美国国家公共电台 NPR DOJ Announces Crackdown On Leaks As Intelligence Agencies' Calls For Probes Triple

 

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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.

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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.

1 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

2 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。

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 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

6 subpoenas   

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 )

参考例句：

• My company has complied with committee subpoenas by supplying documents confirming all that I have said. 本公司按照委员会的要求，提供了能够证实我刚才发言的文件。 来自辞典例句
• Congressional Investigations: Subpoenas and Contempt Power. Report for Congress April 2, 2003. 金灿荣：《美国国会的监督功能》，载《教学与研究》2003年第2期。 来自互联网

7 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

8 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

9 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

10 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

11 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

12 impede   

v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止

参考例句：

• One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
• The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。

13 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

14 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

15 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》