assert in ones defence的意思

Ted Cruz,a Republican senator,then asserted in Mr Pai s defence that Darth Vader supported government regulation of the web;further jabs followed.
请问老师句中的assert in ones defence that……的意思是？

本文是关于美国争论是不是要对网络推行监管的一篇文章。

谢谢老师，祝老师们新年快乐！

Ted Cruz, a Republican senator, then asserted in Mr Pai’s defence that Darth Vader supported government regulation of the web; further jabs followed.

【答】在asserted in Mr Pai’s defence that中，asserted是谓语动词，它跟in Mr Pai’s defence并不是固定搭配，它们的关系并不密切。

assert是及物动词，意为“断言；倡导；声称”，一般跟that宾语从句，所以，后面的that Darth Vader supported government regulation of the web就是其宾语从句。

in one’s defence：介词短语，意为“为某人辩护；为某人辩解”，在本句作目的状语。它的地方比较灵活，由于宾语相对较长的原故，为了照顾句子匀称，就把它放在谓语和宾语中间，结果把谓语和宾语分隔开来。