美国国家公共电台 NPR Special Counsel Says Paul Manafort 'Breached' Plea Deal, Lied to FBI

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Trump¹'s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is already in jail, may be in prison longer than planned. Last September, Manafort pled guilty to two reduced federal charges and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Well, now Robert Mueller is alleging² that Manafort has been lying to his team, as well as to the FBI. And that would violate his plea deal. Let's bring in NPR's justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Carrie, what exactly is the special counsel saying about Manafort at this point?

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE³: Yeah, in a court filing last night, David, the special counsel said Manafort had committed new crimes by repeatedly lying to lawyers in the special counsel team and to the FBI in the course of his so-called cooperation. Remember. Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to two conspiracy⁴ charges in September, just a day before the jury was supposed to be selected for his trial in Washington, D.C. And as part of that process, Manafort agreed to full, voluntary and truthful⁵ cooperation with prosecutors⁶. They say he has breached⁷ that agreement, and they've had enough. And it's time for the judge to start the process of sentencing him - ultimately punishing Paul Manafort.

GREENE: So do Manafort's lawyers have any answer for these allegations?

JOHNSON: They say he's tried to live up to his part of the plea deal, that he's met numerous times with authorities in the last two months and that he does not believe he has not been truthful. This, they do agree with the special counsel team - it is time to start the machinery⁸ of sentencing going. They've asked Judge Amy Berman Jackson to order a sentencing - presentencing investigation⁹ report. And that will move the ball forward probably into early 2019.

GREENE: So he could be in even more legal trouble than before this plea deal if we're talking about possible additional crimes here.

JOHNSON: Indeed. You know, Paul Manafort can't seem to stay out of trouble. Remember, David, that after he had already been indicted¹⁰, they charged him again with alleged¹¹ witness tampering¹². Now there's this. He could face much stiffer prison time because of his alleged lies to the special counsel and the FBI. And he won't get any benefit from this cooperation, which authorities say was not true cooperation anyway. In fact, the judge may take into account the panoply¹³ of other criminal conduct he admitted as part of this plea deal and be stiffer with him. Remember. Paul Manafort's 69 years old. He's had some health problems already in jail. And he's facing much more than ten years - could now be more like 20 years in prison.

GREENE: So a lot of what he was charged with had to do with his time and his dealings with Ukraine. But obviously as campaign chairman, he might have known a lot of what was happening inside the Trump campaign - or wasn't happening. So I guess one question is could the special counsel have lost an important witness potentially here in the whole Russia investigation?

JOHNSON: The short answer, David, is we don't know. Remember. Paul Manafort was around in 2016 for that Trump Tower meeting with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer. He also was around during the Republican National Convention when language in the party platform on Ukraine was watered down. He has a lot of things to say. He apparently¹⁴ was not saying them to authorities. And it's not clear how the special counsel is so confident that Paul Manafort has lied. Perhaps, they have some other secret information - still secret to us but not to them - that gives them a more full picture of what Russia did in 2016.

GREENE: OK, NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson joining us this morning. Thanks, Carrie.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

1 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。

2 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

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 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

6 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。

7 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

8 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

9 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。

10 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 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

13 panoply   

n.全副甲胄，礼服

参考例句：

• But all they had added was the trappings and panoply of applied science.但是他们所增添的一切,不过是实用科学的装饰和甲胄罢了。
• The lakes were surrounded By a panoply of mountains.群湖为壮丽的群山所环抱。

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。