纽约时报 两名高级官员证实通乌电话确实欠妥(1)

Two Top Officials Testify Trump¹ Call Was Inappropriate; One ‘Couldn’t Believe’ it

两名高级官员证实那通电话确实欠妥；一人甚至表示“简直难以置信”

By Nicholas Fandos and Michael D. Shear²

文/尼古拉斯·凡多斯，迈克尔·D·希尔

Two White House national security officials testified before the House’s impeachment³ inquiry⁴ on Tuesday

周二，两名白宫的国家安全官员在众议院的弹劾调查上作证，

that President Trump’s request to Ukraine’s president to investigate Democratic rivals was inappropriate,

表明特朗普总统要求乌克兰总统调查其民主党对手有失妥当，

and one of them said it validated⁵ his “worst fear” that American policy toward that country would veer⁶ off course.

其中一人还表示，他“最担心”的是美国对乌克兰的政策会偏离正轨，特朗普的举措恰好印证了他的这一担忧。

Hours later, two more witnesses — another former White House national security official and a former top American diplomat⁷ —charted a more careful course

几个小时后，另外两名证人——其中一名也是前白宫国家安全官员，另一名为美国前高级外交官——的姿态则更为谨慎，

but said under oath that the president’s requests on a July 25 phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine

但二人均宣誓说，总统在7月25日与乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基的通话中提出的要求

were not in line with American national security goals.

有违美国的国家安全目标。

The new accounts came as the House Intelligence Committee opened a packed week of testimony⁸,

感恩节假期即将来临，为此，众议院情报委员会本周的听证安排颇为紧凑，

with nine witnesses scheduled to answer questions in public before the House leaves for Thanksgiving.

将有9名证人公开回答问题。

Democrats⁹ used Tuesday’s back-to-back hearings to move the focus of their growing case to the White House

随着本案日益升温，就在周二一个证人接一个证人上台作证之际，民主党人趁势将案件的焦点转向白宫，

and back to the July phone call they see as the centerpiece of an abuse of power by Mr. Trump.

回到了7月份的那通电话上，在他们看来，这通电话就是特朗普滥用职权最典型的代表。

They say he used his office to try to obtain a political advantage from a foreign power.

他们称，特朗普试图利用职务之便，借助外国势力攫取政治利益。

Taking their cues from the White House,

在白宫的指示下，

Republicans moved aggressively to try to undercut the day’s lead witness,

共和党人迅速采取行动，试图妨碍当天的主要证人——

Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the National Security Council’s Ukraine expert.

国家安全委员会乌克兰问题专家亚历山大·S·文德曼中校作证。

They tried to raise questions about Colonel Vindman’s loyalty¹⁰ to the United States,

他们试图质疑文德曼上校对国家的忠诚，

and sought to portray¹¹ the concerns expressed by Colonel Vindman and an aide to Vice¹² President Mike Pence

还试图表明，文德曼中校和副总统迈克·彭斯的助手提出的担忧

as merely the opinions of unelected, and even unreliable, bureaucrats¹³ second-guessing the president of the United States.

不过是选举失败甚至都靠不住的官僚揣测美国总统的点评。

Colonel Vindman responded by invoking¹⁴ his sense of duty as an American and an officer

对此，文德曼中校援引他作为一名美国人以及作为一名军官的责任感，

to explain why he was so alarmed by Mr. Trump’s request that he reported his concerns to White House lawyers.

解释了他为何对特朗普的要求担忧到向白宫律师汇报的地步。

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” said Colonel Vindman,

“我简直不敢相信会听到他说出那样的话，”文德曼中校说。

an Iraq war combat veteran who testified in his deep-blue Army dress uniform covered with military ribbons.

身为参加过伊拉克战争的老兵的他当天身着深蓝色军服，身上挂满了勋章。

“It was probably an element of shock — that maybe, in certain regards, my worst fear of how our Ukraine policy could play out was playing out,

“当时，我可能有点太惊愕了——我很担心我们的对乌政策会如何结局，担心这件事可能对我们的国家安全产生重大影响，

and how this was likely to have significant implications for U.S. national security.”

可能，从一定程度来说，是我对这个问题最深切的担忧在作祟吧。”

Sitting beside him during the morning’s hearing, Jennifer Williams, a diplomat serving on Mr. Pence’s national security staff,

上午的听证会上，坐在他旁边的彭斯国家安全团队外交官珍妮弗·威廉姆斯

reiterated¹⁵ that she found Mr. Trump’s phone call with Mr. Zelensky “unusual and inappropriate.”

也重申了自己的意见，表明特朗普与泽伦斯基的通话“非同寻常，也不合适”。

She said she was struck that Mr. Trump was pressing a foreign leader about a personal domestic political issue,

她说，尽管她当时并没有表示出任何担忧，说话也比较谨慎，

though she did not report any concerns at the time and spoke¹⁶ in more reserved terms.

特朗普因为个人在国内的政治问题向外国领导人施压的做法还是令她大感意外。

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 shear   

n.修剪，剪下的东西，羊的一岁；vt.剪掉，割，剥夺；vi.修剪，切割，剥夺，穿越

参考例句：

• Every spring they shear off the sheep's wool and sell it.每年春天他们都要剪下羊毛去卖。
• In the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.在赫伯里兹，剪羊毛的时间比其他任何地方都要晚。

3 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

5 validated   

v.证实( validate的过去式和过去分词 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Time validated our suspicion. 时间证实了我们的怀疑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The decade of history since 1927 had richly validated their thesis. 1927年以来的十年的历史，充分证明了他们的论点。 来自辞典例句

6 veer   

vt.转向，顺时针转，改变；n.转向

参考例句：

• He is unlikely to veer from his boss's strongly held views.他不可能背离他老板的强硬立场。
• If you fall asleep while driving,you'll probably veer off the road.假如你开车时打瞌睡，可能会驶离道路。

7 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。

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

12 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

13 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

14 invoking   

v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• You can customise the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can customize the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自辞典例句

15 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。