美国国家公共电台 NPR Manafort Trial Begins, Ushering In New Phase In Mueller Probe

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Special counsel Robert Mueller was tapped to look into possible collusion between the Trump¹ campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. At the same time, Mueller was empowered to pursue any possible crimes that might come up in the course of that investigation². Enter Paul Manafort - President Trump's former campaign chairman is facing charges of financial fraud, alleged³ crimes that were uncovered through Mueller's larger probe. Jury selection in Manafort's trial starts today. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been covering this case from the very beginning and joins us now. Good morning, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: All right. So financial fraud - that is the catch-all phrase we use to describe what charges Manafort is facing, but can you get a little bit more granular for us? What exactly is he accused of?

JOHNSON: Sure. Remember that Paul Manafort is a brand name in part because he was the Trump campaign chairman for a key part of 2016 during the Republican National Convention. But these bank and tax fraud charges against him go all the way back to 2005. This case today revolves⁵ around lucrative⁶ lobbying work that Paul Manafort did for the government in Ukraine, the pro-Russia government there. Prosecutors⁸ say he earned more than $60 million and failed to report a lot of it on his tax returns. He also allegedly failed to register his foreign bank accounts. And when that work dried up in Ukraine, Manafort allegedly borrowed against the value of real estate and then allegedly misled banks and lenders about all that.

MARTIN: So now he's facing charges, and his trial is going to get under way today. Are prosecutors going to try to make a connection in this trial to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia? I mean, is there any way that comes up?

JOHNSON: Well, quite the opposite, Rachel. Prosecutor⁷ Greg Andres said in pretrial proceedings⁹ that it's unlikely any government witness will actually use the word Russia. The heart of the government's case, the government's witness list, includes accountants, people familiar with Paul Manafort's money and other people connected to how he spent that money. Expect to hear about the purchase of expensive rugs, New York Yankees tickets, real estate and expect to hear from Manafort's former right hand man, Rick Gates, who was charged alongside Manafort and later pled guilty and flipped¹¹. Looming¹² over this whole thing, though, is whether Manafort has any information about Russia and the Trump campaign. Remember; Manafort did attend that Trump Tower meeting in June 2016. So far, no sign that he's going to flip¹⁰.

MARTIN: Do we know anything about his defense¹³ strategy? Are his lawyers indicating what arguments they're going to try to make?

JOHNSON: They have not previewed their strategy too much. They filed a lot of motions in this case to delay the trial - to the mandate¹⁴ of the special counsel, and they've lost almost all of those motions. We do know Manafort's lead lawyer, Kevin Downing, has said from the start that Manafort's innocent, there was no collusion with Russia. And the defense seems to be arguing that but for Manafort's work on this Trump campaign, he never would have been charged with a crime.

MARTIN: So you are, I understand, across the street from the courthouse right now where you've set up your makeshift studio. Are there lines forming to get in there?

JOHNSON: A line did start forming shortly after 6 a.m. And what we're expecting is that the judge is going to hear some pretrial arguments about limiting evidence in the case. And then later this morning, he's going to start questioning prospective¹⁵ jurors. He wants 12 jurors and four alternate, 16 in all. These prospective jurors have already filled out a written questionnaire. The judge is going to follow up, make sure they can be fair and impartial¹⁶. And the judge in this case, T.S. Ellis, wants this process to move quickly. He's told the jury pool the whole case will last no more than three weeks.

MARTIN: So it's interesting to kind of think how President Trump has changed his rhetoric¹⁷ on all of this. I mean, he has been consistent about attacking the special counsel to be sure, from the very beginning calling it a witch hunt. He's even gotten his national security adviser¹⁸, John Bolton, to describe it as a witch hunt. At the same time, though, President Trump has been distancing himself from Paul Manafort recently, right?

JOHNSON: Yeah. The president's lead lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said this week if Manafort - and that Manafort and Trump didn't have any intimate business dealings at all. Giuliani also said that Manafort had no incriminating information against the president. Giuliani said they can squeeze Paul Manafort, but he doesn't have anything. Now, Trump has also said that Paul Manafort is a good guy being treated brutally¹⁹ by the government. There is a chance that Manafort could decide to cooperate with investigators²⁰ down the line. Remember; he's 69 years old. If he's convicted of these charges, it could be a virtual life sentence in prison for him.

MARTIN: All right. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson covering the beginning of Paul Manafort's trial. He is, of course, the former campaign chairman for the Donald Trump presidential campaign. Hey, Carrie, thanks so much.

JOHNSON: My pleasure, thank you.

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 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 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

4 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。

5 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

7 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。

8 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。

9 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

10 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

11 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

12 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

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 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

15 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

16 impartial   

adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的

参考例句：

• He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。
• Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。

17 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

18 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

19 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

20 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》