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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
At the Justice Department today, authorities announced a crackdown on leaks of classified information. The attorney general and the director of national intelligence promised to stop the flow of national security secrets, and they signaled reporters could get caught in the crossfire1. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE2: For months, President Trump3 has demanded the Justice Department do more to stop damaging leaks of government secrets. And now embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions has responded with this message.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JEFF SESSIONS: We are taking a stand. This culture of leaking must stop.
JOHNSON: Criminal prosecutors4 at the Justice Department don't spend their time investigating gossip and infighting at the White House. Instead they mobilize when sensitive national security information gets disclosed. According to Jeff Sessions, that's been happening too often. The attorney general says he's tripled the number of active leak investigations5 this year, and he's directed U.S. attorneys to make those probes a priority.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SESSIONS: So today I have this message for our friends in the intelligence community. The Department of Justice is open for business. And I have this warning for would-be leakers. Don't do it.
JOHNSON: Justice Department officials say career FBI agents and prosecutors have complained about how long it takes to investigate criminal leaks. So Sessions says authorities are reviewing policies about when they issue subpoenas6 to news organizations and how many government officials need to approve them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SESSIONS: We respect the important role that the press plays, and we'll give them respect. But it is not unlimited7. They cannot place lives at risk with impunity8. We must balance the press's role with protecting our national security and the lives of those who serve in the intelligence community, the armed forces and all law-abiding Americans.
BEN WIZNER: Any administration wants to exert its influence to control the flow of information to the press and the public.
JOHNSON: Ben Wizner is a lawyer at the ACLU.
WIZNER: But never in the history of the country have we had threats this blunt against reporters for doing their job.
JOHNSON: Wizner says the Justice Department has never prosecuted9 a reporter for publishing truthful10 information. But he says...
WIZNER: We shouldn't feel confident that just because reporters have never been prosecuted for publishing government secrets, that it won't happen under this administration. If we've learned anything over the last six months, it's that we can't take anything for granted.
JOHNSON: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says the Justice Department announcement on leaks is deeply troubling. The group points out reporters already handle sensitive information in a responsible way, even working with government officials to protect lives before they publish anything. But to the U.S. intelligence community, leaks of national security secrets have real and negative consequences. Dan Coats is director of national intelligence.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAN COATS: They give our adversaries11 knowledge of our activities. They impede12 our ability to share information with our allies. There is also a real cost in dollars to compensate13 for blown programs.
JOHNSON: Of course, Coats says, leaks sometimes spring from places no one would ever imagine.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
COATS: These national security breaches14 do not just originate in the intelligence community. They come from a wide range of sources within the government, including the executive branch and including the Congress.
JOHNSON: And the Trump administration may come to find out as its predecessors15 did that sometimes leak investigations wind up pointing at someone in the White House. Call it a case of unintended consequences. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
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1
crossfire
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n.被卷进争端 | |
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byline
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n.署名;v.署名 | |
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3
trump
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n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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4
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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5
investigations
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(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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subpoenas
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n.(传唤出庭的)传票( subpoena的名词复数 )v.(用传票)传唤(某人)( subpoena的第三人称单数 ) | |
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7
unlimited
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adj.无限的,不受控制的,无条件的 | |
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impunity
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n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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9
prosecuted
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a.被起诉的 | |
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10
truthful
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adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的 | |
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11
adversaries
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n.对手,敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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12
impede
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v.妨碍,阻碍,阻止 | |
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13
compensate
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vt.补偿,赔偿;酬报 vi.弥补;补偿;抵消 | |
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14
breaches
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破坏( breach的名词复数 ); 破裂; 缺口; 违背 | |
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15
predecessors
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n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身 | |
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