爱泼斯坦档案：为何如此多权贵名流愿与他来往 - 纽约时报双语版

The case of Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy sex offender with links to President Trump and a vast number of other rich and powerful figures in the U.S. and beyond, has made headlines for years. Everyone knows about it.

多年来，杰弗里·爱泼斯坦案一直占据新闻头条，早已是家喻户晓的话题。爱泼斯坦是一名富有的性犯罪者，与特朗普总统以及美国乃至全球众多权贵人物都有联系。

But the case presents such a sprawling scandal that it feels hard to wrap your arms around. Who was involved — and what does “involved” mean anyway? These are some of the questions I’m hearing at the school gates and at dinner parties.

但这起案件牵扯出的丑闻枝蔓丛生，令人难以厘清全貌。到底都有哪些人牵涉其中——而所谓“牵涉”究竟又该作何解读？这是我在学校门口和饭局上时常听到人们讨论的问题。

So I called up my colleague Matthew Goldstein, who has been covering the story since 2019, when Epstein was indicted and arrested in New York on federal charges of sex trafficking and died by suicide. You can read our conversation below.

于是，我拨通了同事马修·戈德斯坦的电话。自2019年爱泼斯坦因被控涉嫌联邦性交易罪在纽约被起诉逮捕、后自杀身亡以来，他便一直跟进报道此案。以下是我们的对话内容。

What we know about the Epstein files

我们对爱泼斯坦档案的已知情况

So, Matt: Last November, Congress passed a law obliging the Trump administration to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein. What exactly are these Epstein files? Are there more? Where does this end?

那么，马特，去年11月，国会通过一项法案，要求特朗普政府公开其掌握的爱泼斯坦相关档案。这些档案具体是什么？是否还有更多未公开的内容？此事最终会如何收场？

The Epstein files, broadly speaking, are everything that prosecutors have accumulated since Epstein first came into their sights in 2005 on allegations of abusing underage girls in Florida. Since November, some three million-odd pages’ worth of documents have been released. The final batch came last week, and we’re still going through it.

广义而言，爱泼斯坦相关档案指的是2005年以来检察官积累的所有资料，当时他因被指控在佛罗里达州虐待未成年少女首次进入检察官视线。自去年11月至今，已有约300万页的相关文件陆续公开，最后一批文件于上周公布，目前我们仍在对其进行梳理。

These documents come from two criminal investigations between 2006 and 2019. Epstein has been on the sex offender registry since 2008. But it’s not all information related to sex trafficking. There are also his clients’ financial documents in there. There are personal email and text message exchanges and videos and photos.

这些文件来源于2006年至2019年间的两次刑事调查。事实上，爱泼斯坦自2008年起就已被列入性侵罪犯登记名单。但这批文件的内容并非全部与性交易案相关，其中还包含他客户的财务文件、私人邮件与短信往来记录，以及相关视频和照片。

Was there anything in this latest batch that changed the story for you? New names? New revelations?

最新公布的这批文件中，有没有出现能扭转叙事的内容？比如新的涉案人员姓名，或是新的爆料？

So far, it doesn’t fundamentally change our understanding of the story. It does give us more color and a better understanding of people’s attitudes and willingness to hang out with a known sex offender.

截至目前，这些文件并未从根本上改变我们对案件的认知，但它们让我们更详尽地了解各方人士的态度，也让我们更清楚，他们是如何心甘情愿与一名已登记在册的性侵罪犯交往密切。

A lot of international names have surfaced. How global is the Epstein story?

文件中曝光了不少国际知名人士的名字。这起案件的全球波及范围到底有多广？

A majority of the people involved are American. But yes, there are lots of international names mentioned in the files. Everyone knows about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince. Others include Peter Mandelson, the ex-British ambassador to the U.S.; Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister; the Norwegian royals.

