特朗普前竞选经理被指向欧洲政客支付200万欧元游说费
美国检方指称，唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的前竞选经理保罗•马纳福特(Paul Manafort)，向包括一名前总理在内的前欧洲政界高层人士支付了逾200万欧元，让对方代表乌克兰前总统维克多•亚努科维奇(Viktor Yanukovych)进行秘密游说活动。
The allegation was contained in a new indictment against Mr Manafort, which was filed on Friday by Robert Mueller, the US special counsel, as part his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
这项指控出现在美国特别检察官罗伯特•米勒(Robert Mueller)上周五对马纳福特提起的一份新诉状中。提起新诉状，是米勒对俄罗斯干预2016年美国大选的调查的一部分。
It came as Richard Gates, a former top aide to Mr Trump and business associate of Mr Manafort, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to investigators, becoming the third official of the president’s campaign to admit guilt in the probe.
此前，特朗普的前高级助手、马纳福特的商业伙伴商业伙伴理查德•盖茨(Richard Gates)已承认犯有共谋和对调查人员说谎的罪行，成为米勒调查中第三个认罪的总统竞选团队官员。
Mr Gates entered the plea on Friday, a day after he and Mr Manafort were charged with 32 counts related to what prosecutors claim was an elaborate scheme to hide some $75m in income related to their work for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party.
盖茨在周五进入了认罪程序。一天前，他和马纳福特被指控犯下32项罪名——检方称，这些指控与一项精心策划的计划有关，该计划的目的是为一个亲俄罗斯的乌克兰政党隐瞒约7500万美元的收入。
Mr Gates, a longtime Republican political consultant, served as deputy chair of the president’s 2016 campaign and also had a senior role in his transition team. His guilty plea came with a pledge to co-operate with Mr Mueller’s investigation and was seen as part of an effort to increase pressure on Mr Manafort to also co-operate.
长期担任共和党政治顾问的盖茨曾担任2016年总统竞选副经理，并在过渡团队中担任高级职务。他的认罪是为了履行配合米勒调查的承诺，并被视为加大对马纳福特施压力度、让他也配合的努力的一部分。
The indictment filed on Friday said that in 2012, Mr Manafort and Mr Gates “secretly retained a group of former senior European politicians to take positions favourable to Ukraine, including by lobbying in the United States”.
上周五提交的诉状称，2012年，马纳福特和盖茨“秘密聘请了一批欧洲前高级政客，以提出有利于乌克兰的立场，包括在美国进行游说”。
“The plan was for the former politicians, informally called the ‘Habsburg group’, to appear to be providing their independent assessments of Government of Ukraine actions, when in fact they were paid lobbyists for Ukraine,” the indictment charges.
“这个计划是为被非正式称为‘哈布斯堡集团’的那些前政客们准备的，似乎是了提供他们对乌克兰政府行动的独立评估意见，而他们实际上是代表乌克兰利益、领取报酬的说客，”诉状指控称。
Mr Manafort used at least four offshore accounts to wire more than €2m to pay the group of former politicians.
马纳福特使用至少有四个离岸账户为这个前政客团体转账了逾200万欧元。
In an “eyes only” memo cited by prosecutors Mr Manafort allegedly said the “super VIP” group would include “politically credible friends who can act informally and without any visible relationship with the Government of Ukraine”.
在检察官们提到的一份“只供专人阅读的”备忘录里，据称马纳福特表示，“超级VIP”集团将包括“政治上可信的朋友，他们可以非正式地行事，而且与乌克兰政府之间没有任何明显的关系”。
“The group was managed by a former European Chancellor, Foreign Politician A, in co-ordination with [Mr] Manafort,” the indictment alleges. Around 2013, the indictment claims, that group of politicians lobbied members of the US Congress, the Obama administration and their staffs. The identity of Foreign Politician A was not disclosed.
该诉状指称，“这个团体由一位前欧洲国家总理、外国政治家A与马纳福特共同管理。”诉状称，2013年前后，这群政客对美国国会议员、奥巴马(Obama)政府及政府工作人员进行了游说。外国政治家A的身份没有对外透露。
Paying the European politicians to lobby does not amount to a crime under US law. But the indictment alleges Mr Manafort illegally hid his lobbying scheme for years and failed to report that he was acting as an agent for the Ukrainian government and Mr Yanukovych as required by US law. Mr Manafort also faces conspiracy and money laundering charges as well as charges of lying to investigators.
根据美国法律，向欧洲政客支付报酬、让其游说并不构成犯罪。但诉状称，马纳福特多年来非法隐瞒了他的游说计划，而且并未像美国法律所规定的那样汇报他是在充当乌克兰政府和亚努科维奇的代理人的这一情况。马纳福特还面临着共谋和洗钱指控，以及对调查人员撒谎的指控。
In a statement released after Mr Gates’ guilty plea, Mr Manafort, who faces more than 20 years in jail if convicted, said he would continue to fight the charges against him.
马纳福特在盖茨认罪后发表的一份声明中，他将继续针对被控罪名进行抗辩。如果罪名成立，他将面临20年以上的监禁。
None of the charges filed against Mr Gates and Mr Manafort relates to their role in the Trump campaign. But, according to the charges, they lied about their links to Ukraine and Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president, after reports of documents showing cash payments to Mr Manafort emerged from Kiev in August 2016.
对盖茨和马纳福特提出的所有指控，都与他们在特朗普竞选中的角色没有关系。但指控称，向马纳福特支付现金的文件于2016年8月份在基辅被曝光后，他们在自己与乌克兰和亲俄罗斯的总统维克托•亚努科维奇之间的联系上撒了谎。
Prosecutors said the conspiracy to hide the income from their Ukrainian activities stretched “at least through 2016”.
检察官表示，隐瞒他们在乌克兰活动经费的阴谋持续了“至少整个2016年”。
Mr Mueller has been steadily building his case. Michael Flynn, Mr Trump’s former national security adviser indicted last year on charges of lying to the FBI, has agreed to plead guilty and co-operate. A more junior campaign aide, George Papodopolous, has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and is now co-operating.
米勒一直在稳步地为自己的案子寻找证据。特朗普的前国家安全顾问迈克尔•弗林(Michael Flynn)去年因向联邦调查局(FBI)撒谎而被起诉，他已同意认罪并进行合作。一名更年轻的竞选助手乔治•帕帕多普洛斯(George Papodopolou)已承认对调查人员撒谎的罪行，正在予以合作。
The latest developments come just a week after Mr Mueller indicted 13 Russian individuals and three entities for allegedly running a cyber “troll farm” that tried to interfere with the 2016 election and have Mr Trump elected. The elaborate social media campaign began as early as 2014.
仅仅一周之前，米勒起诉了13名俄罗斯个人和3个实体，指控他们经营着一个网络“喷子制造厂”(troll farm)，试图干扰2016年的选举，让特朗普当选。这次精心策划的社交媒体活动早在2014年就开始了。
While Mr Mueller has unveiled a series of indictments, he has not produced any evidence publicly about the broader question of whether the Trump campaign team conspired with Russia to influence the election.
尽管米勒公布了一系列诉状，但他尚未公开给出有关特朗普竞选团队是否曾与俄罗斯合谋影响选举这一更广泛问题的任何证据。
