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It started out like a typical phone call between two world leaders:
一开始，这通电话和两个世界领导人之间一贯的通话并无不同：
“Congratulations on a great victory.”
“祝贺你取得了伟大的胜利。”
Earlier in the year, Volodymyr Zelensky defeated the incumbent to become President of Ukraine.
今年早些时候，弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基击败在任总统，当选为乌克兰下一任总统。
And now, his political party had won a majority in parliament.
现在，他的政党已经赢得了议会的多数席位。
“We all watched from the United States and you did a terrific job.”
“我们大家在美国都看到了，你做得非常棒。”
“I would like to confess to you that I had an opportunity to learn from you.
“坦白说，我也是在向你学习。
We used quite a few of your skills and knowledge…”
我们借鉴了不少你的技能和知识……”
But minutes later, this conversation took a turn with a single line from Trump.
然而，几分钟后，特朗普一句话，对话便出现了转折。
“I would like you to do us a favor, though…”
“不过，我还是想请你帮个忙……”
What Trump said next — according to a rough transcript released by the White House —
特朗普接下来说的话——根据白宫公布的一份粗略的文字记录来看——
forms the core of the impeachment proceedings against him.
正好构成了这次弹劾程序所针对的要害。
It could end his presidency.
甚至可能终结他的总统任期。
This 30-minute phone call might become one of the most important moments in American history.
这通30分钟的电话也可能成为美国历史上最重要的时刻之一。
Let’s back up a month before the call.
让我们先回到通话的一个月前。
Congress had approved $391 million in military aid to Ukraine to help defend against Russia.
当时，国会已经批准向乌方提供3.91亿美元的军事援助，帮助乌克兰抵御俄罗斯。
But Trump told his staff to withhold that money…he wanted to talk with Zelensky first.
但特朗普让他的员工把那笔钱扣下了……因为他想和泽伦斯基谈谈再说。
“Congratulations on the…”
“祝贺你……”
After sharing pleasantries, Trump quickly changed the subject.
互相寒暄之后，特朗普很快话锋一转。
He alluded to the billions of dollars in military aid the US has given Ukraine in the last few years.
他含蓄地提到几年下来，美国已经向乌克兰提供了数十亿美元军事援助。
“…the United States has been very very good to Ukraine.
“……美国对乌克兰非常非常好。
I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good,
我不想说这么做对大家都有好处，毕竟，发生了不好的事，
but, the United States has been very very good to Ukraine.”
但美国确实一直对乌克兰非常非常好。”
“I wouldn’t say it’s reciprocal.” In other words, Ukraine owed him something.
“我不想说这么做对大家都有好处。”换句话说，乌克兰欠了他的人情。
“Yes you are absolutely right.”
“是的，您说的一点儿没错。”
Zelensky then told Trump he's ready to cooperate.
泽伦斯基随后也告诉特朗普，他已经准备好合作了。
“We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps…”
“我们已经准备好接下来的合作了……”
“I would like you to do us a favor though.”
“不过，我还是想请你帮个忙……”
Trump ran through a few requests — and then he got to this one.
特朗普一连提了好几个要求——接着，他提出了下面的要求。
“There's a lot of talk about Biden's son…”
“外界出现了很多有关拜登儿子的传闻……”
Let’s pause here.
我们先暂停一下。
At the time of this call, Joe Biden was the leading candidate to run against Trump in 2020.
二人打这通电话的时候，乔·拜登是特朗普2020年总统竞选最大的竞争对手。
Polls from just before the call showed voters preferred Biden to Trump by a wide margin.
而这通电话之前的民调显示，选民对拜登的支持率要远远高于特朗普。
When he picked up the phone to call Zelensky, Joe Biden was a huge threat to Trump’s re-election.
特朗普拿起电话打给泽伦斯基的时候，乔·拜登对他的连任竞选构成了巨大的威胁。
That’s why what he said next is so important:
这也是他接下来所说的话为什么如此重要的原因：
“…whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great…if you can look into it…It sounds horrible to me.”
“……无论你和司法部长能做什么都可以……如果你能调查一下……听起来很可怕。”
Trump has this theory about Joe Biden, and it has to do with his son, Hunter.
特朗普之所以对乔·拜登有这样的意见是因为这件事牵涉到了拜登的儿子亨特。
Back in 2014, Hunter took a cushy job at a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.
早在2014年的时候，亨特在乌克兰的天然气公司布瑞斯玛找到了一份颇为轻松的工作。
As it turns out, the British were investigating the owner of this same company for money laundering.
后来，英国人想要调查这家公司的老板是否存在洗钱行为。
And they asked Ukraine's top prosecutor, Victor Shokin, to pursue this case.
他们要求乌克兰最高检察官维克多·肖金来调查此案。
Because investigating corruption was his job.
因为调查腐败是他的分内之职。
But Shokin ignored them.
但肖金没有理睬他们。
And Burisma’s owner was never prosecuted.
布瑞斯玛的老板也一直没有被起诉。
