美国国家公共电台 NPR What We Know About Reality Winner, Government Contractor Accused Of NSA Leak

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And now a story that brings together a couple of recurring¹ themes about national security under the Trump² administration, Russia's meddling³ in the U.S. election and leaks of sensitive government information. Yesterday, the Justice Department accused a 25-year-old woman of giving a classified document to a news outlet⁴. Her name is Reality Winner.

NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre is here to tell us more about her. And Greg, who is Reality Winner?

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁵: Well, this young woman, based on her Instagram photos, loved cooking, loved working out. She was raised in Kingsville, Texas, and after high school, she went straight to the military. She was a linguist⁶ in the Air Force. The languages she specialized⁷ in were Pashto and Dari in Farsi. These are languages widely spoken in Iran and Afghanistan - did this for six years, got out of the military end of last year, found a job with a company called Pluribus International Corporation. It's a government contractor⁸ that works with the national security community. She started working with them in Georgia, and she got top secret clearance⁹ for that job.

SIEGEL: The Trump administration has vowed¹⁰ to punish leakers. She is the first one to be charged under this administration. What does the Justice Department accuse her of doing?

MYRE: Well, they say that a month ago, she printed out a National Security Agency document using this top security clearance that she had. And this was a document that detailed¹¹ the Russian efforts to penetrate¹² the U.S. election system, provides lots of specifics on the details trying to get into a company that makes election software, mailing emails to local election official. It doesn't point to vote tampering¹³ or Trump campaign contact with the Russians, but it provides lots of insight into what the NSA has been learning about these extensive Russian efforts.

SIEGEL: You've said that Reality Winner printed out this document. What did she tell the FBI she did with it once she printed it out?

MYRE: So apparently¹⁴ she printed it at her office, took it out and then put in old-fashioned post office mail. Now, the FBI isn't naming the news organization that she sent it to, and the news organization that seems to be involved, which is The Intercept¹⁵, the online news organization, isn't citing its source. But they're both telling very similar stories.

The Intercept says it received a document from the - with the NSA information anonymously¹⁶, and the FBI says that it was contacted by this news organization in reference to an NSA document. And so the government now knows that there's this leaked document, and they start investigating. Now, these are investigations¹⁷ that can often take months or even longer. This happened very, very quickly. Last week, the FBI learned about this on Thursday. They arrested her on Saturday, announced the charges on Monday.

SIEGEL: Greg, we hear leak, NSA contractor. The question is, is this in any way comparable to what Edward Snowden did?

MYRE: Some similarities. Obviously we have an NSA contractor accused of leaking classified documents - shows that this is still very difficult to prevent even though we've had a President Trump speaking quite vociferously¹⁸ about this. But in this case, the FBI was able to act very quickly and say they found the person who did it.

Now, remember. Snowden leaked thousands and thousands of documents, and she - Reality Winner is accused of leaking one document - so a huge difference there. Also motive¹⁹ here - Snowden said he did this to tell Americans about something they didn't know, the extent of government surveillance. Here we have the NSA doing exactly what you'd expect them to be doing.

SIEGEL: Well, and in this case of course, it wasn't U.S. activities that were disclosed but Russian activities...

MYRE: Exactly.

SIEGEL: ...That were disclosed by the leak. NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre, thanks.

MYRE: Thank you, Robert.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLOCKHEAD'S "ATTACK THE DOCTOR")

1 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

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 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

4 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

5 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。

6 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

7 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

8 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

9 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

10 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

11 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

12 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

13 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

16 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

17 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

18 vociferously   

adv.喊叫地，吵闹地

参考例句：

• They are arguing vociferously over who should pay the bill. 他们为谁该付账单大声争吵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Annixter had cursed him so vociferously and tersely that even Osterman was cowed. 安尼克斯特骂了他的声音之大，语气之凶，连奥斯特曼也不禁吓了一跳。 来自辞典例句

19 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。