弗林被解職,“通俄”醜聞繼續發酵

The White House is facing mounting pressure to explain the relationship between President Donald Trump and the Kremlin, after Michael Flynn was fired as national security adviser following claims that he may have illegally discussed sanctions with Russia’s ambassador to Washington.

白宮正受到越來越大的壓力，要求其解釋唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)總統與克林姆林宮之間的關係。此前邁克爾?弗林(Michael Flynn)被解除國家安全顧問一職，原因是他可能非法地與俄羅斯駐華盛頓大使討論了制裁問題。

The abrupt ousting of Mr Flynn after 24 days in the White House role has intensified the focus on the Trump administration’s ties to Russia and made it impossible for the White House to convince sceptics that all is smooth inside the West Wing.

在白宮任職僅24天的弗林突遭解職，加劇了外界對特朗普政府與俄羅斯關係的關注，而且使白宮再也無法說服持懷疑態度的人士相信其內部運作一切正常。

Mr Flynn was fired on Monday as scrutiny mounted into claims that he discussed US sanctions against Russia in calls with the Russian ambassador before Mr Trump’s inauguration — a possible breach of a 1799 law — and then misled Mike Pence, vice-president, about the calls. US media reported that the justice department had warned the White House weeks ago that this made Mr Flynn susceptible to blackmail.

弗林周一遭解職之際，各方對他所面臨的指控越來越關注，他被指在特朗普就職之前就與俄羅斯大使在電話通話中討論了美國對俄製裁問題（此舉可能觸犯了1799年生效的一部法律）、後來又在電話內容上誤導了副總統邁克?彭斯(Mike Pence)。據美國媒體報道，美國司法部幾周前就警告白宮，這使得弗林容易受到要挾。

Sean Spicer, White House spokesman, on Tuesday said Mr Trump had concluded that there was no legal issue, but that he was angry that Mr Flynn had not been honest about the calls. Asked if the president had told Mr Flynn to discuss sanctions with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, he replied: “No, absolutely not.”

白宮發言人肖恩?斯派塞(Sean Spicer)週二表示，特朗普已得出結論認爲，這件事不存在法律問題，但他對弗林在電話內容上的不誠實非常生氣。在被問及是不是總統授意弗林與俄羅斯大使謝爾蓋?基斯利亞克(Sergey Kislyak)討論制裁問題時，他回答說：“不，絕對不是。”

“The level of trust between the president and General Flynn had eroded to a point where he felt he had to make a change,” said Mr Spicer. “The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable instances is what led the president to ask for General Flynn’s resignation.”

“總統與弗林中將之間的信任水平已受到侵蝕，以至於他覺得必須做出改變，”斯派塞說，“這一情況導致的不斷演變和遭侵蝕的信任水平，以及其他一系列有問題的事例，是總統要求弗林中將辭職的原因。”

Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said reports that the White House had been briefed weeks ago raised “deeply troubling questions” and said the public needed to know whether Mr Flynn had been asked to make the calls. Roy Blunt, a Republican member of the committee, said investigators should pursue the case until “nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned”.

美國參議院情報委員會(Senate intelligence committee)的民主黨頭號人物馬克?華納(Mark Warner)說，有關白宮幾周前就已得到通報的報道，帶來了“令人深感不安的問題”，他表示，公衆需要知道弗林是不是奉命打了那些電話。該委員會的共和黨成員羅伊?布倫特(Roy Blunt)說，調查人員應追查此案，直至“沒人懷疑有任何細節被遺漏”。

Russian politicians said Mr Flynn’s exit did not bode well for the turnround in bilateral relations desired by Moscow. “Even the readiness for dialogue with the Russians is seen as a thought crime by the hawks in Washington,” said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of parliament. “Russophobia has infected even the new administration.”

俄羅斯政界人士表示，弗林出局對於莫斯科渴望的雙邊關係轉向不是好兆頭。“即使是與俄羅斯進行對話的意願都被華盛頓鷹派視爲思想犯罪，”俄羅斯聯邦議會上院外交事務委員會主席康斯坦丁?科薩切夫(Konstantin Kosachev)說，“恐俄症甚至已經傳染到了新政府。”

Congressional aides in Washington said the new revelations about Mr Flynn would likely spur further investigations by Congress, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement. “People can smell blood in the water and want to do more,” said one senior Republican congressional aide. “It’s not like many Republicans are defending him.”

在華盛頓，美國國會的助理們表示，關於弗林的最新爆料很可能會促使國會、情報機構和執法部門展開進一步調查。一位資深共和黨國會助理表示：“人們能聞到水裏的血腥氣，想要採取更多行動。反正沒有多少共和黨人在爲他辯護。”

The Trump administration’s ties to Russia are the subject of separate investigations by the FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees. “This is just one more reason to keep digging,” said a former FBI official.

特朗普政府與俄羅斯的關係是聯邦調查局(FBI)和參衆兩院情報委員會發起的其他調查的焦點。FBI一名前官員表示：“這是繼續挖掘的又一個原因。”

FBI officials have been baffled by Mr Flynn’s conduct, the former official said, noting that the former intelligence operative must have known that his calls would be overheard by US spy agencies. “He’s got to know that the Russian side of the calls are covered. What did he think was going to happen?” the ex-FBI official said. “Everybody in the bureau was like, ‘this guy’s got to be out of his frickin’ mind.’”

這名前官員還說，FBI官員們對弗林的行爲感到困惑，指出身爲前情報人員的弗林，肯定知道自己的電話會被美國間諜機構竊聽。上述FBI前官員表示：“他必然知道俄方一側的電話會被竊聽。他以爲會怎樣？局裏每個人都覺得，‘這傢伙肯定腦子不正常。’”