six weeks.”Herschel Walker, a Trump-backed Senate candidate in Georgia, has owned up to accusations of violence against his wife but has denied the accusations of violent threats against two other women.Audra Melton for The New York TimesEric Greitens resigned as Missouri’s governor after a sexual misconduct scandal, and is facing domestic violence allegations amid his current Senate campaign.Jeff Roberson/Associated PressDemocrats, including President Biden and Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota, have weathered their own accusations of misconduct in the past — and where such charges have proven difficult to discount, the party has shown itself more willing to jettison its candidates.The accusations facing some Republican men are so stark that they raise the question: What would disqualify a candidate in a Republican primary? Mr. Greitens resigned as Missouri’s governor after a hairdresser testified under oath in 2018 that he had taped her hands to pull-up rings in his basement, blindfolded her, stripped her clothes off and taken a photo of her, which he threatened to release if she revealed their affair.Amid his current Senate campaign, Mr. Greitens was accused last month in a sworn affidavit from his former wife that he had violently abused her and had hit one of their sons as his governorship unraveled. Still, a poll taken after the accusations came to light showed Mr. Greitens neck and neck with Ms. Hartzler and Eric Schmitt, Missouri’s attorney general.Mr. Walker, a former college and pro football star who has the backing not only of Mr. Trump but also much of the Republican establishment, has been accused by his ex-wife of attacking her in bed, choking her and threatening to kill her. Mr. Walker doesn’t deny the assault and has said he was suffering from mental illness.Mallory Blount, a spokeswoman for Mr. Walker’s campaign, said he “emphatically denies” the “false claims” from another woman who said he had been her longtime boyfriend and that when she broke up with him, he had threatened to kill her and himself. Ms. Blount also said he has denied a violent stalking charge by a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.Mr. Walker “has owned up to his mistakes, sought forgiveness, gotten treatment, and dedicated his life to helping others who are struggling,” Ms. Blount said, condemning the media for surfacing past allegations.Max Miller, another Trump-backed candidate and a former White House aide running for an Ohio House seat, was accused by one of Mr. Trump’s press secretaries, Stephanie Grisham, of hitting her the day they broke up. Mr. Miller denied the allegation, then sued Ms. Grisham for defamation, accusing her of making “libelous and defamatory false statements.” His campaign did not respond to requests for comment.“It used to be that being accused of domestic violence was an automatic disqualifier, regardless of party,” Ms. Grisham’s lawyer, Adam VanHo, said. “And to turn around and sue to silence your accuser was even more abhorrent.”Max Miller, a Trump-backed candidate for an Ohio House seat, was accused by a former White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, above, of hitting her after they broke up. He then sued her for defamation.Doug Mills/The New York TimesOn Thursday, a Republican state senator in Nebraska, Julie Slama, accused a leading Republican candidate for governor in that state, Charles Herbster, of sexually assaulting her three years ago when she was 22, saying in a statement that she had “prayed I would never have to relive this trauma.” Mr. Herbster denied the charges, claiming he was being targeted by political rivals. He linked himself to others who have beaten back similar accusations.“They did it with Brett Kavanaugh. They certainly did it with Donald J. Trump and now they’re trying to do it with Charles W. Herbster,” he told a local radio station.In Missouri, Mr. Greitens’s defiance spurred Rene Artman, who chairs the Republican central committee of St. Louis County, to organize other Republican women to pressure the party chairman, Nick Myers, to demand Mr. Greitens withdraw.