美国国家公共电台 NPR Rick Gates Pleads Guilty And Begins Cooperating With Mueller's Russia Investigation

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

President Trump's former deputy campaign manager is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller. In a courtroom in Washington today, lobbyist Richard Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy¹ and lies. The plea is the latest advance in the investigation² into Russian interference in the 2016 election. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson was at the courthouse and is now in the studio here to talk more about the case. Hi, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE³: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Just yesterday, prosecutors⁴ unveiled a bunch of new charges against Gates and his mentor⁵ Paul Manafort. Why is Gates pleading guilty today?

JOHNSON: Gates is pleading guilty because the pressure was on. Rick Gates is 45 years old. He has four young children and a lot of financial trouble. He didn't have the resources to fight this case for a long time. He stood in court today before the judge and said he was pleading guilty of his own free will. ABC News was first to report today Gates had sent a letter to his loved ones, saying he was tired of the circus-like atmosphere and just wanted to move on with his life.

Now, he's pleaded guilty to just two charges out of more than a dozen. Prosecutors in exchange agree to drop all the other counts, and some of those counts carry 20 or 30 years behind bars. Now Rick Gates faces about eight years in prison, maybe even less if he cooperates with the special counsel as he promised to do.

SHAPIRO: Looking at those charges that he has pleaded guilty to, they relate to lobbying and financial wrongdoing, not Russia, right?

JOHNSON: Yeah. The first charge he pleaded to was conspiracy against the United States. That mostly deals with millions of dollars he helped Paul Manafort, his mentor, move through offshore⁶ accounts, laundering⁷ some of it and then failure to pay income tax on those monies. And maybe even more tantalizing⁸, Gates admitted to lying in a meeting with the special counsel and the FBI this month...

SHAPIRO: This month.

JOHNSON: ....On February 1. This means he was already under indictment⁹ - not good to lie again to the special counsel. The nature of the lie was about a meeting that Paul Manafort had in 2013 with an unnamed congressman¹⁰ we now know is California lawmaker Dana Rohrabacher and another top lobbyist we now know is Vin Weber. News reports from a way's back identified Rohrabacher. I talked with a spokesman for the congressman today. He said the meeting was no big deal. It was three old friends reminiscing. They talked politics, and Ukraine came up in passing.

SHAPIRO: This guilty plea by Rick Gates leaves his former boss Paul Manafort as the last man standing¹¹ who has not pleaded guilty. What does Manafort have to say?

JOHNSON: Manafort didn't come out on camera, but he issued a written statement this afternoon. He said he's continuing to maintain his innocence¹². He had hoped Rick Gates would fight on alongside him, doesn't understand why Gates made this choice to plead guilty. But he, Paul Manafort, is going to be defending himself against these - what he called untrue, piled-up charges in these indictments¹³. Remember; Paul Manafort is 68 years old. This is going to be the fight of his life. He's now facing cases in D.C. and Virginia. Some of those charges carry 20 or 30 years in prison if he's convicted.

SHAPIRO: So as we reach the end of this week, 19 people have been charged by the special counsel, including 13 Russians who conducted an information warfare¹⁴ campaign. There are the five guilty pleas. Where is Robert Mueller heading from here?

JOHNSON: Well, starting with Paul Manafort, who could face trial as early as later this year, there's an open question as to whether anyone else caught up in this lobbying campaign could be charged. And of course, Ari, the heart of Robert Mueller's investigation, whether any Americans colluded with or conspired¹⁵ with Russians to influence the election - that's still ongoing¹⁶.

SHAPIRO: NPR's justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, thanks as always.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

1 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。

2 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。

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 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。

5 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

6 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

7 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》

8 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

9 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。

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

13 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

14 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。

15 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

16 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。