VOA慢速英语--美国政府关门三天 亲俄推特账户异常低调

Russian-Linked Twitter Accounts Not Done with US Government Shutdown

The United States government was operating normally on Tuesday. Yet it did not seem a few hours earlier as if Russia was done trying to publicize the nearly three-day long government shutdown.

U.S. President Donald Trump¹ signed a bill to pay for federal government operations Monday night. The measure will guarantee financing for federal agencies through February 8.

But as lawmakers and the Trump administration reached an agreement, Twitter accounts linked to Russian operators were busy. They continued to post hashtags seemingly aimed at publicizing America's political divisions.

As of 0300 hours Universal Time (UTC) on Tuesday, the hashtag #schumershutdown had been used 535 times in the past 48 hours. That number came from Hamilton 68, a website that follows about 600 Twitter accounts.

At the same time, the site reported the top trending hashtag was #schumersellout. Hamilton 68 reported that its use increased by 4,800 percent over the same 48-hour period.

Both hashtags are named after Charles Schumer, the leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate. Schumer agreed to the compromise spending bill with Republican lawmakers. But at first, he refused to support any spending bills without getting a deal on another issue. He wanted to protect "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, from possible deportation².

Among those using #schumershutdown on Monday was U.S. Vice³ President Mike Pence.

President Trump's son, Donald Trump, Jr., also used the hashtag late Monday.

The hashtag #schumersellout began trending on Twitter Monday. It appeared in 19,700 tweets as of 0300 UTC on Tuesday.

Among those using it was the Michigan Republican Party, which tweeted, "Schumer Sells Out the Resistance #SchumerSellout," and a link to an opinion piece in The New York Times newspaper.

The Hamilton 68 website made clear that hashtags like #schumershutdown or #schumersellout are often not created by the Russian-linked accounts. Instead, they often take the hashtags created by Twitter users who are not necessarily linked to Russia and try to expand them to help support existing divisions.

The website said other top hashtags being heavily supported by the Russian-linked accounts included "#releasethememo", "#Syria", "#nodaca", "#wethepeople" and "#Russia".

#ReleasetheMemo, which the Russian-linked accounts tweeted 480 times Sunday and Monday, saw their heaviest usage late last week. At that time, the accounts tweeted the hashtag more than 3,000 times.

It also gained popularity among Twitter users, including some members of the U.S. Congress. They pushed a committee of the House of Representatives to release a report written by the committee's chairman, Republican Devin Nunes.

They argued the report proved the Federal Bureau of Investigation⁴ and the Department of Justice are unfair. Both government agencies have been investigating possible ties between Russia and aides to Trump’s 2016 presidential election.

U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers from both parties have warned Russia is continuing to try to interfere⁵ in U.S. politics. Russia has denied the accusation⁶.

"They're trying to undermine Western democracy," Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Aspen Security Forum⁷ this past July.

Congressmen “are worried or should be worried about it," Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr warned last month. He added that only the uninformed would believe the Russians are not trying to affect the next U.S. elections.

I'm Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

shutdown – n. to close for business

hashtag – n. a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet)

trend - v. a way of behaving, proceeding⁸, etc., that is developing and becoming more common

deportation – n. to force a person who is not a citizen to leave a country

tweet – v. a posting made on the social media website Twitter

account – n. a record of money received or paid out; a deal in which a person uses the internet or email services of a service provider

undermine – v. to make (someone or something) weaker or less effective usually in a secret or gradual way

1 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。

2 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 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。

5 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

6 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

7 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

8 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。