美国国家公共电台 NPR Mueller Turns Up The Heat With Unusual Search Warrant In Russia Probe

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The special counsel investigation¹ into Russian interference in last year's election is heating up. This week we learned that the FBI conducted an early morning raid at the home of former Trump² campaign chair Paul Manafort. Here's what the president had to say about it yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's pretty tough stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President...

TRUMP: You wake him up. Perhaps his family was there. I think that's pretty tough stuff.

SHAPIRO: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is here to bring us up to speed on the investigation. Hey, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE³: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Is it pretty tough stuff?

JOHNSON: Well, I interviewed lots of lawyers and experts this week. They said using a search warrant in a white-collar corruption⁴ case is unusual, more typical in drug trafficking or terror investigations⁵. In fact Whitewater independent counsel Ken⁶ Starr, who received so much criticism about overreach during the Bill Clinton years, never used search warrants. I checked with two members of his team. They told me they didn't do it. Neither did Patrick Fitzgerald. He investigated the leak of a CIA operative's identity in the George W. Bush era. So this is out of character.

SHAPIRO: If it's so unusual, do we know why the special counsel used one in this case?

JOHNSON: We don't know for certain. Robert Mueller doesn't talk about ongoing⁷ investigations. But the best clue may be the affidavit⁸ an FBI agent filed in court to support this search. The agent had to convince a judge there was probable cause, some crime had been committed. That search warrant is not public, at least not yet.

But sources close to the case are saying investigators⁹ wanted bank and tax records from Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of the Trump campaign. And a Manafort spokesman says he's responding to government inquiries¹⁰ from the FBI and Congress. Legal experts are telling me Mueller would not have used a search warrant if there were no concerns about cooperation or destruction of evidence. In other words, there was some signal that evidence might have been gotten rid of.

SHAPIRO: So Paul Manafort is clearly one focus of the investigation, but he may not be the only focus. What is the endgame here?

JOHNSON: Well, in big, complicated investigations like this one, the FBI and prosecutors¹² want to find documents, emails, contemporaneous records of whatever they're investigating. But they also need insiders to explain those documents - the conversations, the motivations. Think of it like climbing a ladder, veteran Washington defense¹³ lawyer Bill Jeffress told me. Start with the office assistants and the clerks. Move up to the vice¹⁴ presidents and see how far things go.

Now, some of this pressure may be designed to get Paul Manafort to consider turning into a government witness cooperating with the special counsel and see what he has to say about other people under investigation. Right now there's no public sign that's happened yet.

SHAPIRO: Based on the people you've talked to, would that be a pretty common tactic¹⁵ for a special counsel to take?

JOHNSON: Absolutely. You know, this 16-lawyer team that Bob Mueller has put together to investigate...

SHAPIRO: That's a large number.

JOHNSON: Yeah, a large number, but the experience is unbelievable. These are people who have prosecuted¹⁶ terrorists, mobsters and very, very high-level corporate¹⁷ executives. They're not afraid to use tough tactics.

Now, consider a guy named Andrew Weissmann. He once led the Enron task force which prosecuted executives at that defunct¹⁸ energy company. At one point, they wanted the cooperation of the chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow. They threatened to indict¹⁹ Fastow's wife if he didn't cooperate with them. Fastow didn't blink. And so both the husband and the wife were prosecuted and did prison time.

SHAPIRO: So that's the team that these folks are up against.

JOHNSON: Not just Enron. Think about another more recent addition to this team, Greg Andres, a longtime prosecutor¹¹ from Brooklyn, took down the Bonanno crime family boss. He put together a trial team and presented witnesses for weeks on end. He secured the cooperation of the crime family boss's brother-in-law who went on to testify against the crime family boss in court. And Greg Andres so got under the skin of these mobsters that one of them testified they wanted to take out a hit on him.

SHAPIRO: Wow. So this sounds like an all-star legal team. Do we know where they're going next?

JOHNSON: Well, we don't know for sure. They're going to be sifting²⁰ through lots of documents, talking with witnesses. And then, Ari, we know there are now two grand juries looking at elements of this investigation - one in suburban²¹ Virginia, another in D.C. According to grand jury rules, prosecutors and FBI agents are not supposed to be talking about what's going on in those grand juries, but the witnesses sure can. So some of the information we're likely to see in the coming weeks may come from that.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Thanks, Carrie.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

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 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。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 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。

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 affidavit   

n.宣誓书

参考例句：

• I gave an affidavit to the judge about the accident I witnessed.我向法官提交了一份关于我目击的事故的证词。
• The affidavit was formally read to the court.书面证词正式向出席法庭的人宣读了。

9 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 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。

13 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。

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

15 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

16 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

17 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

18 defunct   

adj.死亡的；已倒闭的

参考例句：

• The scheme for building an airport seems to be completely defunct now.建造新机场的计划看来整个完蛋了。
• This schema object is defunct.No modifications are allowed until it is made active again.此架构对象不起作用。在重新激活之前，不能进行任何改动。

19 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

20 sifting   

n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句

21 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。