美国国家公共电台 NPR Feds Detail What They Call Lies Told By Paul Manafort Since His Guilty Plea

Feds Detail What They Call Lies Told By Paul Manafort Since His Guilty Plea

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

It has been a busy day for the special counsel's Russia investigation¹. This evening, documents in the case of President Trump²'s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen were filed in a New York federal court. The documents offer more information about the crimes the government says Cohen has committed. We also have new documents from the special counsel about the president's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is here in the studio to walk us through both these filings. Hey, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE³: Hey, Ailsa.

CHANG: OK, let's start with Michael Cohen. A couple documents here from the government today describe in more detail about why Cohen is expecting to head to prison. Tell us what we're learning.

JOHNSON: There is a lot in these materials. First, federal prosecutors⁴ in Manhattan say Michael Cohen actually deserves a substantial prison sentence. They say that he acted in coordination⁵ with and at the direction of Individual 1, who happens to be the president...

CHANG: Right.

JOHNSON: ...In an ongoing⁶ campaign finance probe of payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Those are two women who allegedly had personal relationships with Donald Trump and receive payments in the course of the campaign. The prosecutors in New York also say Michael Cohen consulted with Donald Trump about meetings in Moscow, part of a highly lucrative⁷ Trump Tower Moscow deal that never came to fruition. Authorities also reveal that Cohen was approached as far back as 2015 by an unnamed Russian who was offering political synergy with Michael Cohen.

CHANG: Political synergy.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

CHANG: (Laughter).

JOHNSON: Now, we got a second document shortly thereafter from the special counsel. It is very intriguing⁸. The special counsel says Cohen met with them seven times, that he provided useful information on Russia matters that are core to their investigation. He got that information apparently⁹ through regular contact with company executives at the Trump Organization during the campaign and that Michael Cohen also talked with the special counsel about his contacts with people tied to the White House in 2017 and 2018 and that when he got questions from Congress about Russia, he circulated his responses to a whole bunch of people before he sent them. He now says those responses were false, so the question is, who got them, and were they encouraging him to lie?

CHANG: Right. Now, the president has already responded in his favorite way, Twitter, of course. What has President Trump said about all of this?

JOHNSON: You know, President Trump has been out with a couple of lines on Twitter. He said, totally clears the president - thank you. The White House - Sarah Sanders, press secretary, followed up with more detail later. Sanders said the government's filings in Michael Cohen's case tell us nothing of value that wasn't already known. Michael Cohen has repeatedly lied, and as the prosecution¹⁰ has pointed¹¹ out in court, Michael Cohen is no hero.

CHANG: OK, we also received another document today, this one about Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Tell us what's in there.

JOHNSON: Ailsa, this is the story of a relationship gone bad.

CHANG: (Laughter).

JOHNSON: Remember that Paul Manafort...

CHANG: Oh, yes.

JOHNSON: ...Agreed to plead guilty in September and cooperate with the special counsel.

CHANG: Yes.

JOHNSON: It turns out he met with prosecutors 12 times. He actually testified twice before the grand jury. But authorities now say Paul Manafort lied and lied and lied again. He lied about his business associate who allegedly has ties to Russian intelligence. He lied about a wire transfer. And they say he also lied about another unspecified Justice Department investigation that's ongoing. And maybe most important, Paul Manafort, they say, lied about his contacts with administration officials, that Paul Manafort himself was in touch with a senior administration official as late as February 2018 and that he authorized¹² somebody else on his behalf to be in touch with other administration officials as of May 26, 2018. The question is, what were they talking about?

CHANG: Yeah.

JOHNSON: Remember.

CHANG: No details on the content of the communications.

JOHNSON: No details.

CHANG: OK.

JOHNSON: No details, a lot still under seal on - in this case. But remember; Paul Manafort had been maybe expecting a presidential pardon. The question now...

CHANG: Right.

JOHNSON: ...Is were they discussing that? President Trump recently told reporters a pardon was not off the table for Paul Manafort, so we're going to be looking for more information about that moving forward.

CHANG: OK, so, you know, give me the big picture here. Do we know where these investigations¹³ are headed next based on what's happened today?

JOHNSON: Well, this - the ball is in the court of a couple of judges. Michael Cohen is going to be sentenced in New York later this month. Authorities say he - he's still working with the special counsel. And Paul Manafort won't be punished, won't be sentenced until early 2019, but we may have a hearing coming up about how exactly he lied and may have violated the plea deal. It's important to note as a matter of fairness that Paul Manafort says he believes he told the truth, and he believes he cooperated. So we may have a public hearing in court about whether or not he did all these lies that the special counsel says.

CHANG: All right, lots more to come. That's NPR's justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Thanks so much, Carrie.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

1 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。

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 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。

4 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。

5 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

6 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。

7 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

8 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

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 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

13 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。