美国国家公共电台 NPR Andrew McCabe, Ex-FBI Deputy, Describes 'Remarkable' Number Of Trump-Russia Contacts

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

More than 20 years ago, Andrew McCabe was a newly hired agent at the FBI. He investigated Russian organized crime groups in New York. Decades later, as acting¹ FBI director, his investigations³ centered on a similar theme.

ANDREW MCCABE: The fact that I kind of finished my career on the same footing that I began it - looking at the pernicious influence of Russian money on American life and now, indeed, American politics - is just kind of a framing device that I couldn't have thought up if I was writing it in a novel.

MARTIN: Andrew McCabe has written a memoir⁴ of his experience. It's titled "The Threat," and a lot of it focuses on his final years at the FBI. He was deputy director of the agency under James Comey. He was present when Comey made controversial decisions about the investigation² into Hillary Clinton's emails. He was also involved as the agency investigated Russia's involvement in President Trump⁵'s election. And he told Steve Inskeep what happened next.

STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE⁶: In 2017, President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. McCabe became acting director. And he talked of that experience with two of us, meeting with NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson and me in our studios. He recalled that after Comey's firing, he was quickly summoned to the White House.

Did the president, in your mind, ask you for loyalty⁷ in the way we have heard that he asked James Comey for loyalty?

MCCABE: Not in the exact way that he asked James Comey. He asked Director Comey straight up, you know, I need somebody who's loyal. And so he did not use those words with me. But what he said to me - I mean, seconds after walking into the office and shaking his hand - he said, I heard you were a part of the resistance. You were one of those people who didn't agree with Director Comey and the decisions he made.

And I said, no sir, that's not true. I said, I've worked very closely with Jim Comey. I made all of those decisions last summer and in the Clinton case with Jim, and so I - that's not true. It was clearly not the answer he was looking for.

INSKEEP: Do you think that was a leading question, he was hoping that you would pledge loyalty in some way?

MCCABE: I - the way I see it now, Steve, I think that was his kind of saying, are you with us or are you against us? Are you on my team or are you on the other team? And he came back to that theme the next morning in our phone call, the next afternoon in our second meeting - that was just incredibly troubling.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Mr. McCabe, your description of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein during this period is anything but cool in the book. You talk about him being glassy eyed and in a panic at one point. What, in your assessment⁸, was going through Rod Rosenstein's mind? And what did that tell you about the state of affairs in the country?

MCCABE: Well, I can't tell you what was in Rod's mind, but I can tell you that it was such an incredibly tumultuous time. I can't overstress the tension and the confusion and just how upside down the world was for all of us at that moment.

INSKEEP: This was the period in which there were people in the Justice Department meeting to discuss whether the 25th Amendment⁹ should be invoked¹⁰?

MCCABE: Well, I don't know about that, Steve. The 25th Amendment was something that Rod brought up with me, in front of others, in a few of these meetings. He mentioned it as a way of, I think, commenting on, like, one - this is, you know, something that potentially could be considered. I just want to be clear though, at no time did I ever perceive that there was a legitimate¹¹ effort underway by Rod or anybody else to remove the president under the 25th Amendment or in any other way.

JOHNSON: What about wearing a wire?

MCCABE: The comments about wearing the wire Rod raised with me, again, multiple times in front of other people. I did not perceive them at any moment to be made in jest or as a joke or sarcastically¹². He raised it as a way that we could potentially collect evidence about the president's intent in firing Jim Comey.

INSKEEP: This was wearing - having people wear a wire while speaking with the president of the United States?

MCCABE: Not people...

INSKEEP: Rosenstein himself.

MCCABE: ...Rosenstein himself wearing a wire. I was taken aback by the offer. I told him that I would consider it. I would discuss it with the investigative team, and I'd let him know. I did talk to my attorneys back at FBI headquarters about it. We all agreed it was a horrible idea, and it was not something that we would pursue.

So while the deputy attorney general says he never authorized¹³ anyone to wear a wire, that is true. He never authorized it because we never asked him for that authorization¹⁴.

INSKEEP: Meaning that his seeming denial of this story is not actually a denial. You don't think he denied anything you just said?

MCCABE: I don't think he can.

INSKEEP: Of the many acts that we could explore during your time as acting director, there is an occasion you describe in which agents are sent to brief the president on a matter relating to Russia. There were a couple of Russian dachas or houses that had been closed in the United States - diplomatic facilities that had supposedly been used for espionage¹⁵. There was a question about whether to reopen them. You sent some guys over to say what they knew. What happened in that briefing?

MCCABE: I relate that briefing in the book because I think it's such a clear example of the challenge of imparting intelligence to this president. We sent a briefer - I sent a briefer and a senior executive over to the White House to participate in that briefing. What I found out from that senior executive when they returned to FBI headquarters to let me know how things had gone was that they had gone pretty much completely off the rails from the very beginning. The president kind of went off on a - a diatribe¹⁶ on completely unrelated issues...

INSKEEP: Changed the subject to North Korea, if I'm not mistaken.

MCCABE: He did. He did. He changed the subject to North Korea and opined - well, he shared his belief that North Korea had not actually launched the missiles they had recently launched before that briefing - didn't believe they had the capacity to do so, and shared that he thought that because he had been told that by Vladimir Putin.

INSKEEP: Vladimir Putin told him that U.S. intelligence was wrong, it was all a hoax¹⁷?

MCCABE: Well, all I can tell you is that's what he told the people at the briefing.

INSKEEP: Do you have any idea how it was that President Putin imparted that information to President Trump?

MCCABE: I do not. I do know that the briefers from other intelligence agencies shared with the president - on that occasion - that that assessment was contrary to all of our intelligence. And he - that's when he mentioned that he believed what Putin had to say.

INSKEEP: What did you think about when you learned this?

MCCABE: I just - it's a head-spinning moment, Steve. But this is - this is beyond just getting the attention of a - of a busy and maybe distracted president. This is, how do we impart wisdom and knowledge and the best of our intelligence assessments¹⁸ to someone who chooses to believe our adversaries¹⁹ over our intelligence professionals?

INSKEEP: Andrew McCabe, former deputy director and acting director of the FBI. He's written a book about his experience. He was fired from his job, accused of lacking candor²⁰ about interactions with the media. And elsewhere in today's program, we question McCabe about the investigation into his actions.

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

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 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

4 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

10 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

12 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

13 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

14 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

15 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

16 diatribe   

n.抨击，抨击性演说

参考例句：

• He launched a diatribe against the younger generation.他对年轻一代发起了长篇抨击。
• The book is a diatribe against the academic left.这本书对学术左派进行了长时间的谩骂。

17 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

18 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

19 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

20 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。