纽约时报 米勒调查中吊人胃口又事关重大的特工(2)（在线收听）

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

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. Trump’s inaugural.

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。

Prosecutors have also scrutinized 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 investigation that has shaped Mr. Trump’s presidency.

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 meek.

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 negotiations 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 functionary 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 citizenship, 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 obstruction 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, diplomats and political consultants 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 Soviet 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 patriotic 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。”