“We’ve heard not a thing, not a thing,” she said on Friday. “This is the breakdown of society. When you take morals and God out of country, this is what happens. I don’t think you can blame this on Trump whatsoever.”Republican candidates, by and large, have remained defiant. One exception is Sean Parnell, Mr. Trump’s pick for an open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, who suspended his campaign after his estranged wife testified that he had repeatedly abused her and their children.Political scientists are not surprised by Republicans’ tolerance for accusations. Charges of misogyny, sexual harassment and even domestic abuse have “become deeply partisan in terms of beliefs about what is acceptable and what is appropriate,” said Kelly Dittmar, a professor at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “And now it’s fallen into the talk of ‘cancel culture’ in the broader society.”It was widely believed that Mr. Trump’s own confession, caught on an infamous video recorded for “Access Hollywood,” that he routinely grabbed women by the genitals — and the plethora of accusations that followed — would drive away women voters.But in 2016, 88 percent of Republican women voted for Mr. Trump, just a percentage point below the share of Republican men who did. Even in 2018, when women were widely seen as having delivered the House to Democrats in response to the Trump presidency, Republican women were no more likely to vote for Democrats than they had been two years before, said Erin C. Cassese, a professor of political science at the University of Delaware who studies women’s voting patterns.The #MeToo movement and the current debate over transgender rights and education are only widening the gap between Republican women and women who identify as Democrats and independents, Prof. Cassese said. For female candidates, appeals to gender solidarity or attacks on misogyny do not seem to work in Republican primaries.“It’s very hard to make those appeals, even for women candidates appealing to women,” she said. “We don’t have any sense of what messages might work.”Jane Timken, the only woman in the Republican primary for a Senate seat in Ohio, chided her male rivals in an advertisement. Andrew Spear/Getty ImagesJane Timken, the only woman in the Republican Senate primary in Ohio, has injected gender into the race — though delicately. In February, she released an advertisement chiding her male rivals: “We all know guys who overcompensate for their inadequacies, and that description fits the guys in the Senate race to a T.”But in an interview on Friday, she explicitly dismissed the issue of gender. “They’re not bad male candidates. They’re just bad candidates,” she said of her opponents, adding that the mistreatment of women is “not an issue that I’m campaigning on. I’m campaigning on the Biden failed policies of border security, inflation and jobs.”In the Trump era, the men who are accused of wrongdoing have become adept at framing themselves as the victims of a broader conspiracy or an intolerant society. Mr. Greitens has blamed George W. Bush’s former political aide, Karl Rove; the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell; even the liberal philanthropist George Soros for the release of his ex-wife’s abuse allegations. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment.Republicans running against those accused say they do see an opening, as long as it’s navigated carefully. Representative Billy Long, who is running in the Missouri Republican Senate primary, emphasized the “$400,000 or so in costs, fines and penalties” that state taxpayers have already shouldered for investigations into Mr. Greitens’s activities. Then there’s the ongoing child custody fight between Mr. Greitens and his ex-wife.“If domestic violence is proven true, he’s toast,” Mr. Long said.Jazmine Ulloa More

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      Nebraska State Senator Says Candidate for Governor Groped Her

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      The state senator, Julie Slama, confirmed a news report saying that Charles Herbster, a leading candidate for governor, had touched her inappropriately in 2019. He denied the allegations.A Republican state senator in Nebraska said on Thursday that she had been groped three years ago by a fellow Republican who is now a leading candidate in the party’s primary election for governor next month.The candidate, Charles Herbster, denied the allegations from the state senator, Julie Slama, calling them “100 percent false.”Ms. Slama issued her statement after The Nebraska Examiner published an article about the alleged incident, which she said had occurred at a Douglas County Republican Party dinner in April 2019.