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Later that evening, Trump’s lawyers Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani left a message for the President—
當晚晚些時候，特朗普的律師杰伊·塞庫洛和魯迪·朱利安尼給總統留了言——
they didn’t want to take Trump away from monitoring his Secretary of State’s negotiations
他們不想轉移特朗普對監督國務卿
over the release of three Americans from North Korea,
就三名美國人從朝鮮獲釋一事展開的談判的注意力，
so they said it wasn’t urgent.
所以他們才說這件事并不緊急。
At around 8:30 p.m., Trump got on the phone.
晚上8點半左右，特朗普接了電話。
“I don’t know anything about it,” Trump told his lawyers,
“這件事我根本不知道啊，”特朗普告訴他的兩位律師，
and after about 15 minutes spent going over the details, Giuliani told TIME, Trump signed off.
在花了大約15分鐘的時間討論細節后，特朗普簽署了該協議，朱利安尼接受本刊采訪時表示。
“It doesn’t involve him,” Giuliani said. “Nobody’s concerned about it.”
“此事與他無關，”朱利安尼說。“沒人關心這個問題。”
Giuliani denies that the company was used for payouts on Trump’s behalf.
朱利安尼否認該公司是用來以特朗普的名義支出巨額款項的。
Cohen did not respond to TIME’s requests for comment.
在本刊邀請他對此發表評論時，朱利安尼沒有做出任何回應。
In the perverse pay-to-play world that Washington has become,
在華盛頓這個已經變成了一個不正常的付費游戲世界的地方，
it’s not clear that any of the Essential Consultants transactions were illegal.
“必要咨詢”的所有這些交易是否違法目前還不清楚。
It’s common for powerful corporations to hire Washington insiders to influence government decisions:
實力強大的公司雇傭華盛頓內部人士左右政府決策這種事很常見：
Fortune 500 companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on efforts to revise pending rules or regulations,
《財富》500強那些公司每年都會花數億美元修訂懸而未決的規章制度，
halt or shape new legislation, and otherwise sway lawmakers to serve their interests.
叫停或改變新頒布的法律，或者說服立法人員為他們服務。
Nor do the documents make clear whether Cohen,
那些文件也沒有清楚地表明，
who is reportedly under federal investigation for possible bank fraud and violation of election laws,
科恩——據報道，目前他正因為涉嫌銀行欺詐和違反選舉法在接受聯邦調查——
was simply enriching himself without Trump’s knowledge.
做這些是否只是為了背著特朗普中飽私囊。
Cohen reportedly used the company to pay for his own luxury expenses, like a Mercedes-Benz and private club dues.
據報道，科恩曾利用該公司為自己的奢侈消費，如奔馳和私人俱樂部會費買單。
Cohen did not respond to TIME’s requests for comment,
科恩沒有回應本刊提出的讓他對此發表看法的請求，
but on May 9 his attorney filed court papers challenging portions of Avenatti’s account.
不過，5月9日時，他的律師向法院提交了質疑阿文納蒂的部分陳述的文件。
But in the larger sense, the payments to and from the President’s personal lawyer may well be damaging to Trump on a number of fronts.
然而，從廣義上講，總統私人律師往來的款項很可能會從許多方面給特朗普造成不良影響。
They validate the continuing Justice Department probe
（比如，）它們不僅證實了司法部正在進行的調查，
and raise a host of questions that any prosecutor in the nation would feel compelled to answer:
還提出了一系列國內任何檢察官都會覺得有必要回答的問題：
Was Trump aware of payments made on his behalf?
特朗普知道以他的名義支付的那些款項嗎?
Did he know where the money came from?
他知道那些錢是從哪兒來的嗎?
Did he do anything in return, either in a personal or an official capacity?
他有沒有以個人或官方的身份做出過任何回報?
Moreover, the revelations underscore Trump’s disregard for presidential ethics,
此外，這些披露也突顯了特朗普并不在意總統應有的德行，
despite his campaign pledge to drain the swamp.
盡管他在競選時曾承諾要清除這片沼澤。
They threaten to erode Trump’s grip on supporters who don’t much care about Russia but may have less patience for influence peddling.
這些爆料還可能削弱特朗普的民眾支持率，那些支持者雖然不怎么關心俄羅斯，但對兜售影響力這件事可能就沒那么耐心了。
Democrats certainly hope so.
民主黨人對此當然是求之不得了。
“This investigation has completely metastasized,” says Zac Petkanas, a Democratic strategist who is tracking the investigation.
“這次調查徹底擴散開了，”跟蹤這次調查的民主黨策略師扎克·佩特卡納斯表示。
“It has many different heads, and not all of them are Russian heads.”
“這次調查涉及很多頭緒，但并不是所有頭緒都跟俄羅斯有關。”
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