美国国家公共电台 NPR Judge Orders Maria Butina, Linked To Russian Spy Agency, Jailed Ahead Of Trial

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Maria Butina made her first appearance in federal court today. She was arrested on Sunday and accused of conspiring¹ to act as a Russian agent inside the U.S. Prosecutors² say her goal was to get American policymakers to act more favorably toward Russian interests.

NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson was in the courthouse and joins us now. Carrie, what happened in court today?

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE³: It was quite a dramatic two-hour hearing, Ari. Just before the hearing, lawyers for Maria Butina had sought to have her appear in court in civilian⁴ clothing and without any shackles⁵ or handcuffs. Well, Butina did enter the courtroom without any shackles or handcuffs, but she was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, paid close attention throughout the proceedings⁶. Ultimately, Magistrate⁷ Judge Deborah Robinson concluded that the Justice Department had demonstrated by preponderance of evidence that no condition or combination of conditions could reasonably ensure that Maria Butina would appear for trial. And so she's been detained pending⁸ her trial on conspiracy⁹ and acting¹⁰ as a foreign agent charges.

SHAPIRO: The details of this case sound like something out of a Hollywood thriller¹¹ or a spy novel. Tell us more about what prosecutors allege¹² she did and what new details came out today.

JOHNSON: Yeah. Basically, authorities argue that she came to the U.S. on false pretenses¹³, on a visa to work - to study as a graduate student at American University. But really, they say, it was part of a years-long influence campaign, covert¹⁴ influence campaign, to send this 29-year-old woman here into the U.S. to cultivate powerbrokers, to attend the National Prayer Breakfast, to attend conventions of the National Rifle Association and try to steer¹⁵ Russian - try to steer American policy toward the interest of Russia.

SHAPIRO: What are her lawyers presenting as her defense¹⁶?

JOHNSON: Her lawyer basically says - her lawyer, Robert Driscoll, basically says that these charges are overblown. She's not a spy. He actually told the judge that Maria Butina is not a proxy¹⁷ for any of the serious and substantial issues that our country has with Russia right now.

But that stands in contrast, Ari, to new documents the Justice Department filed today saying that they have evidence that she was in contact with members of the FSB. That's the successor agency to the KGB. They found in her email contact list an email account listed with an FSB domain¹⁸. They point out they had a picture of her taken at the U.S. Capitol on Inauguration¹⁹ Day January 2017. And they found direct messages between she and one of her handlers in Russia praising her and asking her to take specific steps here inside the U.S.

SHAPIRO: You've talked about this allegation that she was trying to influence U.S. policy. Of course there's the whole separate Mueller investigation²⁰ about an attempt to influence a U.S. election. Are we aware of any overlap²¹ between the two?

JOHNSON: Well, this case involving Maria Butina is being handled by national security prosecutors here in Washington and the U.S. attorney's office in D.C., not the special counsel. But prosecutors did today in court argue that this shows the scope of the Russian influence campaign that goes back for years and years.

They said that an unnamed Russian oligarch had helped finance Butina's activities. They said they had photographic evidence of her having a meal this year in D.C. with a diplomat²² from Russia who was later expelled from the country as part of the sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Russia. And they also pointed²³ out that she'd go to pretty great lengths. They claim that she offered an individual other than her American boyfriend sex in exchange for a job with a special interest organization.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson following this very salacious case for us. Thank you, Carrie.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

1 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

2 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。

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 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

6 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

7 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

8 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

9 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。

10 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。

11 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

12 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。

13 pretenses   

n.借口（pretense的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism. 他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He obtained money from her under false pretenses. 他巧立名目从她那儿骗钱。 来自辞典例句

14 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

15 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

16 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

17 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

18 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

19 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

20 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。

21 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

22 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

23 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。