“Today’s Nebraska Examiner report about Charles Herbster sexually assaulting me in 2019, when I was 22 years old, is true,” Ms. Slama said, adding that she had “prayed I would never have to relive this trauma.”She said that when the news outlet asked her about what had happened, “I was not going to deny the truth.” Ms. Slama’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In February, she referred to the alleged assault during a speech on the floor of the Legislature, though she did not name Mr. Herbster at the time.Mr. Herbster, who owns a large agricultural company and was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump ahead of the May 10 primary election, said in a statement that the allegations were “a ridiculous, unfounded dirty political trick” being carried out by his political opponents in the state, including Gov. Pete Ricketts, also a Republican.“For over 30 years, I’ve employed hundreds of people,” Mr. Herbster said. “I’ve respected and empowered women to run my company, my farm and now my campaign. Not once has my integrity EVER been challenged in this manner.” Later, he told a local radio station: “They did it with Brett Kavanaugh. They certainly did it with Donald J. Trump and now they’re trying to do it with Charles W. Herbster.”Mr. Herbster’s campaign manager, Ellen Keast, issued a separate statement that “unequivocally” denied the allegations and accused Mr. Ricketts at greater length of being behind the story. Ms. Keast noted that Mr. Ricketts and Ms. Slama had political ties; she worked as press secretary on his 2018 campaign for governor before he appointed her to the Legislature the next year.Asked to respond, Mr. Ricketts said in an interview: “Well, I would read the article. I have rarely seen an article on this topic that is so extensively corroborated by witnesses.” Referring to Ms. Slama’s decision to speak publicly about the alleged incident, he said, “It’s probably one of the most courageous things I’ve ever seen.”Mr. Ricketts said that Mr. Herbster “should seek help and he should resign from his campaign.”A spokeswoman for Mr. Ricketts later said that the governor had learned of the accusations only when the article was published.Mr. Herbster and the Douglas County Republican Party did not immediately respond to messages on Thursday.State Senator Julie Slama in 2019, the year she said the incident occurred.Nati Harnik/Associated PressAccording to the article, Ms. Slama, who was appointed to the Legislature in January 2019, was in a crowded ballroom at the Douglas County Republican Party’s annual Elephant Remembers dinner that April when she walked by Mr. Herbster. The news outlet reported that he then “reached up her skirt, without her consent, and touched her inappropriately.”On Thursday afternoon, after one prominent supporter of Mr. Herbster was quoted on social media asking what Ms. Slama was wearing the night of the Republican dinner, she posted a photograph on Twitter with the message, “This dress is what I was wearing when I was sexually assaulted.”In her February speech, Ms. Slama said, “Early on, when I got into politics at age 22 in Nebraska, I was groped at a political event by someone who was not a member of this body and not a current or former officeholder.”Mentioning other instances of being touched or spoken to inappropriately, Ms. Slama said she often did not speak out about such experiences because “as a young female, you worry that it is going to be the thing that defines you.”The Examiner reported that in addition to Ms. Slama, six other women said Mr. Herbster had touched them inappropriately at various events dating to 2017, and a seventh said he had kissed her forcibly. The women were not identified in the article, and The New York Times could not contact them to independently corroborate their allegations.The Nebraska Examiner, which was formed in January, describes itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom and as part of a national group bolstering local reporting.Mr. Herbster is among nine Republicans looking to replace Mr. Ricketts, who is term-limited. Mr. Herbster’s campaign has spent more than $4 million so far, the most of any candidate, though Jim Pillen, a veterinarian who owns a large family farm and was endorsed by Mr. Ricketts and Ms. Slama, has a similar sum in his campaign war chest.Mr. Herbster’s campaign has spent $4.8 million on advertising so far, compared with nearly $3.7 million spent by Mr. Pillen’s campaign, according to Ad Impact, a media tracking firm.During the 2016 election, Mr. Trump’s campaign named Mr. Herbster, the chief executive of the Conklin Company, to its agricultural and rural advisory committee along with dozens of other supporters. After Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Herbster for governor, Mr. Ricketts acknowledged that he had asked the former president to “stay out of the race.”Kirsten Noyes More

