美国国家公共电台 NPR White House Discloses Ethics Waivers For Presidential Aides

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Last night, the White House released 14 ethics¹ waivers, documents that exempt² some top presidential aides from important ethics rules. As NPR's Peter Overby reports, the disclosures came after a quiet but tough battle between the Trump³ administration and the Office of Government Ethics.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE⁴: The waivers are considered public documents, but for weeks after President Trump took office, they weren't made public. In April, the Office of Government Ethics began to push the issue. The White House initially⁵ said OGE didn't have the legal authority to do that. But yesterday, it agreed to post the waivers online. OGE Director Walter Shaub Jr. had a terse⁶ response.

WALTER SHAUB JR.: I was pleased to see the White House release the waivers on its website. Having the waivers is critical to ensuring that agencies and individual appointees are adhering to the ethics requirements.

OVERBY: Among those getting ethics waivers, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was allowed to take bonuses of a $175,000 from his old job running the Republican National Committee. Presidential counselor⁷ Kellyanne Conway was allowed to communicate with clients from her former consulting firm but only on broad policy matters. Three former corporate⁸ lobbyists will keep working on the issues they dealt with before - finance and energy and the environment. And Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, can meet privately⁹ with that media outlet¹⁰.

More waivers are out there, and the Office of Government Ethics expects to make them public as it collects them from other federal agencies. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

1 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

2 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

7 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

10 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。