NYT

The New York Times Company announced today that it will participate in the UBS Global TMT Conference on Wednesday, December 9, 2020.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The president of the United States, a self-described multi-billionaire, is still claiming the 2020 election was rigged — and he wants you to give him some of your money to help him sort that out.Ever since it became clear Joe Biden was the president-elect, Trump’s campaign has pushed out a tsunami of text messages and email solicitations seeking donations to defray legal bills it’s incurred while trying, unsuccessfully, to overturn the election. Already, the effort has raised between $150 million and $170 million, according to the Washington Post and the New York Times.What’s the likelihood all of that money will actually be used to defray Trump’s legal bills? You already know the answer.As Bloomberg News and others reported weeks ago, most of the donations to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee get funneled to Save America, Trump’s new political action committee. The rest goes to the Republican National Committee. Trump’s PAC isn’t required to use the money exclusively for legal fees; it can also be used for political expenses such as travel, fundraising and donations to other candidates.While Trump’s team continues to hit up small donors enamored of the idea that somebody managed to unfairly steer about 7 million votes to Biden that should have gone to Trump, reality has intruded. Attorney General William Barr — the same guy who helped Trump dodge former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and has run other interference for the president — told the Associated Press on Tuesday that “the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.”In addition to Barr, Trump has also lost courageous local officials from both parties who have ensured that the country enjoyed a secure and reliable election. The pivotal states Trump needed to win in his voting fraud charade have now certified their results in Biden’s favor.It’s over. No fraud.But it never was really about the fraud, and I suspect Trump hasn’t really believed for a single minute that he was robbed of the presidency.Trump has had multiple reasons for trying to taint the election: He can’t come to terms with the idea of being a loser. He faces legal and financial challenges that would have been made less harrowing if he could remain in the Oval Office and continue enjoying the protections of the presidency. And now we can add another factor to the mix: Trump has discovered that running around claiming the sky is falling is a money-making proposition.Preying on the sentiments of others to make a buck isn’t an entirely new experience for Trump, of course. He has spent a lifetime surfing waves created by other people’s money, including from his father, his investors and his bankers.He and his three eldest children presided over a “charity,” the Trump Foundation, that the New York State attorney general’s office put out of business in 2018 because of a “shocking pattern of illegality” and “willful self-dealing” that allowed them to turn the faux philanthropy into the family’s piggy bank. Trump eagerly solicited donations from others to fund his foundation but was never willing to be as generous with his own money.Back in September, Trump’s presidential campaign was running on financial fumes after months of profligate spending had caused his operation to blow through almost $1 billion. Trump claimed at the time that he’d be willing to put $100 million of his own money into his campaign if it needed a shot in the arm. Did he? No.Trump has made his newest fundraising push a family affair. On Twitter, his son Eric has asked donors to contribute to his father’s “Election Defense Fund.” For anywhere from $45 (get it?) to $2,020 (get it?) you can “Join the Election Defense Team.” If you don’t want to give money to the defense team, some of Eric’s other tweets invite you to buy discounted vino from the Trump Winery.It’s possible the lawyers fronting Trump’s election putsch also see the financial upside for the president and themselves as reason to shred their own ethics and reputations. (Rudy Giuliani apparently has an added incentive: He’s reportedly seeking a pardon from the president.)But if you’re not Trump, his child or one of his lawyers, why tie your fortunes to him? Anybody contributing to Trump’s “Election Defense” should remember he’s never put his own money on the table when he’s found suckers willing to take the risk instead.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Timothy L. O'Brien is a senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

A transatlantic alliance fractured by Donald Trump’s unilateral trade policies appeared headed for repair as both President-elect Joe Biden and Europe signaled an urgency to rejoin a united front against China’s ascendancy in the global economy.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden wants to develop a "coherent strategy" on China with allies in Europe and Asia, according to a New York Times opinion column.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- If President Donald Trump wants to avoid federal criminal investigation once he’s out of office, here’s my free advice: Don’t pardon Rudy Giuliani.The New York Times reports that the two men have discussed whether the president should pardon his personal lawyer. But Trump owes Giuliani money for representing him, and pardoning someone to whom you owe money could easily be construed as a criminal act.Under federal law, it would be bribery to offer an official government act, like a pardon, in exchange for a debt, like the money Trump owes to Giuliani. An investigation would have to ensue. And as President Bill Clinton learned after pardoning financier Marc Rich, an investigation into a questionable pardon can be serious business.In response to the report, Giuliani’s spokesperson said that as a lawyer, Giuliani could not comment on any discussions he had with his client, the president. Attorney-client privilege is a real thing, yet it would not shield either Giuliani or Trump from criminal investigation if there were reason to think a criminal exchange had occurred. When a lawyer and a client together conspire to commit a criminal act, the attorney-client privilege evaporates. Evidence of their communication for criminal purposes could be subpoenaed and introduced in court.If no third party could testify and there are no tapes of their conversation, then the only direct evidence of a criminal bargain would be testimony by one of the two men. In this scenario, Trump could choose to remain silent and exercise his