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      Elecciones en Costa Rica: una contienda reñida entre acusaciones de acoso sexual y corrupción

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      En la segunda vuelta, programada para el domingo, los votantes decidirán entre un candidato acusado de acoso sexual en el Banco Mundial y un expresidente que una vez fue acusado de corrupción.SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica — Fue degradado de un alto cargo a uno menor en el Banco Mundial por acoso sexual. Ahora, el economista Rodrigo Chaves —quien ha hecho campaña como un populista al margen del sistema político en unas elecciones empañadas por la ira contra los políticos tradicionales— lidera las encuestas para convertirse en el próximo presidente de Costa Rica el domingo.Es un ascenso inesperado a la prominencia en un país que ha asumido un papel de liderazgo en el avance de los derechos sociales en Centroamérica, lo que subraya cómo el deseo de castigar a las élites políticas por lo que consideran respuestas gubernamentales inadecuadas a los desafíos de la región opaca la mayoría de los otros asuntos.En 2019, el Banco Mundial reprendió a Chaves por lo que se demostró que era un patrón de conducta sexual inapropiada contra subalternas, aunque los detalles de su comportamiento solo se hicieron públicos en agosto en un periódico de Costa Rica, información que el candidato presidencial ha refutado en diversas ocasiones.La negación de Chaves y la minimización de un historial documentado de acoso sexual se producen dos años después de que otro político costarricense, el expresidente y premio Nobel de la Paz, Óscar Arias Sánchez, evitara por poco ser procesado por abuso sexual, en un escándalo que sacudió al país.Arias fue acusado en 2019 de agresión sexual o conducta inapropiada por al menos nueve mujeres, emergiendo como uno de los casos más significativos del #MeToo en América Latina. Sin embargo, en diciembre de 2020, se retiraron los cargos presentados contra él por dos de las mujeres.Una protesta contra Óscar Arias Sánchez, premio Nobel de la Paz y expresidente de Costa Rica, quien fue acusado de agresión sexual en 2019.Juan Carlos Ulate/ReutersLos grupos de derechos de género dicen ahora que la apuesta de Chaves por el poder amenaza con socavar el progreso en la nación más liberal e igualitaria de Centroamérica.“El mensaje que están mandando a la sociedad es que el abuso sexual es algo menor, no es algo grave”, dijo Larissa Arroyo, una abogada de derechos humanos costarricense. “Esta campaña está normalizando y legitimando el abuso”.Chaves y su oficina de prensa no respondieron a una solicitud de entrevista.Chaves languidecía en la oscuridad hasta su alianza con Pilar Cisneros, una prominente periodista costarricense, que lo presentó a los votantes costarricenses como un gerente experimentado que le haría frente a la corrupción.Justo un día después de que Cisneros se uniera a la campaña de Chaves en agosto, el periódico local La Nación hizo pública la investigación del Banco Mundial que descubrió que había demostrado un patrón de acoso sexual contra empleadas júnior entre 2008 y 2013.Chaves respondió restando importancia a los hallazgos: “Ya están demostrando el miedo de la candidatura de Rodrigo Chaves los que tienen secuestrado a este país”, dijo en un mensaje en video publicado en las redes sociales horas después de la publicación del artículo.Las revelaciones apenas perjudicaron la campaña de Chaves. Cuando se reveló la investigación, Chaves solo contaba con un dos por ciento en las encuestas. En la primera vuelta de las elecciones nacionales, celebrada en febrero, había obtenido suficientes votos para pasar a la segunda vuelta presidencial.Candidatos presidenciales costarricenses durante un debate televisado previo a las elecciones de primera vuelta, que se celebraron en febrero.Mayela Lopez/ReutersCisneros salió en defensa de Chaves, ayudándolo a protegerse de los plenos efectos de las revelaciones. “¿Ustedes creen que Pilar Cisneros hubiera apoyado a un acosador sexual?”, dijo a los medios locales en enero. Al mes siguiente, ganó un escaño en el Congreso por el partido de Chaves.En vísperas de la votación final del domingo, la Universidad de Costa Rica encontró