VOA慢速英语2018--特朗普前助手承认犯有罪行

Trump¹'s Former Aides Admitted, Convicted of Crimes

President Donald Trump’s former lawyer has told a court in New York that he is guilty of campaign-finance violations³ and other charges. Michael Cohen said he was guilty of eight crimes in all, including not paying taxes and making a false statement to a financial institution.

In entering the plea, Cohen said he worked with an unnamed candidate to illegally buy the silence of two women. The payment dates and amounts are the same as those claimed by Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal who say they had sexual relationships with Trump.

Cohen was the president’s personal lawyer during the 2016 election. He also represented the Trump Organization for many years.

Also Tuesday, a court in Virginia found Trump’s 2016 election campaign chairman Paul Manafort, guilty of eight financial crimes.

That finding represents the first trial victory of the special counsel investigation⁴ into the president's assistants. Paul Manafort joined the Trump campaign for president in March 2016. He served as chairman of the campaign from June to August 2016.

Former lawyer admitted guilt²

Under an agreement with federal prosecutors⁵ in New York, Cohen did not name the two women or the candidate. He told the court that he worked with a “candidate for federal office” to pay two women to keep their stories of alleged⁷ affairs from becoming public during the 2016 election.

The amounts of money and the dates suggest the payments were made to porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. The two women said after the election that they had affairs with Trump, which he has denied. Cohen also admitted guilt to avoiding paying taxes and lying to banks.

Investigators⁸ from the U.S. Special Counsel’s office came across some of the evidence against Cohen while looking into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The office alerted federal prosecutors in New York. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation then seized records from Cohen’s hotel room, home and office.

Cohen had been a trusted member of the Trump Organization. But Cohen’s legal team recently released an audio recording⁹ Cohen made of Trump reportedly discussing one of the payments.

Former campaign chief guilty of financial crimes

Paul Manafort was found guilty of creating false tax documents about tens of millions of dollars he earned from work in Ukraine. He was also convicted of fraud for lying to banks to get millions of dollars in loans. Prosecutors said, overall, Manafort avoided paying more than $16 million in taxes over several years.

Manafort faces another trial later this year on charges of other financial crimes and conspiracy¹⁰ against the U.S. He is accused of lying and acting¹¹ as an unregistered foreign agent for Ukrainian interests. He is also accused of witness interference in that case.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

plea - n. a statement in which a person says that he or she is guilty of a particular crime

allege⁶ - v. to state without definite proof that someone has done something wrong or illegal

alert - v. to make (someone) aware of something

convict - v. to prove that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law

fraud - n. the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person

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 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 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。

5 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。

6 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 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》

9 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

10 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。

11 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。