美国国家公共电台 NPR Ex-Trump Aide Papadopoulos, 1st Charged In Russia Probe, Sentenced To 14 Days

Ex-Trump¹ Aide Papadopoulos, 1st Charged In Russia Probe, Sentenced To 14 Days

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Today brought a milestone³ in the Russia investigation⁴. A federal judge in Washington handed down a sentence for George Papadopoulos. He was the first person to plead guilty to charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. That was back in October of last year. And since then, Papadopoulos has been cooperating with the government.

NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson was in the courtroom today for this and joins us now. Hi, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: So what is Papadopoulos' punishment?

JOHNSON: It's 14 days in prison. That is more than what he wanted, which is probation⁶, but far less than the six-month maximum sentence he faced under the guidelines. The judge, Randy Moss⁷, said he believed Papadopoulos put his self-interest before the interest of the nation.

But he also said Papadopoulos seemed remorseful⁸. He called the public shaming that Papadopoulos has experienced nearly unbearable⁹, and he said he thought having to go to prison at all will make a strong impression on this defendant¹⁰ for the rest of his life. Papadopoulos for his part seemed to be pretty relieved. He'll be able to surrender on his own. He left court today with his wife and his parents. Eventually, he said, he wants to move to Los Angeles.

SHAPIRO: What was the scene like in that courtroom on this momentous¹¹ day?

JOHNSON: Yeah, Papadopoulos was fidgeting before the hearing, playing with his fingers and his hands. His eyes looked puffy. His wife looked very nervous. He stood up in court and told the judge, I made a terrible mistake for which I have paid dearly. He said his entire life was turned upside down. He wants a second chance.

But he also wants to signal to other witnesses that this investigation has global implications and that the truth matters. Now, the government team led by a veteran public corruption¹² prosecutor¹³ named Andrew Goldstein was pretty tough in court today, Ari. They wanted to see this man get some prison time.

They said he deliberately¹⁴ and repeatedly lied to the FBI about the investigation into Russian interference in the election. And they said he set back the investigation by not coming clean for six months. They said his motives¹⁵ were calculated to show loyalty¹⁶ to the president and position himself for a big job in the Trump administration, which of course he never got.

SHAPIRO: Remind us where he fits into the larger Russia story.

JOHNSON: This guy was one of a number of young junior aides brought in to the campaign when Trump was under pressure to reveal his foreign policy team. And he came to public attention by bragging¹⁷ about his ties to the campaign in London. He began to get offers there from Russian operatives. One of them told him he had dirt on Hillary Clinton or the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton.

His lawyer says George Papadopoulos was simply unsophisticated, naive¹⁸ and foolish. He didn't realize he was getting worked by a pro², by a spy. But George Papadopoulos also said this idea of advancing relations with Russia was a true Trump campaign goal and that Donald Trump as a candidate and now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions both seemed receptive to the idea of meeting with Russians in March 2016 when Papadopoulos brought this up.

Of course, Ari, one night Papadopoulos got drunk in a pub with an Australian diplomat¹⁹, started blabbing all about this. The Australian told his government, which told the U.S. and thus launched this major counterintelligence investigation.

SHAPIRO: So he's been cooperating with investigators²⁰ as part of his plea deal. Is there any sense of what information he might have given them?

JOHNSON: There is - there are some hints. His lawyer - George Papadopoulos' lawyer, Tom Breen, said he did share information about that big foreign policy meeting with candidate Trump and now-Attorney General Sessions. And the lawyer said this was an unusual case because some of the people he was dishing about in a meeting with the FBI had their photos on the wall of the FBI building. That's now-President Trump and now-Attorney General Sessions.

His lawyer said that basically Papadopoulos was just parroting what President Trump said - that this investigation was a witch hunt and fake news. His lawyer said the president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could. The judge of course found otherwise and sentenced Papadopoulos to some prison time today.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. 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 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

4 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。

5 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。

6 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

7 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

8 remorseful   

adj.悔恨的

参考例句：

• He represented to the court that the accused was very remorseful.他代被告向法庭陈情说被告十分懊悔。
• The minister well knew--subtle,but remorseful hypocrite that he was!牧师深知这一切——他是一个多么难以捉摸又懊悔不迭的伪君子啊！

9 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

10 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。

11 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

12 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。

13 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。

14 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

15 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

16 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

17 bragging   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

• He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
• Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

18 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

19 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

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》