que Chaves tenía una estrecha ventaja sobre su oponente, el expresidente José María Figueres. En una encuesta realizada con 1000 votantes llevada a cabo por la universidad del 24 al 28 de marzo, Chaves lideró por 3,4 puntos porcentuales, ligeramente por arriba del margen de error de la encuesta de 3,1 por ciento.Otra encuesta publicada el 1 de marzo por la universidad reveló que solo el 13 por ciento de los votantes pensaba que las acusaciones de acoso contra Chaves eran falsas. Pero el 45 por ciento dijo que las acusaciones no influirían en su voto.Chaves se ha beneficiado de la impopularidad de Figueres, su oponente, quien se ha visto salpicado por acusaciones de corrupción durante su primer mandato en la década de 1990. Figueres, quien lidera el mayor y más antiguo partido político del país, el Partido Liberación Nacional, está acusado de recibir pagos a principios de la década de 2000 de una empresa de telecomunicaciones francesa a cambio de un trato preferente mientras era presidente.Figueres ha negado las acusaciones y los fiscales que investigaron los pagos, que se produjeron tras el fin de su mandato, no presentaron cargos.Sin embargo, a los ojos de muchos costarricenses, Figueres y su partido han llegado a representar la venalidad y el elitismo del sistema político nacional, que muchos creen que ya no es capaz de resolver los problemas económicos del país, dijo Ronald Alfaro, quien dirige el Centro de Investigación y Estudios Políticos de la Universidad de Costa Rica.José María Figueres, el candidato presidencial por el Partido Liberación Nacional, celebra luego de avanzar a la segunda vuelta presidencial de Costa Rica en febrero.Arnoldo Robert/Getty ImagesLa economía costarricense, dependiente del turismo, se vio muy afectada por la pandemia: en 2020, su producto interior bruto experimentó la mayor caída en cuatro décadas. Aunque gran parte de la economía se recuperó, el país ahora tiene dificultades para frenar el aumento de los precios de los alimentos y el combustible.“Las acusaciones acaban anulándose mutuamente”, dijo. “Los votantes acaban votando no por el candidato que les gusta, sino contra el que creen que tiene más pulgas que el otro”, dijo.Decepcionados por los escándalos que rodean a ambos candidatos, la mayoría de los costarricenses parecen haber perdido el interés en las elecciones. Solo una cuarta parte de los electores registrados votaron por Chaves o Figueres en la primera ronda de las elecciones, que se vio empañada por la participación más baja de los últimos 70 años.Documentos del tribunal interno del Banco Mundial y del sindicato muestran que Chaves fue sancionado en 2019 después de que dos empleadas presentaran denuncias de acoso. En ese momento, era el jefe de país del banco para Indonesia, un puesto de nivel de director que supervisa miles de millones de dólares de préstamos a una de las mayores economías en desarrollo del mundo.Costarricenses rumbo a los centros de votación de San José en las elecciones generales que se realizaron en febrero.Ezequiel Becerra/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesLas mujeres afirmaron que Chaves intentó besar en la boca a las empleadas de menor rango, hizo comentarios sexuales sobre su apariencia y realizó repetidas invitaciones no deseadas a habitaciones de hotel y cenas. Las identidades de las mujeres no se han hecho públicas.Una de las mujeres, que estaba subordinada a Chaves, declaró al tribunal que este “comentó que le gustaba que ella se agachara, y luego procedió a dejar caer un objeto y a pedirle que lo recogiera para él”, petición que, dijo, rechazó.Chaves fue degradado y se le congeló el sueldo, pero el banco no llegó a calificar explícitamente su comportamiento de acoso sexual. Dejó la organización días después y regresó a su Costa Rica natal para convertirse en el ministro de Hacienda del presidente Carlos Alvarado.El Ministerio de Comunicación de Costa Rica dijo que el actual gobierno no había tenido conocimiento del caso de acoso y que Chaves le dijo a sus integrantes que volvió porque deseaba pasar su jubilación con su madre de edad avanzada.A los seis meses, Chaves dejó su puesto en el ministerio y anunció una candidatura presidencial con un partido político poco conocido, prometiendo “devolver el poder a los ciudadanos” mediante la celebración de consultas populares sobre temas políticos importantes.A pesar de la salida de Chaves del Banco Mundial, quienes lo acusaron presentaron un recurso ante el tribunal interno para que revisara la investigación