白宮國家安全顧問涉與俄官員進行違法談話
Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, is facing mounting pressure over claims he may have broken the law by discussing US sanctions against Russia with a Moscow official before the US president’s inauguration.
唐納德?特朗普(Michael Flynn)的國家安全顧問邁克爾?弗林(Michael Flynn)面臨着越來越大的壓力，原因是他可能在美國總統就職之前就與莫斯科方面的一名官員討論了美國對俄製裁問題，從而觸犯了法律。The White House has been forced on to the back foot after the former general went from denying discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington to saying he could not recall if the issue was addressed in conversations.
白宮已被迫採取守勢，因爲這位退役中將說話前後不一：先是否認自己曾與俄羅斯駐華盛頓大使討論制裁問題，後來又說他不記得在談話中是否提到了這個問題。The Washington Post reported last week that US officials were concerned that Mr Flynn might have been signalling to the Kremlin that the Trump administration would adopt a softer stance on Russia than the Obama administration. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing the issue to determine what the two men discussed.
《華盛頓郵報》上週報道，美國官員們擔心弗林可能在向克里姆林宮發出信號，表明特朗普政府將對俄羅斯採取比奧巴馬政府更柔和的立場。聯邦調查局(FBI)正在調查此事，以確定兩人究竟討論了什麼。
Pressed by reporters on Friday, Mr Trump said he had no knowledge of the issue, but would “look into” the reports. Stephen Miller, a White House policy adviser, was conspicuous in not defending Mr Flynn when he was sent to advocate for the administration on the Sunday political talk television shows.
特朗普在上週五被記者們追問時表示，他對這件事一無所知，但會“看一看”相關報道。白宮政策顧問斯蒂芬?米勒(Stephen Miller)在代表特朗普政府參加週日的電視政治談話節目時，令人矚目地沒有維護弗林。Mr Miller dodged a question, saying it was “sensitive”, which is typically not the kind of language the White House uses when it wants to defend an official under attack. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey who was once a contender for a senior role in the Trump administration, told CNN that Mr Flynn should talk to Mr Trump and Mr Pence to “make sure that they are completely accurate about what went on”.
米勒迴避了一個問題，稱其“敏感”，這不是白宮在捍衛一名受到攻擊的官員時常用的措辭。新澤西州共和黨州長、一度是特朗普政府高級職位角逐者的克里斯?克里斯蒂(Chris Christie)對有線電視新聞網(CNN)表示，弗林應該同特朗普和彭斯交談，“確保他們完全準確地瞭解發生了什麼情況”。Democrats have criticised the White House over the allegation that Mr Flynn may have contravened the Logan Act. The 1798 law bars private citizens from engaging in foreign policy, although nobody has been successfully prosecuted. The White House did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
對於弗林可能違反了《羅根法》(Logan Act)的指控，民主黨人對白宮提出批評。美國在1798年通過的這部法律禁止私人蔘與外交政策，儘管還沒有人被依照該法成功地提起公訴。白宮昨日沒有迴應記者的置評請求。While such allegations would be damaging for any White House, the issue has taken on more significance because of concerns among Democrats — and some hawkish Republicans — that Mr Trump intends to remove, or weaken, sanctions on Russia that were imposed because of the conflict in Ukraine. Mr Trump has been critical of several US allies, but he has defended Russian president Vladimir Putin on multiple occasions.
此類指控會損害任何一屆行政當局，但這件事格外重大，因爲民主黨人——還有一些鷹派共和黨人——都擔心特朗普有意取消或削弱因烏克蘭衝突而實施的對俄製裁。特朗普曾對美國的多個盟國發表批評，卻已在多個場合爲俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)辯護。“As with so many other aspects of the Trump presidency, this is unpreceden-ted. Flynn is badly damaged, whether he stays or goes,” said Larry Sabato, a politics expert at the University of Virginia. “The worst part is that Flynn’s vulnerability — his cosiness with Putin and Russia — was well known to Trump before his appointment. So it’s a self-inflicted wound that underlines again the suspicions about Russia’s influence in Trump’s election and administration.”
“就像特朗普總統任期的其他許多方面一樣，這是史無前例的。弗林無論留下還是走人，他都已嚴重受損，”弗尼吉亞大學(University of Virginia)政治專家拉里?薩巴托(Larry Sabato)表示。“最糟糕的一點是，弗林的弱點——他與普京和俄羅斯的親近——特朗普在任命他之前就非常清楚。所以說這是一個自我造成的傷口，再次突顯了人們對俄羅斯在特朗普當選和他的行政當局中發揮影響的疑慮。”
