纽约时报 米勒调查中吊人胃口又事关重大的特工(1)

The Tantalizing¹ Operative of Pivital to Mueller’s Inquiry²

米勒调查中吊人胃口又事关重大的特工

By Kenneth P. Vogel and Andrew E. Kramer

文/肯尼斯·P·沃格尔，安德鲁·E·克莱默

WASHINGTON — In the nearly two years that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has been investigating whether there was collusion between Russia and the Trump³ campaign,

华盛顿——特别检察官罗伯特·S·米勒三世调查俄罗斯是否串通特朗普竞选团队的近两年时间里，

few figures seem to have offered more tantalizing leads than Konstantin V. Kilimnik.

似乎很少有人提供的线索比康斯坦丁·V. 基里姆尼克的更有吸引力。

A diminutive⁴, multilingual political operative who was born in Ukraine while it was still part of the Soviet⁵ Union,

基利姆尼克是一名身材矮小、会多种语言的政府特工，出生在苏联统治时期的乌克兰。

Mr. Kilimnik has continued to attract intense interest from prosecutors⁶

因为同他长期的雇主、导师保罗·马纳福特之间有接触，

for his interactions with his longtime boss and mentor⁷, Paul Manafort,

加上米勒准备结束调查之际还与俄罗斯情报机构之间存在可疑的往来，

and his suspected ties to Russian intelligence, even as Mr. Mueller prepares to wrap up his investigation⁸.

基利姆尼克不断引起了检察官的密切关注。

The full story of what Mr. Mueller has found about cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election is not known.

针对2016年总统大选期间特朗普竞选团队与俄罗斯串通一事，米勒到底掌握了哪些情报目前尚不清楚。

But Mr. Kilimnik pops up repeatedly as a possible connection, with ties to both sides that are as enigmatic as they are deep.

但身为可能的中间人，并与双方有着既神秘又深厚的关系的基利姆尼克反复出现在了这个案子中。

And his dealings with Mr. Manafort, who in 2016 served as Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman,

而且，他和2016年大选时担任唐纳德·特朗普的竞选经理的马纳福特之间的往来，

encompass⁹ two of the most intriguing¹⁰ elements of the special counsel’s inquiry to surface publicly:

还涉及了已经公开的，特别检察官这次俄罗斯调查中最引人注目的两个因素：

the sharing of polling data with Mr. Kilimnik,

马纳福特向基利姆尼克透露过投票数据，

and the work he and Mr. Manafort did on behalf of Kremlin-aligned Ukrainian interests that were pushing plans that could have eased economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its allies.

还和他为推动原本可以减轻美国及其盟友对俄罗斯实施的经济制裁的诸多方案的，亲克里姆林宫的乌克兰利益方效过力。

Dozens of interviews, court filings and other documents

数十次的采访、法庭档案和其他文件都显示，

show Mr. Kilimnik to be an operator who moved easily between Russian, Ukrainian and American patrons,

基利姆尼克是一个可以轻松游走于俄罗斯、乌克兰和美国的雇主之间，

playing one off the other while leaving a jumble¹¹ of conflicting suspicions in his wake.

在留下一堆相互矛盾的猜疑的同时坐收渔利的特工。

The effort to disentangle the mysteries surrounding him seems likely to leave questions even after the conclusion of the special counsels' work.

即便特别检察官的工作已经收尾，试图解开围绕基利姆尼克的谜团的努力似乎仍无法解开所有问题。

To American diplomats¹² in Washington and Kiev,

在华盛顿和基辅的美国外交官眼里，

he has been a well-known character for nearly a decade,

近十年来，基利姆尼克一直是一号响当当的

developing a reputation as a broker¹³ of valuable information

逐渐打响了自己作为一名掌握了宝贵信息的掮客的名声的人物，

like the alliances of Ukraine’s oligarchs and the country’s handling of foreign investment and sensitive criminal cases.

比如乌克兰寡头的联盟，以及该国对外国投资和敏感刑事案件的处理方面的情报。

He traveled freely to the United States,

他可以不受限制地去美国旅行，

and on a trip in May 2016 met senior State Department officials for drinks at the Off the Record bar in the basement of the Hay-Adams hotel across from the White House.

还在2016年5月的一次旅行中同国务院高级官员在白宫对面的海亚当斯酒店的地下酒吧喝过酒。

Later that year, he visited with the new United States ambassador to Ukraine in Kiev.

同年晚些时候，他还在基辅和新任美国驻乌克兰大使交谈过。

But in a federal court in Washington, Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors have repeatedly portrayed¹⁴ Mr. Kilimnik as something potentially more nefarious¹⁵:

不过，在华盛顿某联邦法院，米勒的检察官曾多次把基里姆尼克描绘成可能比他表面上更邪恶的角色：

a former Russian intelligence officer who "has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016."

一名前俄罗斯情报官员，“与俄罗斯情报机构有联系，2016年总统大选时就有这种联系。”

And around the same time that he was passing through Washington nearly three years ago —

而且，差不多就在三年前他经过华盛顿的那段时间——

just as Mr. Trump was clinching¹⁶ the Republican presidential nomination¹⁷ —

也就是特朗普刚刚赢得共和党总统候选人提名的时候——

he first received polling data about the 2016 election from two top Trump campaign officials, Mr. Manafort and Rick Gates,

他第一个从特朗普竞选团队的两名高级官员——马纳福特和里克·盖茨手里拿到了2016年总统大选的选票数据，

as Russia was beginning a social media operation intended to help Mr. Trump’s campaign.

当时俄罗斯恰好正在启动一项旨在帮助特朗普竞选的社交媒体活动。

1 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

2 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

3 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。

4 diminutive   

adj.小巧可爱的，小的

参考例句：

• Despite its diminutive size,the car is quite comfortable.尽管这辆车很小，但相当舒服。
• She has diminutive hands for an adult.作为一个成年人，她的手显得非常小。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 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。

7 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

8 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。

9 encompass   

vt.围绕，包围；包含，包括；完成

参考例句：

• The course will encompass physics,chemistry and biology.课程将包括物理、化学和生物学。
• The project will encompass rural and underdeveloped areas in China.这项工程将覆盖中国的农村和不发达地区。

10 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》

11 jumble   

vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆

参考例句：

• Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
• The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。

12 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

14 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 nefarious   

adj.恶毒的，极坏的

参考例句：

• My father believes you all have a nefarious purpose here.我父亲认为你们都有邪恶的目的。
• He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.因为他干了许多罪恶的勾当，所以人人都惧怕他。

16 clinching   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的现在分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• Joe gets clinching evidence of the brains role when he dreams. 乔做梦时得到了大脑发生作用的决定性依据。 来自辞典例句
• Clinching, wrestling, pushing, or seizing, without attempting a throw or other technique. 抱，扭摔，推或抓而没有摔或其它的技术。 来自互联网

17 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。