在司法部密集采取行动、针对唐纳德·特朗普不喜欢的人之际，两名前联邦调查局（FBI）官员上周晚些时候被指控向国会撒谎——这是一个特朗普总统特别感兴趣的案件。
Amid a flurry of Justice Department efforts to target people whom Donald Trump doesn’t like, two former FBI officials were charged late last week with lying to Congress — in a case of particular interest to the president.
还记得亨特·拜登笔记本电脑的故事吗？作为共和党对此事调查的一部分，FBI反情报部前副助理主任妮基·弗洛里斯和另一名FBI官员布拉德利·贝纳维德斯曾向国会议员通报该电脑的内容。上周，特朗普领导的司法部指控他们涉嫌就其参与调查的程度作出虚假陈述。
Remember the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop? As part of a Republican investigation into the matter, Nikki Floris, the former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, and Bradley Benavides, another FBI official, briefed members of Congress about the contents of the computer. Last week, Trump’s DOJ charged them with allegedly making false statements about their level of involvement into the investigation.
他们的律师谴责这些指控是政治上的“胡扯”，且是在备受瞩目的选举前10天宣布的，情况更糟的是，总统在两人被捕后对记者说：“我听说他们是坏人。”他没有说明是从谁那里听说的。
Their attorneys condemned the charges as political “nonsense,” announced 10 days before closely watched elections, and it didn’t help matters that the president told reporters after their arrest, “I heard they were bad people.”He did not say from whom he’d heard this.
尽管如此，该案似乎开局不利。例如，在检方增加了一项妨碍司法指控后，一名联邦法官驳回了该指控。但同样引人注目的是，我们从资深FBI特工布莱恩·维特的证词中了解到的情况，他在周二出庭作证，揭示了幕后发生的事情。
Nevertheless, the case appears to be off to a rough start. After prosecutors added an obstruction charge to the case, for example, a federal judge dismissed it But just as notable was what we learned from Bryan Witt, a veteran FBI agent, who testified Tuesday and shed light on what transpired behind the scenes. The New York Times reported In mid-July, President Trump gave a prime-time speech in which he raised concerns about a disputed F.B.I. report that China had tried to interfere in the 2020 election in an effort to defeat him.
《纽约时报》报道，7月中旬，特朗普总统发表了一次黄金时段演讲，他在演讲中对一份有争议的FBI报告表示担忧，该报告称中国试图干预2020年大选以击败他。
At the heart of his address was a bitter complaint: that some of the bureau’s intelligence officials had purposefully sought to play down the report to undercut his claims about the race.
他演讲的核心是一项尖锐的抱怨：局里一些情报官员故意试图淡化该报告，以削弱他关于大选的主张。
According to Witt’s testimony, one day after Trump targeted FBI officials in his remarks FBI Director Kash Patel directed prosecutors immediately to investigate the officials for obstruction and conspiracy.
根据维特的证词，在特朗普针对FBI官员发表言论的第二天，FBI局长卡什·帕特尔指示检方立即调查这些官员涉嫌妨碍司法和共谋。
Witt conceded that FBI officials saw the inquiry as a “witch hunt,” and he personally saw the effort as a “huge distraction,” but the push ultimately led to charges against Floris and Benavides.
威特承认，联邦调查局官员将此次调查视为“猎巫行动”，他个人也认为这是“巨大的干扰”，但这一推进最终导致了对弗洛里斯和贝纳维德斯的指控。
The Times report went on to note that Witt “asserted from the stand that he had never before worked on a case where instructions came directly from the F.B.I.’s director. He added that Mr. Patel and his deputies often checked on his progress, pressing him and his colleagues to move as aggressively as possible.”
《纽约时报》的报道继续指出，威特“在证人席上宣称，他以前从未处理过直接接受联邦调查局局长指示的案件。他补充说，帕特尔及其副手经常过问他的进展，督促他和同事尽可能激进地推进办案。”时间将证明此案将如何发展，但可以肯定的是，被告律师们对威特的证词表现出了浓厚兴趣。但从这名探员的证词中得出的更广泛结论是不可避免的：特朗普一打响指，帕特尔就遵照总统的命令行事。
Time will tell what becomes of the case, though it’s a safe bet that the defendants’ attorneys have taken a keen interest in what Witt had to say. But the broader takeaway from the agent’s testimony is unavoidable: Trump snaps his fingers, and Patel follows the president’s orders. White House control over the Justice Department has been well-documented but its control over the FBI is just as overwhelming.
白宫对司法部的控制有据可查，但其对联邦调查局的控制同样令人震惊。帕特尔此前以播客主持人身份为人熟知，后经参议院共和党人提拔才升任这一要职，他虽名为局长，但有新的理由相信，他实际上是个“挂名局长”。
Patel, best known as a podcast personality before Senate Republicans elevated him to his powerful role, may lead the bureau, but there is fresh reason to believe he’s effectively a DINO — Director in Name Only. The post In court testimony, FBI agent sheds new light on the White House’s control over the bureau MS NOW