涉案人员大多为美国人，但文件中也确实提及了诸多国际名流。前王子安德鲁·蒙巴顿-温莎的相关情况早已人尽皆知，此外还有前英国驻美大使彼得·曼德尔森、前以色列总理埃胡德·巴拉克，以及挪威王室成员等。

And a lot of the young women came from Eastern Europe and Russia.

而且有许多受害的年轻女性来自东欧和俄罗斯地区。

One thing I’ve been trying to understand is: Why did all these powerful and rich people want to hang out with Epstein?

我一直想弄明白一个问题：为何这些权贵名流都愿意与爱泼斯坦来往？

I think it speaks to how elite society works around the globe. It reveals the way that money, no matter how it’s gained, brings people attention, which brings more money and more attention, and generates this vast network of connections — even for someone like Epstein. So people saw that he gathered powerful people around him and wanted to be part of it, and that way the circle became bigger.

我认为，这揭示了全球精英圈层的运行逻辑。它揭示了这样一种现象：无论财富来路如何，金钱都能为一个人吸引关注，进而带来更多财富与更高关注，并由此编织出庞大的人脉网络——即便是爱泼斯坦这样的人也不例外。因此，当人们看到爱泼斯坦身边聚集了众多权贵，便纷纷想要跻身其中，这个圈子也就不断扩大。

But as you said, he was a publicly known and officially registered sex offender since 2008?

但正如你所说，他早在2008年就已是公开登记在案的性侵者了，不是吗？

Yes, and in that way it’s also revealing of how some people in elite society viewed women. There was very much a class aspect to this. A lot of the young girls came from broken homes and poor backgrounds. Some of them had been abused in their own families. And they were viewed, basically, as objects, if not to be sexually used, then to just be around, almost like furniture. They were viewed as disposable people.

没错，从这一点来看，也揭示了精英阶层中某些人是如何看待女性的。这其中还带有鲜明的阶级属性：许多受害少女都出身破碎家庭与贫困背景，有些甚至在原生家庭中就遭受过虐待。她们本质上被视为物品——即便不被当作性侵对象，也不过是像家具一样的陪衬，被视为随时可以被抛弃的人。

For many, the Epstein story has become a Trump story. How much of a risk is this story for the president?

对很多人而言，爱泼斯坦事件已演变为特朗普事件。这起案件会给特朗普带来多大的风险？

In a way, Trump did that to himself. His involvement with Epstein was no secret. It was known when he ran for president the first time in 2016. If it had just been about his closeness to Epstein, it would have been embarrassing, but the story probably would have faded.

从某种程度上说，这是特朗普咎由自取。他与爱泼斯坦的关联从来都不是秘密，早在2016年他首次竞选总统时，这件事就已经被公之于众。如果仅仅是与爱泼斯坦过从甚密，这顶多只是令人难堪，但风波或许很快就会平息。

Trump made himself the story by promising the MAGA base that it would have full transparency about Epstein, but then sort of doing a fake out. His administration made a big deal about having the Epstein client list, but then put out information that had already been largely in the public domain.

然而，特朗普先是向“让美国再次伟大”的支持者承诺，会彻底公开爱泼斯坦案的全部真相，随后却在某种程度上弄虚作假。他领导的政府曾大肆宣扬手握爱泼斯坦的客户名单，最终公布的却大多是早已公之于众的信息。

Which made a lot of people think he’s hiding something.

这难免让许多人怀疑，他是在隐瞒些什么。

Yes, and that has created political problems for him. In the new batch of files, we found references to Trump that included some unverified claims, as well as documents that were already public.

的确如此，这也给他带来了不少政治麻烦。在最新公布的这批文件中，提及特朗普的内容包含一些未经证实的指控，还有一些则是早已公开的文件。

But from my perspective, I don’t see this story as primarily about Trump. It’s about this world of men in elite society and their treatment of young women.

但在我看来，这起案件的核心并非特朗普本人。它真正要揭露的是精英圈层中男性群体的世界，以及他们如何对待年轻女性。

本文节译自时报全球新闻电邮The World。

翻译：晋其角

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