de mala conducta del banco.Mujeres se manifestaron en el Día Internacional de la Mujer en San José, en marzoMayela Lopez/Reuters“Los hechos del presente caso indican que la conducta del señor C. era de naturaleza sexual y que sabía o debería haber sabido que su conducta no era bienvenida”, dijo el tribunal en su fallo de junio. Un funcionario del Banco Mundial dijo que el banco no discutía los hechos del caso tal y como se presentaban en la sentencia.Incluso antes de que se emitiera la sentencia, en enero de 2021, la organización prohibió a Chaves la entrada en sus instalaciones y le impuso una prohibición de recontratación. La organización hermana del banco, el Fondo Monetario Internacional, dijo que también restringió el acceso de Chaves a sus instalaciones.En los meses transcurridos, Chaves ha negado o tergiversado las conclusiones; en su lugar, ha afirmado que el Banco Mundial encontró poco más que una acusación contra él, refiriéndose a la decisión inicial del banco de no calificar sus malas acciones de acoso sexual.También ha dicho que puede visitar libremente las oficinas del Banco Mundial —contradiciendo la prohibición del banco de acceder a sus oficinas— y que como presidente seguirá haciendo negocios con el banco, que tiene 2300 millones de dólares en préstamos pendientes en Costa Rica.Chaves también prometió que “revisará” una reciente flexibilización de las restricciones a la fecundación in vitro y al aborto. El aborto es legal en Costa Rica cuando el embarazo pone en peligro la salud de la mujer.Estas medidas amenazan con desbaratar los lentos pero notables avances en los derechos reproductivos de las mujeres bajo los últimos gobiernos, dijo Arroyo, la abogada de derechos humanos. Dijo que las propuestas también dañan el papel de Costa Rica en el avance de los derechos sociales en una región profundamente conservadora desde el punto de vista social, donde el aborto está ampliamente prohibido y donde la violencia contra las mujeres queda mayormente impune.El Erizo, un barrio de bajos recursos, y el moderno vecindario de Ciruelas, en la provincia de Alajuela, Costa Rica.Luis Acosta/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesLa estabilidad política y la sólida democracia de Costa Rica han sido durante mucho tiempo una excepción en una región dominada por el autoritarismo y el crimen organizado, y el país ha alcanzado uno de los niveles más altos de inclusión social de América Latina, desde el acceso a la educación y la atención sanitaria hasta los derechos civiles.“Si Costa Rica cae en los derechos de las mujeres, lo más probable es que todos los demás vecinos también no tengan este referente para poder seguir avanzando”, dijo Arroyo.Anatoly Kurmanaev es un corresponsal radicado en Ciudad de México desde donde cubre México, Centroamérica y el Caribe. Antes de integrarse a la corresponsalía de México en 2021, pasó ocho años reportando desde Caracas sobre Venezuela y la región vecina. @akurmanaev More

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      Harassment Case Tests Women’s Rights in Costa Rica’s Close Election

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      In Sunday’s runoff, voters will decide between a candidate found to have sexually harassed junior employees at the World Bank and a former president once accused of corruption.SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica — He was demoted from a senior position at the World Bank because of sexual harassment. Now, the economist Rodrigo Chaves — who has campaigned as a populist outsider in an election marked by anger at traditional politicians — leads the polls to become Costa Rica’s next president on Sunday.It’s an unexpected rise to prominence in a country that has taken a lead role in the advancement of progressive policies in Central America, underlining how the desire to punish political elites for economic stagnation is overshadowing most other issues.In 2019, Mr. Chaves was reprimanded by the World Bank for what was shown to be a pattern of sexual misconduct against junior employees, though the details of his behavior were made public by a Costa Rica newspaper only in August — details the presidential candidate has repeatedly rebutted.Mr. Chaves’s denial and downplaying of a documented history of sexual harassment come two years after another Costa Rican politician, the former president and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Óscar Arias Sánchez, narrowly avoided prosecution for sexual abuse, in a scandal that shook the country.Mr. Arias was accused in 2019 of sexual assault or misconduct by at least nine women, emerging as one of the most significant #MeToo cases in Latin America. However, in December 2020, the charges brought against him by two of the women were dropped.A protest against Óscar Arias Sánchez, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Costa Rica, who was accused of sexual assault in 2019.Juan Carlos Ulate/ReutersHuman rights activists now say that Mr. Chaves’s bid for power threatens to undermine progress in Central America’s most liberal and egalitarian nation.