纽约时报 米勒调查中吊人胃口又事关重大的特工(2)

By early 2017, a senior F.B.I. official was lamenting¹

2017年初，联邦调查局某高级官员叹惜，

that the bureau had botched an opportunity to question Mr. Kilimnik while he was in Washington for Mr. Trump²’s inaugural³.

联邦调查局浪费了在克里姆尼克前往华盛顿参加特朗普的就职典礼时盘问他的机会。

Prosecutors⁴ have also scrutinized⁵ the effort by Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kilimnik

检察官还仔细审查了马纳福特和基利姆尼克两人

to drum up political consulting business with Kremlin-aligned political figures in Ukraine and Russia

在促成和乌克兰与俄罗斯境内，同克里姆林宫结了盟的政治人物之间的政治咨询关系方面的所作所为。

who were pushing plans to end the simmering conflict between the countries.

当时，后者正在推动一项旨在结束两国之间酝酿已久的冲突的计划。

Those so-called peace plans could have resulted in the easing of sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States —

而这些所谓的和平计划本来是可以促成美国放松对俄罗斯的制裁的——

a policy shift to which Mr. Trump had signaled an openness during the campaign

因为特朗普在竞选期间曾表示要对这一政策转变持开放态度，

and one that would have been a major foreign policy victory for the Kremlin.

而这一政策转变原本也将成为克里姆林宫外交政策的一次重大胜利。

In many ways, Mr. Kilimnik is an unlikely figure for such a pivotal role in an investigation⁶ that has shaped Mr. Trump’s presidency⁷.

从很多方面看，克里姆尼克都不太像那种会在对特朗普总统任期发挥着决定性作用的调查中扮演至关重要的角色的人物。

To some of those he encountered, he was an impish, 5-foot-tall cynic

因为在一些同他有过接触的人看来，他是个身高5英尺，顽皮而愤世嫉俗的人，

whose American associates nicknamed him "Carry-on" or "KK"

他的美国同事还给他起了个绰号，叫"随身行李"或"KK"，

and who was rejected for a job with an oil company in Moscow in late 2003 or early 2004 because he was seen as too meek⁸.

而且，03年末，04年初，他还在应聘莫斯科一家石油公司的时候因为表现得过于温顺被拒绝了。

At the same time, he did little to defuse long-running suspicions that he was a Russian agent.

与此同时，他基本没有做过任何消除外界长期以来对他是俄罗斯特工的怀疑的努力。

And his involvement in discussions related to back-channel peace negotiations⁹ between Ukraine and Russia

而他参与了和乌克兰和俄罗斯举行的秘密和平谈判有关的讨论一事

attracted attention from President Barack Obama’s National Security Council,

引起了奥巴马总统的国家安全委员会的注意，

which saw him as a functionary¹⁰ for oligarchs working to sell out Ukraine to Moscow’s benefit,

在后者看来，他是一名同那些出卖乌克兰却让莫斯科捡了便宜的寡头们站在一起的官员，

a former United States official said.

一位前美国官员说。

Mr. Kilimnik, 49, who has Russian citizenship¹¹, now lives in Moscow.

现年49岁的基利姆尼克拥有俄罗斯国籍，目前居住在莫斯科。

He is unlikely to ever face obstruction¹² of justice charges that the special counsel brought against him and Mr. Manafort.

他不太可能会主动站出来，直面特别检察官对他和马纳福特提出的妨碍司法公正的指控。

And the once chatty operative —

这位曾经总爱闲聊的特工——

who was known for kibitzing with reporters, diplomats¹³ and political consultants¹⁴ over WhatsApp and in the bar of the Hyatt hotel in Kiev —

他在出了名的喜欢在WhatsApp上，在基辅的凯悦酒店的酒吧里与记者、外交官或政治顾问闲聊——

has gone dark.

这次却选择了沉默。

"There was talk of him being related to Russian intelligence agencies going as far back as the 1990s,"

“早在90年代，就有传言说他与俄罗斯情报机构有关系了，”

said Michael R. Caputo, who traveled in the same circles as Mr. Kilimnik

和基利姆尼克有着同样的交际圈的迈克尔·卡普托说，

when both worked in the Moscow offices of American pro-democracy groups in the years after the fall of the Soviet¹⁵ Union.

苏联解体后的几年里，两人都曾在几个美国民主团体驻莫斯科办公处工作。

In Kiev, Mr. Kilimnik became a valued source for the political staff of the United States Embassy,

在基辅，基利姆尼克成了美国大使馆的政治工作人员们的一个重要的线人，

because he did not try to sugarcoat the financial motivations of the oligarchs who funded the political parties for which he worked,

因为他不会试图去粉饰资助了他所在的政党的寡头们的金钱动机，

said David A. Merkel, who handled Ukraine issues as a deputy assistant secretary of state for President George W. Bush.

曾身为乔治·W. 布什总统的副助理国务卿，负责处理乌克兰问题的大卫·A. 默克尔说。

"The idea that he is some master spy seems hard to fathom," said Mr. Merkel, who was Mr. Kilimnik’s boss at one of the pro-democracy groups.

“那种认为他是特级间谍的想法似乎很难理解，”基利姆尼克工作过的一个美国民主团体的老板默克尔说。

"I find it much more likely that these guys were pursuing business interests without regard to core patriotic¹⁶ beliefs."

“我倒觉得，这些人更有可能是在不顾核心的爱国主义信仰追求商业利益。”

1 lamenting   

adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Katydids were lamenting fall's approach. 蝈蝈儿正为秋天临近而哀鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lamenting because the papers hadn't been destroyed and the money kept. 她正在吃后悔药呢，后悔自己没有毁了那张字条，把钱昧下来！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

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 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

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 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

6 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。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 functionary   

n.官员；公职人员

参考例句：

• No functionary may support or cover up unfair competition acts.国家官员不得支持、包庇不正当竞争行为。
• " Emigrant," said the functionary,"I am going to send you on to Paris,under an escort."“ 外逃分子，”那官员说，“我要把你送到巴黎去，还派人护送。”

11 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

12 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

13 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》

14 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

15 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。

16 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。