美国国家公共电台 NPR Republicans Reject Kavanaugh Accuser's Request To Delay Hearing For FBI Investigation

Republicans Reject Kavanaugh Accuser's Request To Delay Hearing For FBI Investigation¹

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Come Monday, both Supreme² Court nominee³ Brett Kavanaugh and university professor Christine Blasey Ford⁴ may appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Republicans say Ford has yet to accept the invitation, although just yesterday her lawyer told NPR she'd be willing to testify. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers decades ago. Her allegations have put his nomination⁵ in question.

And to tell us where things stand now, we're joined by NPR congressional reporter Kelsey Snell. And, Kelsey, give us what you've learned so far. Where do things stand now with this nomination that was once on a fast track?

KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE⁶: Yeah, Republicans canceled a hearing that they had planned for this Thursday to vote on his nomination. And instead they've announced plans for a hearing on Monday. And they invited Kavanaugh and Ford to appear so that they can both explain their side of the story. Now, Kavanaugh has repeatedly said he didn't do anything like what he's been accused of. But Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says they've had zero response from Ford about coming to this hearing and that they haven't heard back from her attorney either. And I should be clear. NPR has also made several attempts to reach Ford and her attorney without any response.

Now, some senators are raising questions about why they would bother having a hearing if she doesn't participate. But Republican leaders say they've offered to allow her to testify behind closed doors or in an open hearing, which leaves open the possibility that the public will not actually ever hear this testimony⁷ despite Republicans saying the whole point of the hearing is to get her side out in public.

CORNISH: And Democrats⁹ - are they OK with that plan?

SNELL: No, they're really not. They say they need more time, and they want to call more witnesses. Patty Murray, who's the No. 3 Democrat⁸ in the Senate, was pretty forceful about it today.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PATTY MURRAY: Scheduling a hearing for Monday, a week from when Dr. Ford made her accusations¹¹ public, is a shameful¹² attempt to jam this through without giving anyone the time they need to investigate and put together the questions that need to be asked.

SNELL: So that's basically their whole argument here - is that they need more time, that this accusation¹⁰ is very serious and that there needs to be research. And Republicans said just a bit ago that they reached out to Mark Judge, who was a witness that Ford alleges¹³ was present at the party where she says she was assaulted by Kavanaugh. And Judge responded in a letter saying that he has no memory of the incident and declined to appear. So it's still kind of evolving.

CORNISH: There's also been some controversy¹⁴ about the FBI's involvement in all of this.

SNELL: Right.

CORNISH: Now, given that the alleged¹⁵ assault happened more than 30 years ago, what is the FBI's role here?

SNELL: Well, that's up for some debate. Democrats say the judiciary committee and their members just really aren't equipped to be handling an investigation into an accusation of sexual assault. They say the staff on that committee does background checks and looks into legal matters for nominees¹⁶. And that's really different, they say, than conducting a sweep of someone's behavior more than 30 years ago when they were in high school. Democrats say they don't want to be putting Ford on trial and that the hearing Republicans are proposing could become a kind of he said, she said. And, you know, that's something that Democrats say they would like to avoid and that the FBI could help make that happen.

CORNISH: But does it look like they could even reopen a case between now and Monday?

SNELL: Yeah, not at this point. President Trump¹⁷ has said he doesn't think that the FBI should be involved. And Republicans on the Hill say they have no authority to force the FBI to open investigations¹⁸. So Trump addressed it several times today, including this morning.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don't think the FBI really should be involved because they don't want to be involved. If they wanted to be, I would certainly do that. But as you know, they say this is not really their thing. But I think politically speaking, the senators will do a very good job.

SNELL: Now, he repeated something really similar this afternoon when he told reporters that the FBI already did six background checks into Kavanaugh and that he said again and again this really isn't the FBI's thing. So it doesn't sound like this is something that the White House is really going to push for.

CORNISH: So what is the strategy for Senate Republicans?

SNELL: They're going out of their way to be very public about the steps they're taking to interview witnesses and contact Ford. They're sending reporters constant emails with these updates on their efforts, and they're active on social media. They've said over and over that she deserved to be heard. But they're saying Democrats aren't participating in this. So they're not really showing any signs of slowing down. And one thing they want to avoid is any comparisons to 1991 when Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment¹⁹ at his confirmation²⁰. So they're really trying to keep it out in public.

CORNISH: That's NPR's Kelsey Snell at the Senate. Kelsey, thank you.

SNELL: Thank you.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 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。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

11 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

12 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

13 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

14 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

15 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

16 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

17 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。

18 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。

19 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

20 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。