“The message that this is sending to society is that sexual abuse is something minor, something not serious,” said Larissa Arroyo, a Costa Rican human rights lawyer. “This campaign is normalizing and legitimizing the abuse.”Mr. Chaves and his press office didn’t respond to an interview request.Mr. Chaves languished in obscurity until his alliance with Pilar Cisneros, a prominent female Costa Rican journalist, who presented him to Costa Rican voters as an experienced administrator who would tackle corruption.Just a day after Ms. Cisneros joined Mr. Chaves’s campaign in August, the local newspaper La Nación made public the World Bank’s investigation that found he demonstrated a pattern of sexual harassment against junior female employees between 2008 and 2013.Mr. Chaves responded by downplaying the findings: “Those who have kidnapped the nation are already showing their fear of the candidacy of Rodrigo Chaves.” he said in a video address posted on social media hours after the article’s publication.The revelations did little to damage Mr. Chaves’s campaign. When the investigation was revealed, he was polling at just 2 percent. By the first round of national elections, held in February, he had earned enough votes to move onto the presidential runoff.Costa Rican presidential candidates during a televised debate ahead of the general election, which was held in February.Mayela Lopez/ReutersMs. Cisneros came to Mr. Chaves’s defense, helping to shield him from the full impact of the revelations. “Do you think that Pilar Cisneros would have supported a sexual harasser?” she told the local media in January. The next month, she won a congressional seat for Mr. Chaves’ party.Ahead of the final vote on Sunday, the state-run University of Costa Rica found Mr. Chaves narrowly leading against his opponent: a former Costa Rican president, José María Figueres. In a poll of 1,000 voters conducted by the university on March 24-28, Mr. Chaves led by 3.4 percentage points, slightly above the survey’s margin of error of 3.1 percent.A separate poll published by the University of Costa Rica on March 1 found that only 13 percent of voters thought that harassment accusations against Mr. Chaves were false. But 45 percent said that the accusations would not influence their vote.Mr. Chaves has benefited from the unpopularity of his opponent, Mr. Figueres, who has been marred by accusations of corruption during his first term in office in the 1990s. Mr. Figueres, who leads the country’s oldest and largest political party, the National Liberation Party, is accused of receiving payments in the early 2000s from a French telecommunications company in return for preferential treatment while he was president.Mr. Figueres has denied the accusations, and prosecutors who investigated the payments, which occurred after he stepped down, did not press charges.However, in the eyes of many Costa Ricans, Mr. Figueres and his party have come to represent the venality and elitism of the country’s political system, which many believe is no longer able to solve the country’s economic problems, said Ronald Alfaro, who leads the University of Costa Rica’s Center of Political Studies and Investigation.José María Figueres, the presidential candidate for the National Liberation Party, after advancing to the Costa Rican presidential runoff in February.Arnoldo Robert/Getty ImagesCosta Rica’s tourism-reliant economy suffered greatly from the pandemic — in 2020, its gross domestic product saw its greatest drop in four decades. While parts of the economy bounced back, the country is struggling to rein in rising food and fuel costs.