美国国家公共电台 NPR After A Day Of Legal Shock And Awe, What's Next For The Mueller Investigation?

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Five months into his mandate¹, Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller revealed his first charges yesterday. Donald Trump²'s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted³ along with his longtime business partner. And former foreign policy adviser⁴ George Papadopoulos made a guilty plea. We have still not heard from Mueller himself, so it's not yet clear where the investigation⁵ goes next. Let's bring in NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Hey there, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁶: Hi, David.

GREENE: So you've been reading these court papers. Are you seeing any clues about what happens now?

JOHNSON: There are some clues. One, I think, involves the Foreign Agents Registration⁷ Act. Now, Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman and his deputy, Rick Gates, were charged with failing to register as agents of a foreign government and making false statements about that. The grand jury indictment⁸ accuses them of working on behalf of Ukraine but telling the Justice Department that they weren't doing that. Now, these charges are controversial because the FARA law is rarely enforced. And in fact, Kevin Downing, a lawyer for Manafort, said it was only used six times since 1966 with one conviction.

GREENE: One conviction in - what is it? - like, 50 years?

JOHNSON: In 50 years, yeah. So this is a bit novel and unusual. But the reaction from some people on Capitol Hill has been surprising. Republican Charles Grassley from Iowa, the chairman of the judiciary committee in the Senate, has said it's really good to see the Justice Department enforcing the law and that it's a dirty little secret that a lot of people have not been registering as foreign agents, both Democrats⁹ and Republicans, for some time.

Now, Grassley has done some oversight¹⁰ work on this, and he pointed¹¹ out that two companies were working with Manafort and Gates. In fact, just yesterday Tony Podesta, a top Democratic lobbyist, announced he was leaving his company in the shadow of this investigation. And, you know, at least one other adviser with ties to the Trump campaign, retired¹² General Mike Flynn, has belatedly filed a disclosure this year under the Foreign Agent Registration Act. So stay tuned¹³ on that.

GREENE: OK. So these questions about registering as a foreign agent - that's one thing. But we have Manafort, the former campaign chairman - I mean, he's pleading not guilty to these charges. But he's certainly facing a lot of pressure. Could he somehow turn into a government witness that might lead this investigation elsewhere?

JOHNSON: Paul Manafort has steadfastly¹⁴ denied wrongdoing. People close to him have told me he doesn't believe he has anything to give up on President Trump or anybody in the White House. That said, the pressure on him has been intense ever since that July surprise FBI raid of his residence in Virginia while he was sound asleep. And it's only getting worse. The indictment unsealed yesterday suggests the feds are not finished squeezing Paul Manafort. The authorities want to seize some real estate he owns in New York and Virginia at a time when he's already strapped¹⁵ for cash.

And the indictment against against Manafort doesn't refer to contacts between him and Russians with close ties to Vladimir Putin, even though a lot of media reports suggest he emailed with a longtime Ukrainian client in Putin's inner circle to offer private briefings on the election. So Mueller may know more than he put in that indictment yesterday. There may be room to add charges against Manafort moving forward.

GREENE: OK. But up until this point - I mean, yesterday the White House is still calling this investigation a witch hunt. And the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, says there is no collusion. But we have this once-foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, his guilty plea - that whole situation seems to be raising questions about possible collusion and moving in that direction. Does it not?

JOHNSON: I think it opens a new door. I think it opens a new door for the work of the special counsel and the people involved on these issues in the Trump campaign. Now, Papadopoulos hasn't told us all he knows, but the investigators¹⁶ have revealed in court papers that he's been talking to them since he was secretly arrested at Dulles airport in July. And he's been meeting with them and telling them things. His defense¹⁷ lawyers say they are not commenting on his behalf for now. But they say at some point in the future, they are going to want to talk about George Papadopoulos's involvement. They look forward to telling all the details of his story at that time.

And he may be offering evidence against others still under investigation. We just don't know exactly what he's saying, in part because prosecutors¹⁸ wanted to keep his guilty plea secret for some time because they called him a proactive cooperator and they suggested that to let other people under investigation or other people of interest know that he was working with the Mueller team might chill their ability to interview witnesses and subjects of this investigation since July - from July to October, when the guilty plea was unsealed.

GREENE: Well - and I got to ask you about Robert Mueller's future. I mean, there are some Republicans now who are calling for him to resign in the wake of these charges.

JOHNSON: Yeah. In fact, there's been a bill introduced in Congress - or at least some measure introduced in Congress that would starve Mueller's team of the funds it needs to continue this investigation. But for now, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says there's no intention or plan to make any changes with respect to special counsel Mueller. And a Trump lawyer told CNN that Trump has not talked about pardoning anybody involved in this investigation. That said, the pressure's on the White House now. And we'll have to watch closely to see what happens next.

GREENE: Watch closely because a lot of developments could come - we'll see where this goes.

NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson - Carrie, thanks.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

1 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。

2 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。

3 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

4 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。

5 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。

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 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

8 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

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 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

13 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 steadfastly   

adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝

参考例句：

• So he sat, with a steadfastly vacant gaze, pausing in his work. 他就像这样坐着，停止了工作，直勾勾地瞪着眼。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• Defarge and his wife looked steadfastly at one another. 德伐日和他的妻子彼此凝视了一会儿。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

15 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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》

17 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。

18 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。