美国国家公共电台 NPR Judge Declares A Mistrial In Sen. Robert Menendez Corruption Trial

 

ELISE HU, HOST:

A federal corruption¹ trial against a sitting U.S. senator has ended in a mistrial.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROBERT MENENDEZ: To those who were digging my political graves so that they could jump into my seat, I know who you are. And I won't forget you.

HU: That's New Jersey² Senator Robert Menendez in front of a courthouse today in Newark. Joe Hernandez of our member station WHYY has been covering this trial and joins us now from Newark. Joe, welcome.

JOE HERNANDEZ, BYLINE³: Hey, Elise.

HU: So prosecutors⁴ went into this trial saying they had a strong case. So how did it wind up going this way and winding⁵ up as a mistrial?

HERNANDEZ: Yeah, well, we expect to hear more about that in the coming hours and days, but there were questions about this case from the start. One of them was - and perhaps this was the largest question - did Menendez and his friend and co-defendant, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, truly have a bribery⁶ arrangement together? Did they conspire⁸ to bribe⁷ each other? Defense⁹ attorneys said from the start that there was no smoking gun showing that.

And another big question in the case was, did what Menendez did for his friend - the alleged¹⁰ favors in the case - did they really rise to the level of an official act? And that would have to be the one side of a bribery scheme of a public official. That definition of bribery was narrowed a bit by the Supreme¹¹ Court last year. So those questions were likely in the jurors' minds.

HU: Tell us a little bit more about what they were accused of.

HERNANDEZ: They were accused of a seven-year bribery scheme in which they exchanged free flights and lavish¹² trips for political favors essentially¹³. So Melgen gave Menendez free flights on his private jet. He's a wealthy eye doctor. He paid for hotel rooms for Menendez in Paris and in the Dominican Republic. And he gave political contributions that would have benefited Menendez.

And prosecutors said in return for that, Menendez did Melgen favors. He helped get visas for some of Melgen's girlfriends. He helped Melgen try to sort out a Medicare billing dispute, $8.9 million, with his eye doctor practice. And he tried to sort out a contract dispute in the Dominican Republic. Menendez was also charged with leaving those gifts off of his Senate financial disclosure forms.

HU: What about the defense team? How did it make its case?

HERNANDEZ: Well, interestingly, a lot of the facts in the case were not disputed by the defense, and they agreed with the prosecution¹⁴. These gifts were given. There's no doubt about that. And Menendez did many of the things that he was accused of that were called favors, but he said that he did them legitimately¹⁵ in his bona fide role as a senator. What the defense said was there was no connective tissue between those two things. There was no agreement between these two men to trade this for that, to trade gifts for favors. And they attacked the prosecution over and over about this saying, there's no smoking gun. There's no evidence of an agreement, no emails saying, do this for me and I'll do this for you. And so they say that alone doesn't prove that there's bribery.

HU: So now what? Where does the end of this trial leave Bob Menendez?

HERNANDEZ: Well, Bob Menendez was definitely happy today. I mean, he was very emotional. He broke down in tears a little bit when he spoke¹⁶ to reporters outside of court. He was celebratory. But this chapter in his life is not going to be over yet. I mean, first of all, this was a mistrial. This was not an acquittal. The jury couldn't agree on whether he was guilty or not guilty. And so the government, the Justice Department, which brought these charges, could retry the case if they wanted to. So far they've just thanked the jury but have been tight-lipped about their plans for the future.

Also, there's a Senate investigation¹⁷ now apparently¹⁸ into Menendez. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said today that although this mistrial occurred, the Senate would look into the serious charges leveled against him. Menendez appears to intend to stay in politics in the future, and he'll have to run for re-election next year if he wants to keep his seat.

HU: That's Joe Hernandez of member station WHYY. Joe, thanks.

HERNANDEZ: Thank you.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

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 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

6 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

7 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

8 conspire   

v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致

参考例句：

• They'd conspired to overthrow the government.他们曾经密谋推翻政府。
• History and geography have conspired to bring Greece to a moment of decision.历史和地理因素共同将希腊推至作出抉择的紧要关头。

9 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。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

13 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

14 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。

15 legitimately   

ad.合法地；正当地，合理地

参考例句：

• The radio is legitimately owned by the company. 该电台为这家公司所合法拥有。
• She looked for nothing save what might come legitimately and without the appearance of special favour. 她要的并不是男人们的额外恩赐，而是合法正当地得到的工作。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 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。

18 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。