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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Justice Department asks a federal court to unseal warrant used to search Mar-a-Lago
NPR's A Martinez talks to former federal prosecutor2 Renato Mariotti about U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's request to unseal the warrant for the FBI search of Donald Trump3's home.
A MART?NEZ, HOST:
Former President Donald Trump says he will not oppose the release of documents related to the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home. Attorney General Merrick Garland yesterday said the Justice Department had asked a federal court in Florida to unseal them. But he also noted4 that the former president could have made them public at any time.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MERRICK GARLAND: Both the warrant and the FBI property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former president's counsel, who was onsite during the search.
MART?NEZ: Garland spoke5 just hours after an attempted attack on an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio. And he condemned6 the violent attacks and threats and rhetoric7 that he said are being aimed at DOJ officials and FBI agents.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GARLAND: I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked.
MART?NEZ: For more, we're joined now by former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. Renato, did the Justice Department wait too long to ask for the release of these documents?
RENATO MARIOTTI: I don't think so. In fact, in a typical case, you would expect that there wouldn't be a request at this point in time to have these documents released. You know, in the past, the Justice Department had spoken, for example, in the Clinton investigation8, outside the bounds of what you would ordinarily see in an investigation. And that didn't turn out very well. So I think it was wise for the Justice Department to take a very careful course here.
MART?NEZ: The public pressure, do you think that had something to do with this?
MARIOTTI: Well, no question. I think that a lot of it had to do with misinformation that there was in the media. I note that the attorney general went out of his way to correct some inaccuracies that had been floating around in his statement. And I think he heard the outcry from many, including many elected officials. And I think that definitely played a role in this decision.
MART?NEZ: Do you think, though, it will make a difference to critics? I mean, after all, the underlying9 affidavits11 with detailed12 evidence are not part of this request for the court. So do you think what we're going to see when we see it will make that much of a difference?
MARIOTTI: No. And to be very blunt, I mean, I think even if the affidavit10 was released and Merrick Garland answered every question that they had, I just think that there are ultimately...
MART?NEZ: (Laughter).
MARIOTTI: ...Are critics who are going to criticize this because they're going to, you know, criticize the Justice Department if it is searching a residence of Donald Trump regardless.
MART?NEZ: So considering that, then why do it? I mean, do we go back to just trying to set the record straight?
MARIOTTI: Well, I think there's a couple of reasons. One is that because the Justice Department was saying nothing - and that was usually the course, of course, that the Justice Department takes - I think it was creating a vacuum. And it allowed the former president to fill that vacuum with misinformation. Essentially13, he was able to hold back the warrant and the inventory14 that he did have in his possession and, basically, spin a misleading narrative15 of the facts. And what this did is it essentially, you know, ended that vacuum by putting out some accurate information and, essentially, I would say, forced the former president's hand. I mean, he has been saying that he wants everything public but deliberately16 hasn't released the information that he had. And so essentially, the Justice Department called his bluff17 on that.
MART?NEZ: It's always amazing, though, how saying nothing can sound so loud.
MARIOTTI: Absolutely. I actually think it added a power to the statement that Garland did make. I mean, it's interesting, right? He had a very short statement. It was only about 4 minutes long. But it definitely had a power, even though he didn't say much because there was all this silence. And it was clear that he was taking great care to say as little as possible to protect the integrity of the investigation and to take care of the rights of, in this case, a person who has not been charged.
MART?NEZ: So let's say we go to release these documents, how detailed of a picture will we get about what exactly was seized?
MARIOTTI: Well, you'll get a detailed picture of exactly what was seized because the inventory will have a detailed list. And essentially, the list will be sufficient to identify each of the items that was seized well enough to ensure that if something wasn't returned that there would be some record that the owner of the property could use to try to make a claim against it later. That's kind of the reason that you have an inventory like that, is so that the property holder18 can say, hey, I didn't get my snowblower back or whatever was seized by the FBI in a typical case. What we won't see, of course, is a lot of the underlying evidence...
MART?NEZ: Yeah.
MARIOTTI: ...That was used to obtain the warrant.
MART?NEZ: What kind of conclusion could a rational observer get from what we might see?
MARIOTTI: Well, I - you know, if reports are accurate that this is regarding highly classified information, including potential nuclear secrets, then I think the information that an observer could get is, first of all, potentially the sheer volume of classified information that was on the president's residence at the time. You may get some detail regarding a very, very high level, vague information regarding what that was about. So that could give you a sense of whether it's the sort of information that he would have had a purpose in having in his residence or keeping after his presidency19. And I think you'll also, you know, through that list, potentially get a sense of why the Justice Department may have had some reason why they thought they needed to go in and get this information.
MART?NEZ: Yeah. So it sounds like it could be crucial then, these documents, if prosecutors20 want to make a case against the former president.
MARIOTTI: Oh, I think that's absolutely right. And I think, also, it will justify21 the search potentially or not. I mean, in other words - you know, there was a tagline that the former president was using right after the search saying, if they did it to me, they could do it to you. Well, I don't have sensitive nuclear secrets in my basement. And...
MART?NEZ: That we know of, Renato, that we know of.
MARIOTTI: There you go. Well, I think if they did, they would not have sent me a subpoena22 and asked politely for the nuclear secrets back. I think the FBI would have, you know, beat down my door quite some time ago.
MART?NEZ: One more thing, quickly. Does the Justice Department have any obligation to offer any kind of legal protection for Donald Trump's rights if he's charged with a crime?
MARIOTTI: Well, no, they do not. I mean, not in this instance. There would be no legal obligation for them to do so.
MART?NEZ: Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. Thanks a lot.
MARIOTTI: Thank you.
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n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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prosecutor
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n.起诉人;检察官,公诉人 | |
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trump
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n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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noted
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adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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spoke
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n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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condemned
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adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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rhetoric
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n.修辞学,浮夸之言语 | |
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investigation
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n.调查,调查研究 | |
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underlying
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adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的 | |
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affidavit
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n.宣誓书 | |
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affidavits
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n.宣誓书,(经陈述者宣誓在法律上可采作证据的)书面陈述( affidavit的名词复数 ) | |
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detailed
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adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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13
essentially
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adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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14
inventory
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n.详细目录,存货清单 | |
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narrative
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n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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deliberately
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adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
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bluff
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v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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holder
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n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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presidency
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n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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prosecutors
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检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 ); 告发人; 起诉人; 公诉人 | |
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justify
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vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
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subpoena
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n.(法律)传票;v.传讯 | |
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