美国国家公共电台 NPR--Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization ex-CFO, pleads guilty to 15 felony charges

Allen Weisselberg, Trump¹ Organization ex-CFO, pleads guilty to 15 felony charges

Transcript²

Weisselberg pleaded guilty to counts ranging from grand larceny³ to falsifying business records, becoming the latest person close to Donald Trump to plead guilty or be convicted at trial of a felony.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Where does the investigation⁴ of Donald Trump's business go next? The Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer pleaded guilty to 15 felonies. He'll get a five-month jail term. In exchange for that relatively⁵ short term, Allen Weisselberg has agreed to testify and tell the truth when former President Donald Trump's business is on trial in criminal court. NPR's Andrea Bernstein has been covering the proceeding⁷.

Hey, good morning.

ANDREA BERNSTEIN, BYLINE⁸: Good morning.

INSKEEP: I guess we should clarify, this is part of the investigation of Donald Trump's business, which is separate from the investigation of his handling of classified material, January 6 and all the other investigations⁹ of the former president. What was the proceeding like?

BERNSTEIN: So in some ways, it was dry. New York Judge Juan Merchan read out the charges, and he asked Weisselberg if he committed these crimes. And in each case Weisselberg said, yes, Your Honor, in a sometimes-inaudible voice. There was no sudden finger-pointing at Donald Trump, which did happen, for example, at the guilty plea of another former Trump executive, Michael Cohen. And that was when Cohen said he committed crimes at the direction of a candidate for office, Trump, and when prosecutors¹⁰ called Trump Individual-1. None of that yesterday. It was pro⁶ forma, and it was over in an hour.

INSKEEP: But does it point to something a little bit less predictable?

BERNSTEIN: Yeah. It wasn't the scene; it was the moment that was dramatic. After years of investigations, there was someone at the very top, Allen Weisselberg, Donald Trump's business alter ego¹¹, saying, I committed serious crimes. For example, the judge asked, did he, Allen Weisselberg, from 2005 to June 30, 2021, engage in a scheme to defraud¹²? For almost 16 years, including while Trump was president, at the top of the government, Weisselberg was defrauding¹³. And Weisselberg said yes, he did. He committed crimes from conspiracy¹⁴ to fraud to grand larceny to falsifying business records. Weisselberg admitted to it all, agreed to serve the five months, pay nearly $2 million in penalties and back taxes and testify at the forthcoming trial of Donald Trump's company.

INSKEEP: Although, as you point out, he didn't go out of his way to denounce Donald Trump while pleading guilty. Is it likely that his testimony¹⁵ would some way implicate¹⁶ Trump?

BERNSTEIN: Well, at one point, prosecutors were hopeful that Weisselberg would give them testimony that would tell them about Donald Trump's intent. The case against his business is simpler. In New York, in order for Trump's business to be convicted of a crime, all prosecutors need to show is that high-level executives committed crimes. The fact of Weisselberg's plea already says that, basically. Even so, the Trump Organization is pleading not guilty and is set to go to trial on October 24. But just having Weisselberg say out loud what he did at the former's company and while his boss was president - that is something. And remember, the whole time he was in office, Trump maintained ownership of his company, maintained an eye on his company - unprecedented¹⁷. The details that we learn at trial about Trump's business and Weisselberg's crimes there could be embarrassing for Trump.

INSKEEP: Although, let's just be clear. This is a forthcoming trial of the company, of the corporate¹⁸ entity¹⁹, not of the person who personified the company. So Weisselberg will testify in some way. Does that mean that he is cooperating with prosecutors to help them develop further evidence?

BERNSTEIN: Not in the way they originally wanted. Way back before Weisselberg and Trump's company were indicted²⁰, there were indications the DA was pressuring Weisselberg to flip²¹ and to describe his boss Donald Trump's intent. Was he involved in the scheme? What did he say to Weisselberg? What'd Weisselberg see him do? But Weisselberg never agreed to that, and those questions remained unanswered.

INSKEEP: Can you update us on the Manhattan DA's investigation of Donald Trump himself, a criminal investigation?

BERNSTEIN: So that investigation is officially still ongoing²². But it's unclear where new evidence is going to come from. I think what we want to look towards is the civil case that the New York attorney general, Letitia James, is bringing. So this obviously doesn't bring jail time, but she is looking into another vast fraud scheme at Donald Trump's company, this one about cheating tax authorities and bankers by lying about property values. Her remedies could be severe. She could ask to shut down Trump's company or ask for huge financial penalties. We expect to hear more from her in the coming months.

INSKEEP: NPR's Andrea Bernstein.

Thanks for keeping us straight on the many investigations.

BERNSTEIN: Thank you.

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 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 larceny   

n.盗窃（罪）

参考例句：

• The man was put in jail for grand larceny.人因重大盗窃案而被监禁。
• It was an essential of the common law crime of larceny.它是构成普通法中的盗窃罪的必要条件。

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 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

7 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

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 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 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。

11 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

12 defraud   

vt.欺骗，欺诈

参考例句：

• He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。
• He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。

13 defrauding   

v.诈取，骗取( defraud的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Second is the actor regards defrauding of the wealth as object. 第二，行为人以骗取钱财为目的。 来自互联网
• Therefore, DELL has the motive and economic purpose of intentionally defrauding the Chinese consumers. 因此，戴尔公司存在故意欺诈中国消费者的动机和经济目的。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 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。

16 implicate   

vt.使牵连其中，涉嫌

参考例句：

• He didn't find anything in the notebooks to implicate Stu.他在笔记本中没发现任何涉及斯图的东西。
• I do not want to implicate you in my problem of the job.我工作上的问题不想把你也牵扯进来。

17 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

18 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

19 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

20 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。

21 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

22 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。