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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
New York AG James says Trump1's company misled banks, tax officials
Attorney General Letitia James says her office uncovered evidence of financial irregularities at former President Donald Trump's business, and wants Trump and two of his adult children to testify.
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
The New York attorney general's office says it has uncovered evidence of financial irregularities at former President Donald Trump's business. Attorney General Letitia James detailed3 the findings in a court document filed Tuesday night. Her office seeks to compel Trump to testify under oath, as well as two of his adult children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump.
NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas has been looking into this. Ryan, what does the New York attorney general allege4 in this filing from late last night?
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE5: Well, James alleges6 that Trump's business inflated7 the value of his properties and misstated his personal worth in representations made to lenders, insurance brokers8 and others. And the purpose of this, basically, the New York attorney general says, was to obtain financial benefits, such as loans, insurance coverage9 and tax deductions10. The nearly 160-page filing was made in support of James' effort to see Trump and, as you said, his adult children, Ivanka and Don Jr., deposed11 under oath. James says in the filing that her office hasn't decided12 at this point whether to bring a civil lawsuit13 in connection with these allegations. But she says investigators14 need to question Trump and his eldest15 children as part of this probe.
MARTINEZ: Does the New York attorney general provide any examples of these alleged16 fraudulent sorts of financial representations?
LUCAS: She does. The filing cites several examples of Trump allegedly lending his signature to financial statements that inflated the worth of properties in the Trump Organization portfolio17 and the value of Trump's own fortune. And according to the papers, Trump's business also overstated the value of land donations made in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS to justify18 several million dollars in tax deductions.
MARTINEZ: Has Donald Trump responded?
LUCAS: He hasn't said anything yet about this filing or the specific allegations that are in it. But Trump for a long time has maintained that this effort is politically motivated. His attorney has previously19 described James' investigation20 as a witch hunt and has said that the former president plans to fight this effort in court, as he has been doing.
MARTINEZ: And the New York attorney general's probe has been going on for a while, it seems. Catch us up on how we even got here.
LUCAS: Right. For the past few years now, James has been looking into whether Trump's companies routinely lied about the value of their properties, depending on whether they were seeking to lower their taxes or receive loans. We got a sense of the investigation in the fall of 2020, when James' office went to court to compel the testimony21 of Trump's son, Eric Trump, who is an executive at the Trump Organization, after Trump initially22 refused to show up for his deposition23. Now, Eric Trump ultimately testified after a judge ordered him to do so. The filing that was filed late last night says that Eric Trump repeatedly invoked24 his Fifth Amendment25 rights. Investigators went back to court last summer when the Trump Organization once again had to be compelled to comply with investigators over a request to produce internal documents about appraisals26, valuations, purchase records, stuff like that.
Now, prosecutors27 are looking to speak to the man at the top of the company - to Donald Trump. Typically, something like that is a last step in any legal investigation. This investigation by the New York attorney general, though, is different. It's separate and parallel to a criminal probe being led by the Manhattan district attorney. That investigation has led to charges against a pair of Trump business entities28, as well as a chief financial officer for the Trump Organization. They have all pleaded not guilty. But as I said, in this investigation, the New York attorney general has yet to decide whether she will pursue a civil lawsuit.
MARTINEZ: All right. That's NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas.
Ryan, thanks a lot.
LUCAS: Thank you.
1 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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2 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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3 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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4 allege | |
vt.宣称,申述,主张,断言 | |
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5 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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6 alleges | |
断言,宣称,辩解( allege的第三人称单数 ) | |
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7 inflated | |
adj.(价格)飞涨的;(通货)膨胀的;言过其实的;充了气的v.使充气(于轮胎、气球等)( inflate的过去式和过去分词 );(使)膨胀;(使)通货膨胀;物价上涨 | |
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8 brokers | |
n.(股票、外币等)经纪人( broker的名词复数 );中间人;代理商;(订合同的)中人v.做掮客(或中人等)( broker的第三人称单数 );作为权力经纪人进行谈判;以中间人等身份安排… | |
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9 coverage | |
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖 | |
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10 deductions | |
扣除( deduction的名词复数 ); 结论; 扣除的量; 推演 | |
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11 deposed | |
v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 );(在法庭上)宣誓作证 | |
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12 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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13 lawsuit | |
n.诉讼,控诉 | |
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14 investigators | |
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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15 eldest | |
adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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16 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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17 portfolio | |
n.公事包;文件夹;大臣及部长职位 | |
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18 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
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19 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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20 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
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21 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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22 initially | |
adv.最初,开始 | |
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23 deposition | |
n.免职,罢官;作证;沉淀;沉淀物 | |
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24 invoked | |
v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
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25 amendment | |
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案 | |
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26 appraisals | |
估计,估量,评价( appraisal的名词复数 ) | |
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27 prosecutors | |
检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 ); 告发人; 起诉人; 公诉人 | |
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28 entities | |
实体对像; 实体,独立存在体,实际存在物( entity的名词复数 ) | |
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