right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment.However, Giuliani could not plead the Fifth — not if he had already been given a blanket pardon for any criminal act he might have committed during the Trump administration. The right against self-incrimination only applies when a person’s testimony might put them in criminal jeopardy. A person with a blanket pardon covering some period of time doesn’t face criminal jeopardy for conduct occurring during that period of time. Giuliani could therefore in theory be compelled to testify against Trump, on pain of going to jail for contempt of court if he refused.The only escape hatch from this trap would be if Giuliani’s pardon were deemed to be invalid because it was obtained as part of a criminal act. No one knows for sure whether a criminally obtained pardon is constitutionally valid, because the issue hasn’t been litigated. But obviously, neither Trump nor Giuliani would want to go down this path.If he really felt he had to pardon Giuliani, Trump might ostentatiously pay Giuliani lots of money first, to prove the pardon wasn’t given in exchange for forgiving the lawyer’s perhaps $20,000 per day legal fees. But it would be tough for Trump to prove that he had definitively paid for all of the work Giuliani had done.The upshot is that just about the best way Trump could bring a criminal investigation on himself would be by pardoning Giuliani on his way out of the White House.Consider the pardon of Marc Rich on Bill Clinton’s last day in office. That led to George W. Bush’s attorney general, John Ashcroft, appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the pardon process. That prosecutor was — wait for it — James Comey. You just can’t make these things up.Most likely, President-elect Joe Biden’s Department of Justice would prefer not to investigate Trump on criminal charges. Biden’s attorney general, whoever it is, will be eager to reestablish the norm of nonpolitical criminal investigation and prosecution. Going after Trump would make it all but impossible to restore that norm.But a Giuliani pardon would look so corrupt that it would put huge pressure on the Department of Justice to bring in a special prosecutor to look into it. And because Trump would no longer be president, he would not be able to fire or intimidate that prosecutor.Comey’s investigation ultimately did not recommend criminal charges against Clinton, although congressional Republicans did pursue several investigations of their own. Whether or not Trump is afraid of Congress, he should be afraid of the appointment of a federal prosecutor.The final irony here is that if Giuliani were any kind of a responsible lawyer, he could not possibly ask Trump for a pardon — because doing so would be a disaster for his client. And if Trump brought it up, Giuliani should ethically tell him, as his lawyer, that any such pardon would jeopardize Trump. If Giuliani doesn’t tell the president not to pardon him, some other lawyer should.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast “Deep Background.” He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include “The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.” For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Zoom Video Communications Inc. has had a monster year in almost every way. The video-conferencing upstart got a huge boost in the spring amid Covid-induced lockdowns, and it’s still a must-have for many as the resurgent pandemic reinforces stay-at-home habits and remote-work trends. Sales and profit have consistently beat estimates every quarter, and the company keeps raising its guidance.The latest numbers continued the trend. Zoom late Monday reported fiscal third-quarter financial results that beat the Wall Street consensus, including a more than fourfold rise in sales from a year earlier, and it raised forecasts again. But Zoom shares fell about 5% in after-hours trading following the earnings release, a different reaction than in prior quarters.It’s understandable. The stock is already up an astounding 600% this year, including 47% alone since its prior earnings release. The higher Zoom’s valuation rises, the more that’s needed for even diehard bulls to add to their positions. And the positive developments on Covid-19 vaccines give less of a reason to bet on Zoom benefiting from a longer outbreak. All that said, Zoom’s long-term prospects remain strong and may prove durable beyond the pandemic.  Zoom, the leader in its field, has become synonymous with video-conferencing the way Kleenex is another word for tissue, and the company continues to win market share for its ease of use and reliability. Last week, social media was filled with grateful Zoom Thanksgiving posts, many expressing gratitude toward the company for lifting its 40-minute meeting limit during the holiday. It is likely people will continue to use Zoom to stay in touch with friends and family even when the Covid-19 crisis subsides.In terms of business clientele, the work-from-home trend could be a lasting structural shift. Last week, PayPal Holdings Inc. CEO Dan Schulman told Bloomberg Television the pandemic has spawned changes that could permanently favor remote work. The executive expects the “vast majority” of his workforce to work from home at least a couple of days a week. It also may take longer than expected for the vaccines to roll out. Schulman said it could be late summer 2021 or early fall before PayPal asks its employees to return to physical offices.Schulman isn’t alone among business leaders predicting such changes. Earlier this month at the New York Times DealBook conference, Bill Gates said he expects that more than 50% of business travel and more than 30% of days in the office will “go away.” I agree with that sentiment. Business behavior and its norms are vastly different from pre-Covid-19 era. In most instances, a video conference call will now suffice for the in-person sales meetings that were often required pre-pandemic. This new standard bodes well for Zoom.It’s been a heck of a year for Zoom. Its stock isn’t cheap, trading at nearly 45 times next year’s estimated 12-month sales after its big rally this year. But the technology market is typically a winner-take-all or winner-take-most proposition for category leaders such as Zoom. If the company can continue to dominate its space for years to come, Zoom can grow into its valuation. As of now, there are no signs it will give up its No. 1 position anytime soon.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Tae Kim is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Barron's, following an earlier career as an equity analyst.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.