美国国家公共电台 NPR--Closing arguments resume in the Oath Keepers Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy trial

Closing arguments resume in the Oath Keepers Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy¹ trial

Transcript²

Jurors continue to hear closing arguments in the trial of Steward³ Rhodes and four other members of the far-right militia⁴, charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 attack.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Closing arguments resume today in the January 6 seditious conspiracy trial against Oath Keepers founder⁵ Stewart Rhodes and four other defendants⁶. They're accused of plotting to use force to prevent Joe Biden from taking office. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas has been covering the trial. Ryan, closing arguments began on Friday with the government. How did prosecutors⁷ try to sum up things for the jury?

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE⁸: Well, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy presented for the government, and she spoke⁹ for about two hours. And she began her closing arguments with a quote from Rhodes himself, a message that Rhodes had sent just two days after the 2020 election, and in that message, Rhodes said, quote, "we're not getting through this without a civil war. Prepare your mind, body and spirit."

And Rakoczy said, look, jury - here's Rhodes calling for civil war to oppose the results of the election. And then she walked the jury back through what she called a mountain of evidence - so text messages, videos, testimony¹⁰ that they've seen over the past seven weeks that includes evidence of an armed quick reaction force waiting on standby on January 6 at a hotel in Virginia to ferry guns into D.C. if necessary. It includes Oath Keepers, dressed in tactical gear, forcing their way into the Capitol on January 6. And it includes a lot of inflammatory texts and recordings¹¹ with talk of violence and war and fighting to keep Trump¹² in power. And Rakoczy argued that all of this shows that these five defendants conspired¹³ to disrupt, by any means necessary, including force, the peaceful transfer of power.

MART?NEZ: OK, what about the defense¹⁴? What did they say in closing?

LUCAS: Well, in his closing argument, Rhodes' attorney James Bright told jurors that he made a point over the course of this trial of asking every witness that he questioned three questions. Was there a plan to storm the Capitol? Was there a plan to breach¹⁵ the rotunda¹⁶? And was there a plan to stop the election certification? And he said that there have been about 50 witnesses in the case, and not a single one testified that there was a plan.

Bright acknowledged that Rhodes and his co-defendants did use a lot of hot talk, what Bright called horribly heated rhetoric¹⁷ and bombast¹⁸. And Bright said he himself doesn't agree with that. But he said venting¹⁹ is not a meeting of the minds. Expressing hatred²⁰, expressing anger isn't a meeting of the minds. And with no concrete plan to storm the Capitol or disrupt Congress' certification of the vote, he said there can't be a seditious conspiracy. Rhodes himself did not enter the Capitol on January 6, Bright said. Rhodes didn't fight police. So he asked the jury what, in fact, did Rhodes really do? And then he urged the jury, as he closed up, to find Rhodes not guilty on all counts.

MART?NEZ: All counts. So what else are Rhodes and the others charged with?

LUCAS: Well, the key charge here really is seditious conspiracy. The government rarely brings that charge, and it carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. So it is a big deal. But there are other charges, yes. There's - they're also charged with two other conspiracy counts related to disrupting Congress on January 6, as well as obstruction²¹. And then some of them also face other charges, like destruction of evidence, civil disorder²², destruction of government property.

MART?NEZ: All right. What happens today?

LUCAS: Well, we'll hear closing arguments from attorneys for the three remaining defendants. Then the government will have one more opportunity to talk to the jury since the burden of proof is on its shoulders. And then the evidence and the fate of these five defendants goes to the jury, which after hearing testimony for about seven weeks will finally be able to begin their deliberations.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Ryan Lucas. Thanks, Ryan.

LUCAS: Thank you.

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 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

4 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

16 rotunda   

n.圆形建筑物；圆厅

参考例句：

• The Capitol at Washington has a large rotunda.华盛顿的国会大厦有一圆形大厅。
• The rotunda was almost deserted today,dotted with just a few tourists.圆形大厅今天几乎没有多少人，只零星散布着几个游客。

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 bombast   

n.高调，夸大之辞

参考例句：

• There was no bombast or conceit in his speech.他的演讲并没有夸大其词和自吹自擂。
• Yasha realized that Wolsky's bombast was unnecessary.雅夏看出沃尔斯基是在无中生有地吹嘘。

19 venting   

消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风

参考例句：

• But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

20 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

21 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

22 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。