美国国家公共电台 NPR--Rep. George Santos is in custody after facing a federal criminal charge

Rep. George Santos is in custody¹ after facing a federal criminal charge

Transcript²

Congressman³ George Santos is in custody in a New York courthouse. He's charged with making false statements to Congress, money laundering⁴, wire fraud and theft of public funds.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

With a crime report of sorts - New York Congressman George Santos has been arrested. He's charged with 13 counts of criminal wrongdoing, including an alleged⁵ scheme to defraud⁶ donors⁷ to his political campaign and also allegations that he tried to cheat New York state's unemployment relief system during the pandemic. NPR's Brian Mann is at the federal courthouse in Islip, N.Y., which is where Mr. Santos turned himself in this morning.

Brian, good morning.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE⁸: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: Give me some details of these allegations, please.

MANN: Well, first, there's this scheme, according to the feds, where George Santos allegedly cheated campaign donors, telling them that money that they sent to his campaign would be spent on television ads and other efforts to get him elected. Instead, according to the government, he spent that money on luxury designer clothes, making car payments, cash payments to himself and to other friends. Here's what U.S. attorney Breon Peace said. He said, taken together, the allegations and the indictment⁹ charged Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception¹⁰ to ascend¹¹ to the halls of Congress and enrich himself.

INSKEEP: I appreciate hearing these details because when people first began talking about criminal charges against George Santos, it was fair to ask why. He obviously had deceived voters in New York City and on Long Island about his background. But, of course, making up stories is not necessarily a crime. But you're saying it's not strictly¹² about lying. It's about getting money out of people for purposes other than what he said.

MANN: That's right. And if these allegations hold up in court - obviously he's innocent until proven guilty - he routed money that was supposed to go to his political career into his own pocket. Those are the charges that he faces here.

INSKEEP: Now, what is this other scheme that you describe, an allegation that he tried to fraudulently receive unemployment benefits back in 2020?

MANN: Yeah, that's right. What the government says is that in 2020, during the pandemic, when George Santos was employed, earning $120,000 a year and also running in his first campaign - remember he also ran for public office back in 2020 - they say he, at that time, applied¹³ for unemployment benefits. And that fraud charge will also be tested in court.

INSKEEP: What is Santos saying?

MANN: Well, it's interesting, Steve. You know, he's been defiant¹⁴ throughout this and has been constantly pushing back against the press and against his critics. But in the last couple of days, he's gone absolutely silent - nothing on Twitter, nothing on social media about these charges. We've reached out to him and to his attorney, and they have not gotten back to us. And so a guy who's been very pugilistic and kind of, you know, punching at his opponents throughout this - not a word from him now that these charges have been filed.

INSKEEP: I guess we should mention there's not a lot of doubt about some of the lies that he told fabrications that he made. What's his - what's the background of these charges?

MANN: Yeah. You know, it's interesting, Steve. He really did push the boundaries of political deception. You're right. Politicians often lie. They embellish¹⁵. That's what George Santos says he did. You know, but he made up stories about his family being in the Holocaust¹⁶. He invented an entire professional career for himself. He invented an education background that he did not possess. He claimed to be a competitive volleyball player who led his college team to a championship. It really was very difficult to find anything in his background that really held up under scrutiny¹⁷. As you say, much of that's not criminal. There are allegations now, though, that he did cross the line repeatedly - 13 charges here that he's now going to have to fight in court.

INSKEEP: You know, ordinarily, a newly elected freshman¹⁸ member of Congress is not that important. And I don't mean that to be dismissive. It's just that you have to stay in Congress a while to become powerful or important normally. But this guy is important because the Republican majority that he's part of is so narrow.

MANN: That's right. He was a key vote getting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy his speaker's gavel. He's been a staunch ally of Speaker McCarthy. Kevin McCarthy was asked about this yesterday. He says he will not demand that Santos step down or resign. He pointed¹⁹ to other politicians, including Democrats²⁰, who faced criminal charges in the past but remained in office, kept casting votes while their trial played out. So that appears to be what's going to happen, that while Congressman Santos faces these charges in court, he's going to continue to serve.

INSKEEP: Brian, thanks so much.

MANN: Thank you.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Brian Mann.

1 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

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 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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

6 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。

7 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 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。

10 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

11 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

12 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

15 embellish   

v.装饰，布置；给…添加细节，润饰

参考例句：

• I asked him not to embellish the truth with ideas of his own.我要他不对事实添油加醋。
• Can you embellish your refusal just a little bit?你可以对你的婉拒之辞略加修饰吗？

16 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

17 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

18 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

19 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。

20 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》