評論
打印
The Tantalizing Operative of Pivital to Mueller’s Inquiry
米勒調查中吊人胃口又事關重大的特工
By Kenneth P. Vogel and Andrew E. Kramer
文/肯尼斯·P·沃格爾，安德魯·E·克萊默
WASHINGTON — In the nearly two years that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has been investigating whether there was collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign,
華盛頓——特別檢察官羅伯特·S·米勒三世調查俄羅斯是否串通特朗普競選團隊的近兩年時間里，
few figures seem to have offered more tantalizing leads than Konstantin V. Kilimnik.
似乎很少有人提供的線索比康斯坦丁·V. 基里姆尼克的更有吸引力。
A diminutive, multilingual political operative who was born in Ukraine while it was still part of the Soviet Union,
基利姆尼克是一名身材矮小、會多種語言的政府特工，出生在蘇聯統治時期的烏克蘭。
Mr. Kilimnik has continued to attract intense interest from prosecutors
因為同他長期的雇主、導師保羅·馬納福特之間有接觸，
for his interactions with his longtime boss and mentor, Paul Manafort,
加上米勒準備結束調查之際還與俄羅斯情報機構之間存在可疑的往來，
and his suspected ties to Russian intelligence, even as Mr. Mueller prepares to wrap up his investigation.
基利姆尼克不斷引起了檢察官的密切關注。
The full story of what Mr. Mueller has found about cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election is not known.
針對2016年總統大選期間特朗普競選團隊與俄羅斯串通一事，米勒到底掌握了哪些情報目前尚不清楚。
But Mr. Kilimnik pops up repeatedly as a possible connection, with ties to both sides that are as enigmatic as they are deep.
但身為可能的中間人，并與雙方有著既神秘又深厚的關系的基利姆尼克反復出現在了這個案子中。
And his dealings with Mr. Manafort, who in 2016 served as Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman,
而且，他和2016年大選時擔任唐納德·特朗普的競選經理的馬納福特之間的往來，
encompass two of the most intriguing elements of the special counsel’s inquiry to surface publicly:
還涉及了已經公開的，特別檢察官這次俄羅斯調查中最引人注目的兩個因素：
the sharing of polling data with Mr. Kilimnik,
馬納福特向基利姆尼克透露過投票數據，
and the work he and Mr. Manafort did on behalf of Kremlin-aligned Ukrainian interests that were pushing plans that could have eased economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its allies.
還和他為推動原本可以減輕美國及其盟友對俄羅斯實施的經濟制裁的諸多方案的，親克里姆林宮的烏克蘭利益方效過力。
Dozens of interviews, court filings and other documents
數十次的采訪、法庭檔案和其他文件都顯示，
show Mr. Kilimnik to be an operator who moved easily between Russian, Ukrainian and American patrons,
基利姆尼克是一個可以輕松游走于俄羅斯、烏克蘭和美國的雇主之間，
playing one off the other while leaving a jumble of conflicting suspicions in his wake.
在留下一堆相互矛盾的猜疑的同時坐收漁利的特工。
The effort to disentangle the mysteries surrounding him seems likely to leave questions even after the conclusion of the special counsels' work.
即便特別檢察官的工作已經收尾，試圖解開圍繞基利姆尼克的謎團的努力似乎仍無法解開所有問題。
To American diplomats in Washington and Kiev,
在華盛頓和基輔的美國外交官眼里，
he has been a well-known character for nearly a decade,
近十年來，基利姆尼克一直是一號響當當的
developing a reputation as a broker of valuable information
逐漸打響了自己作為一名掌握了寶貴信息的掮客的名聲的人物，
like the alliances of Ukraine’s oligarchs and the country’s handling of foreign investment and sensitive criminal cases.
比如烏克蘭寡頭的聯盟，以及該國對外國投資和敏感刑事案件的處理方面的情報。
He traveled freely to the United States,
他可以不受限制地去美國旅行，
and on a trip in May 2016 met senior State Department officials for drinks at the Off the Record bar in the basement of the Hay-Adams hotel across from the White House.
還在2016年5月的一次旅行中同國務院高級官員在白宮對面的海亞當斯酒店的地下酒吧喝過酒。
Later that year, he visited with the new United States ambassador to Ukraine in Kiev.
同年晚些時候，他還在基輔和新任美國駐烏克蘭大使交談過。
But in a federal court in Washington, Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors have repeatedly portrayed Mr. Kilimnik as something potentially more nefarious:
不過，在華盛頓某聯邦法院，米勒的檢察官曾多次把基里姆尼克描繪成可能比他表面上更邪惡的角色：
a former Russian intelligence officer who "has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016."
一名前俄羅斯情報官員，“與俄羅斯情報機構有聯系，2016年總統大選時就有這種聯系。”
And around the same time that he was passing through Washington nearly three years ago —
而且，差不多就在三年前他經過華盛頓的那段時間——
just as Mr. Trump was clinching the Republican presidential nomination —
也就是特朗普剛剛贏得共和黨總統候選人提名的時候——
he first received polling data about the 2016 election from two top Trump campaign officials, Mr. Manafort and Rick Gates,
他第一個從特朗普競選團隊的兩名高級官員——馬納福特和里克·蓋茨手里拿到了2016年總統大選的選票數據，
as Russia was beginning a social media operation intended to help Mr. Trump’s campaign.
當時俄羅斯恰好正在啟動一項旨在幫助特朗普競選的社交媒體活動。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
