美国国家公共电台 NPR Grand Jury Indicts Russians Linked To Interference In 2016 Election

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

There is another major development from the team investigating interference in the 2016 presidential election. A grand jury has indicted¹ 13 Russians and three businesses with conspiracy³ to disrupt the American political system. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the charges at the Justice Department this afternoon.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROD ROSENSTEIN: The defendants⁵ allegedly conducted what they called information warfare⁷ against the United States.

MCEVERS: With us to talk more about this is NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Hello.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁸: Hi, Kelly.

MCEVERS: So these are the first criminal charges to cover actual interference in the presidential election, right? What did we learn today about that?

JOHNSON: We learned it started in April 2014, focused on a company based in St. Petersburg, Russia, called the Internet Research Agency. Ultimately, court papers say 80 employees worked on this project. Two of them even traveled to the United States to collect intelligence, and they were pretty good at concealing⁹ their tracks. They bought space on U.S. computer servers, created hundreds of social media accounts, bought Facebook ads and held rallies, even, in the U.S. By 2016, the court papers say their budget was one million dollars a month, all with the goal of sowing discord¹⁰ in the U.S. political system.

MCEVERS: One million dollars a month. That's a lot. This indictment¹¹ focuses on Russians. What does it say specifically about the involvement of any Americans?

JOHNSON: Well, the court documents say these operations were intended to spread derogatory information - in other words, dirt about Hillary Clinton and to denigrate¹² other candidates, including senators Marco Rubio and Ted² Cruz, and to promote Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump¹³. The indictment says Russians did pay some real Americans. And it said they did have some contact with some unnamed Trump campaign people. But the court papers say those people were unwitting. Let's take another listen to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROSENSTEIN: There is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.

JOHNSON: And I'd point out, Kelly, he did caveat¹⁴ those words. He said in the indictment. So for now, there's no public evidence that Americans were involved as alleged⁶ co-conspirators. Rosenstein also said that after the election, these same defendants held a pro-Trump rally in New York City, but they also hosted an anti-Trump rally in the same city on the same day.

MCEVERS: So presumably, all these defendants are still in Russia, you know, and far away from the long reach of, you know, United States law enforcement. I mean, is there any chance they could face trial here?

JOHNSON: There's a chance, but it's a slight one. The Justice Department says there have been no communications with Russians about the indictment. But authorities here are going to follow the ordinary process to seek extradition¹⁵. As for the Russian response, the Foreign Ministry¹⁶ has called these charges absurd in a post on Facebook. And another Russian information agency said they found a defendant⁴ who said he wasn't upset at all about these charges.

MCEVERS: The special counsel investigation¹⁷ is now 9 months old. Is this indication that they're slowing down - you know, these indictments¹⁸ today?

JOHNSON: I think quite the opposite. Shortly after the charges against these Russians were made public, the special counsel also unsealed a guilty plea from earlier this week against a California man named Richard Pinedo. He pleaded guilty to identity fraud. He allegedly sold hundreds of bank account numbers to get around security features from big digital payment companies. Another surprise from the special counsel.

We don't know what else he has up his sleeve. But what we do know is that there are apparently¹⁹ some negotiations²⁰ between special counsel Mueller and Rick Gates, who played a role on the Trump campaign and in the inauguration²¹, who's been charged with conspiracy and money laundering²². Rick Gates may be preparing to plead guilty soon.

MCEVERS: All right. We'll keep an eye on that. And I'm sure you will keep us updated. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, thank you.

JOHNSON: You're welcome.

1 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。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 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。

4 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

5 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

6 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

7 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

8 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。

9 concealing   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

10 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

11 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

12 denigrate   

v.诬蔑，诽谤

参考例句：

• It was unkind to denigrate her achievement.贬低她的成就是刻薄的。
• To assert this is to denigrate the effectiveness of the police.坚持这一点就是贬低警方的办事能力。

13 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。

14 caveat   

n.警告； 防止误解的说明

参考例句：

• I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling.为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。
• As I have written before,that's quite a caveat.正如我以前所写，那确实是个警告。

15 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

16 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

17 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。

18 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

19 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。

20 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

21 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

22 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》