特朗普一名助理認罪 兩人被提起公訴

Robert Mueller filed the first charges of his investigation into Russian links to Donald Trump’s election team, indicting the president’s former campaign manager and striking a plea deal with an ex-aide who attempted to broker meetings with senior officials in Moscow.

羅伯特•米勒(Robert Mueller)在他對唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)競選團隊通俄嫌疑展開的調查中提出首批刑事控罪，把總統(tǒng)的前競選經(jīng)理告上法庭，并和一名曾嘗試安排與莫斯科高級官員的會面的前助理達成認罪協(xié)議。

The charges against Paul Manafort, who headed the Trump campaign from June to August 2016, and George Papadopoulos, a campaign adviser who was arrested in July but has since agreed to co-operate, mark the most serious legal threat to the president since Mr Mueller was appointed special counsel in May.

保羅•馬納福特(Paul Manafort，見文首照片)曾在2016年6月至8月執(zhí)掌特朗普競選活動。喬治•帕帕多普洛斯(George Papadopoulos)曾是競選顧問，在今年7月被捕，但后來同意合作。針對這兩個人的刑事指控，標志著自今年5月米勒被任命為特別檢察官以來總統(tǒng)面對的最嚴重法律威脅。

Although the 31-page indictment against Mr Manafort, who was charged along with business partner Richard Gates, focused mainly on the Republican operatives’ work in Ukrainian politics before joining Mr Trump’s team, Mr Papadopoulos has provided a detailed account of his work to secure damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton form Russian sources.

馬納福特和他的商業(yè)伙伴理查德•蓋茨(Richard Gates)一起面對刑事指控。雖然針對馬納福特的31頁刑事起訴書主要聚焦于這名共和黨操盤手在加入特朗普團隊之前參與烏克蘭政治的活動，但帕帕多普洛斯已經(jīng)全盤交代了自己的工作：從俄羅斯消息來源獲取有損民主黨競選對手希拉里•克林頓(Hillary Clinton)的信息。

According to a charge sheet filed with his guilty plea, Mr Papadopoulos worked with a London-based academic who claimed to have connections to President Vladimir Putin’s family. “They [the Russians] have dirt on her,” the professor told Mr Papadopoulos in April 2016, according to the documents. “The Russians had emails on Clinton . . . they have thousands of emails.”

根據(jù)和他的認罪協(xié)議一起提交的控罪書，帕帕多普洛斯與一位常住倫敦的學者合作，此人聲稱與俄羅斯總統(tǒng)弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)的家庭有聯(lián)系。根據(jù)法律文件，這名教授在2016年4月告訴帕帕多普洛斯，“他們(俄羅斯方面)掌握著對她不利的材料……俄羅斯人有希拉里的電郵……他們有數(shù)以千計的電子郵件。”

Mr Papadopoulos attempted to pass on the leads to top Trump campaign officials and to set up a meeting between the Republican candidate and Mr Putin, the charges allege.

控罪書稱，帕帕多普洛斯試圖把這些線索交給特朗普競選團隊高官，并安排特朗普和普京會晤。

The charges against Mr Papadopoulos mark the second documented incident in which Trump campaign aides met Russia-linked operatives and discussed working with Moscow to secure information damaging to Mrs Clinton.

針對帕帕多普洛斯的指控標志著第二起有記載的事件，說明特朗普競選團隊助理曾會晤與俄羅斯相關的人員，并討論與莫斯科合作，以獲取有損希拉里的信息。

In July, Mr Trump’s eldest son released emails showing he and other top campaign officials, including Mr Manafort and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, met Russian lobbyists after being promised similar compromising information.

今年7月，特朗普的長子披露電子郵件，顯示他和其他競選團隊高官，包括馬納福特和特朗普的女婿賈里德•庫什納(Jared Kushner)，在被承諾有望獲得類似的對希拉里不利的信息后，曾會晤俄羅斯游說者。

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, denied that the charges signalled any co-ordination between Moscow and the Trump camp¬aign. “Today’s announcement has not¬h¬ing to do with the president, has nothing to do with the president’s campaign or campaign activity,” she said. She des¬cribed Mr Papadopoulos as holding an “extremely limited, volunteer position”.

白宮新聞秘書薩拉•哈克比•桑德斯(Sarah Huckabee Sanders)否認這些指控表明了莫斯科方面與特朗普競選團隊之間有任何協(xié)調。“今日的宣布與總統(tǒng)毫無關系，與總統(tǒng)的競選團隊或競選活動毫無關系。”她表示。她形容帕帕多普洛斯只是擔任“極其有限的、志愿性質的職位”。

The three indictments revealed the twin track approach taken by Mr Mueller in his investigation, with the former FBI director aggressively targeting senior Trump officials while simultaneously cultivating junior aides as sources who can aid the inquiry. Both Mr Manafort and Mr Gates pleaded not guilty at a court appearance in Washington.

三份刑事起訴書顯示了米勒在調查中采取的雙軌方式，這位聯(lián)邦調查局(FBI)前局長積極追查特朗普手下的高官，同時對初級助理展開攻心戰(zhàn)，爭取讓他們成為配合調查的證人。馬納福特和蓋茨在華盛頓出庭時都不認罪。

Mr Manafort turned himself in to the FBI’s Washington field office early yesterday after he and Mr Gates were accused of funnelling $75m through unreported offshore accounts.

馬納福特昨日一早向FBI華盛頓分局自首，此前他和蓋茨被控通過未報告的離岸賬戶轉移7500萬美元。

Mr Manafort, 68, is accused of laundering $18m, while Mr Gates is accused of transferring $3m from the accounts from 2006 to 2015, when they served as “unregistered agents” for Viktor Yanukovich, the Ukrainian leader who was ousted in a 2014 revolution. Mr Trump seized on the fact charges focus on Mr Manafort’s Ukrainian work.

現(xiàn)年68歲的馬納福特被控洗錢1800萬美元，而蓋茨被指控在2006年至2015年期間從上述賬戶轉移300萬美元，在此期間他們是烏克蘭領導人維克托•亞努科維奇(Viktor Yanukovich)的“未登記代理人”;亞努科維奇在2014年的一場革命中被推翻。特朗普抓住了起訴書聚焦于馬納福特在烏克蘭承接的業(yè)務這個事實。

“Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.

“對不起，但這是幾年前的事情，在保羅•馬納福特成為特朗普競選團隊一員之前。”特朗普在Twitter上寫道。