美国国家公共电台 NPR Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty To Lying To FBI

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

We start with a big development in the legal investigation¹ into contacts between President Trump²'s associates and officials in Russia. The president's former national security adviser³, Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. He has also agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is here to talk us all through this. Hi, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁴: Hi, Kelly.

MCEVERS: So, OK, first just explain. What exactly did Michael Flynn admit to in federal court there in Washington today?

JOHNSON: Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty to a single false statements charge stemming from a January 24, 2017, interview he did with the FBI after he was already in the White House as President Trump's national security adviser.

Now, these court documents say that Flynn lied to the FBI in that interview about two things - one, a series of December 22 conversations he had with the then-Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, about possibly delaying a U.N. Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements and, two, a December 29 series of conversations he had with Sergey Kislyak and others about U.S. sanctions and Russia.

MCEVERS: OK, so he's pled guilty to lying to the FBI basically. And this is basically a pretty narrow charge, I mean, given - especially that the special counsel was looking at a pretty wide range of Flynn's activities in business and in government. What does it mean that this charge is so narrow?

JOHNSON: Yeah. In fact, Kelly, this charge carries a five-year statutory maximum penalty, but prosecutors⁵ today say Mike Flynn, under their calculations, could serve between zero and six months in prison maximum. It means in essence that Mike Flynn has something to trade. His son, who was his business associate, was not charged today, not mentioned in court papers at all.

And we know based on other information in the court documents that Mike Flynn was under investigation for failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration⁶ Act. He may have in fact lied on that form. He also was under investigation with respect to some of his business dealings in Turkey and Russia. None of those charges appeared today. That's because we think that Mike Flynn has something to trade on other people involved in the Trump campaign, and he's delivering it to the special counsel now.

MCEVERS: Do we know what people those - that could be?

JOHNSON: There are some hints or clues in the court documents today. Nobody is presented by name. But with respect to the December 22 conversations, we do know that somebody called a very senior member of the Trump transition was interacting with Mike Flynn. We do know that Jared Kushner, a presidential adviser and son-in-law, was very involved in that U.N. effort with respect to Israeli settlements. But somebody close to the transition say - says to me that it was a collaborative effort. Other people were involved like Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Mike Flynn and others and that nobody directed anyone else to do anything.

There's also a hint in the court documents, Kelly, about a senior member of the transition team. And we do know that with respect to Flynn's contacts on December 29, according to prosecutors, he was talking to people at Mar-a-Lago. Jared Kushner was not in Florida at the time. Jared Kushner was in Hawaii on vacation. Bunch of other Trump associates like Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Stephen Miller⁷ and Kellyanne Conway were at Mar-a-Lago. We don't know if he talked to any of those people.

MCEVERS: OK. So Michael Flynn is the fourth person now tied to the Trump campaign to be charged with a crime this year. What is the White House saying about this?

JOHNSON: Yeah. The White House lawyer Ty Cobb has put out a statement saying Mike Flynn was let go or resigned under pressure from the White House for exactly this kind of conduct. And Ty Cobb says nothing about the guilty plea or the charge today implicates⁸ anyone other than Mr. Flynn. Ty Cobb also said the special counsel is moving with all deliberate speed to conclude his investigation. It's not sure - or not clear yet how high up in the White House that investigation may go.

MCEVERS: And Ty Cobb also emphasized how little time Mike Flynn spent in the Trump administration and mentioned that he was also in the Obama administration, no?

JOHNSON: That's true, although Mike Flynn was fired from - by the Obama administration in his job as leading the Defense⁹ Intelligence Agency, it should be pointed¹⁰ out.

MCEVERS: Right. NPR's Carrie Johnson, thank you very much.

JOHNSON: You're welcome.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

6 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

7 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

8 implicates   

n.牵涉，涉及（某人）( implicate的名词复数 )；表明（或意指）…是起因

参考例句：

• This confession implicates numerous officials in the bribery scandal. 这一供认会使许多官员牵连到受贿的丑事中。 来自辞典例句
• Did you tell him that the recording implicates President Logan in Palmer's assassination? 你有没有告诉他录音显示洛根总统跟帕尔默被杀有关？ 来自电影对白

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。