“The accusations end up canceling each other,” Mr. Alfaro said. “Voters end up casting their ballots not for the candidate they like but against the candidate they believe has more fleas than the other,” he said.Turned off by the scandals around both candidates, most Costa Ricans appear to have lost interest in the election. Only a quarter of all registered voters cast their ballots for either Mr. Chaves or Mr. Figueres in the first round of elections, which had the lowest turnout in 70 years.Documents from the World Bank’s internal tribunal and labor union show that Mr. Chaves was punished in 2019 after two female employees filed harassment complaints. At the time, he was the bank’s country head for Indonesia, a director-level position overseeing billions of dollars of lending to one of the world’s largest developing economies.Costa Ricans heading to polling stations in San José in the general elections that took place in February.Ezequiel Becerra/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe women said Mr. Chaves made attempts to kiss junior employees on the mouth, made sexual comments about their appearances and repeatedly made unwelcome invitations to hotel rooms and dinners. The identities of the women have not been made public.One woman, who reported to Mr. Chaves, told the tribunal that he “commented that he liked it when she bent over, then proceeded to drop an item and ask her to pick it up for him,” a request she said she refused.Mr. Chaves was demoted and his salary was frozen, but the bank stopped short of explicitly calling his behavior sexual harassment. He left the organization days later and returned to his native Costa Rica to become the finance minister for the president, Carlos Alvarado.The Costa Rican Communication Ministry said the current government had been unaware of the harassment case, and that Mr. Chaves told its members at the time that he returned because he wanted to spend his retirement with his elderly mother. Within six months, Mr. Chaves left his ministry position and announced a presidential bid with a little-known political party, promising to “return power to citizens” by holding referendums on important policy topics.Despite Mr. Chaves’s departure from the World Bank, his accusers brought an appeal to the internal tribunal to review the bank’s misconduct investigation.Women demonstrating on International Women’s Day in San José, in March.Mayela Lopez/Reuters“The facts of the present case indicate that Mr. C’s conduct was sexual in nature and that he knew or should have known that his conduct was unwelcome,” the tribunal said in its June ruling. A World Bank official said the bank did not dispute the facts of the case as presented in the ruling.Even before the ruling was issued, in January 2021, the organization banned Mr. Chaves from its premises and imposed a rehiring ban. The bank’s sister organization, the International Monetary Fund, said it also restricted Mr. Chaves’s access to its premises.In the months since, Mr. Chaves has denied or misrepresented the findings; instead, he’s said that the World Bank found little more than an allegation against him, referring to the bank’s initial decision not to call his wrongdoings sexual harassment.He has also said that he can freely visit the World Bank’s offices — contradicting the bank’s ban on his access — and that as president he will continue doing business with the bank, which has $2.3 billion in outstanding loans in Costa Rica.Mr. Chaves has also promised to “revise” the laws on in vitro fertilization and abortion, which have been made more accessible by recent presidential decrees. Abortion is legal in Costa Rica when the pregnancy threatens a woman’s health.These measures threaten to derail the slow but noticeable advances in women’s reproductive rights under the recent governments, said Ms. Arroyo, the human rights lawyer. She said the proposals also would damage Costa Rica’s role in the advancement of social rights in a deeply socially conservative region where abortion is largely banned and where violence against women goes mostly unpunished.El Erizo, a low-income neighborhood, and the modern neighborhood of Ciruelas, in the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica.Luis Acosta/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesCosta Rica’s political stability and strong democracy have long made it an outlier in a region dominated by authoritarians and organized crime, and the country has achieved one of Latin America’s highest levels of social inclusion, in areas ranging from access to education and health care to civil rights.“If Costa Rica declines in its protection of women’s rights,” Ms. Arroyo said, “it’s most likely that the rest of the neighboring countries will not have this example to keep moving forward.” More