美国国家公共电台 NPR Michael Flynn Asks For No Prison Time, Cites Help He Gave Special Counsel

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Michael Flynn is asking for no prison time. That is a request made by lawyers for the former national security adviser¹. In 2016, Flynn was a retired² general passionately³ supporting Donald Trump⁴ for president. He led chants of lock her up regarding Hillary Clinton on live TV at the Republican convention. In 2017, he served as national security adviser for 24 days. He later pleaded guilty about, a year ago, to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians. So what's the case not to lock him up? NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is here. Hi there, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Steve.

INKSEEP: What does the court filings say from Flynn's lawyers?

JOHNSON: Basically, Michael Flynn's lawyers say he's a good man who made a bad choice. They talk about how Flynn has 33 years of military service, including five years in combat zones, that he received a lot of commendations and that once he made a bad choice, he tried to make it right, that he's been cooperating extensively with the special counsel, 19 meetings, over 62 hours, telling them firsthand details about the term transition, contacts with Russians and a whole bunch of other stuff.

INKSEEP: You said made a bad choice. In this sentencing document, is Flynn taking full responsibility for that choice to lie to the FBI?

JOHNSON: You know, the lawyers say he is taking responsibility for making a bad decision and breaking the law, but then they go on to cite a couple of very interesting paragraphs - the circumstances surrounding his January 27 interview with two FBI agents in the White House. The lawyers talk about how then-FBI Deputy Director Andy McCabe called Flynn up on the phone. They were chatting. McCabe said, listen; we got to ask you some questions about Russian contacts. I'm going to send some agents over there. You can have a lawyer, but it'll be complicated and take time. And Flynn says, no, no, just send them over. And so Flynn, in a very relaxed way, offers to give these FBI agents a tour of the White House, then talks to them, and in the course of that interview, he lied about his contacts with the then-Russian ambassador in late 2016 in the course of the term transition.

INKSEEP: Are they saying that by waving off a lawyer, he somehow innocently was trapped into lying? Is that where they're going with this?

JOHNSON: The lawyers don't go so far as to mount some kind of entrapment⁶ case, but they are offering some suggestions if the judge who's ultimately going to sentence Mike Flynn next week wants to grab at those. Of course, President Trump and some of his allies have been beating up on the FBI since 2016. Remember; the FBI deputy director, Andy McCabe, was fired by the Trump administration, as was another agent who actually participated in Lynn's questioning, Peter Strzok. So if the judge wants to go there, this may come up at the sentencing next week.

INKSEEP: Now, we should note something else that you said is in that document - 33 years of military service. This is something that has been noticed by the prosecutors⁷ also. I believe there was a document from the prosecutors the other day where they said that Flynn was different than a lot of the other people or even every other person that they've had to deal with in that he has so many years of meritorious⁸ service.

JOHNSON: Absolutely. Flynn has a pretty sterling⁹ government record before this bad incident and that although two people prosecuted¹⁰ by the special counsel team for lying to the FBI have served some prison time - 30 days or 14 days in the case of George Papadopoulos - Michael Flynn truly cooperated with authorities. And authorities say they'd be OK if he served little or no prison time. He's asking for probation¹¹.

INKSEEP: One other Michael to ask about - Michael Cohen, the president's former lawyer. He's sentenced today. He's likely to get some jail time?

JOHNSON: Very different situation. Prosecutors in New York say he deserves substantial prison time, that he did not come clean with them.

INKSEEP: Carrie, thanks for the update, appreciate it.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

INKSEEP: That's NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAN THE AUTOMATOR'S "BALL TIL YOU FALL")

1 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。

2 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。

3 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

4 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。

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 entrapment   

n.（非法）诱捕，诱人犯罪；诱使犯罪

参考例句：

• The most common structural targets associated with oil entrapment are anticlines and faults. 与储油圈闭有关的最一般的构造目标是背斜和断层。 来自辞典例句
• The purely mechanical effect of glandular trichome exudates is the entrapment and immobilization of small arthropods. 具腺毛状体分泌物的纯机械作用是诱捕和粘住小的昆虫。 来自辞典例句

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 meritorious   

adj.值得赞赏的

参考例句：

• He wrote a meritorious theme about his visit to the cotton mill.他写了一篇关于参观棉纺织厂的有价值的论文。
• He was praised for his meritorious service.他由于出色地工作而受到称赞。

9 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

10 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

11 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。