美国国家公共电台 NPR When Politics, Prosecution Collide: Veteran Lawyer Calls Current State 'Disturbing'

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The special counsel's investigation¹ into Russian election interference is over, but President Trump² isn't letting it go. And he says the whole thing was a political hit job.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We just went through the Mueller witch hunt, where you had really 18 angry Democrats³ that hate President Trump. They hate him with a passion. They were contributors in many cases to Hillary Clinton. Hate him with a passion.

MARTIN: NPR's Carrie Johnson looked into the history of accusations⁴ of political bias⁵ in investigations⁶. She did so with a lawyer who has handled sensitive political inquiries⁷ for nearly 45 years.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁸: Reid Weingarten moved to Washington in the late 1970s. He made his reputation prosecuting⁹ dirty politicians and corrupt¹⁰ judges in the years after Watergate. Then he turned to defending people in trouble with the law. He's the kind of guy presidents call for advice, whether they're Democrats or Republicans.

REID WEINGARTEN: I am very proud to say that I have dealt with directly every president since Jimmy Carter, and that includes the present president.

JOHNSON: Weingarten won't talk about what happened in the Oval Office when he met with President Trump there a couple of years ago. But he drops this hint.

WEINGARTEN: You know, I truly wish that the president wouldn't do the things he does. And you know, perhaps I had the opportunity at some point (laughter) to say that. But we won't go either way on that one.

JOHNSON: Weingarten's laughing now. But he says some of the rhetoric¹¹ coming from the White House about special counsel Robert Mueller's work is rotten for the justice system. He's so emphatic¹² he starts pounding the table.

WEINGARTEN: Perhaps on Mueller's team there were prosecutors¹⁴ who believe Donald Trump was unfit to be president. And when they went home and took a shower, that's what they thought. The issue is - the only issue is did those feelings infect the investigation? And in my experience, the very idea that a red-blooded federal prosecutor¹³ would come to his office and issue subpoenas¹⁵, make investigative decisions and prosecute¹⁶ decisions based upon politics sounds to me absurd.

JOHNSON: Weingarten says FBI agents and paralegals would have blown the whistle if politics really infused the work of the special counsel team. What's more, he says the argument doesn't make any sense. When the president and Republican lawmakers say the Mueller report means the case is closed...

WEINGARTEN: Which one of the 19 angry Democrats wrote it, you know? How do you get from point A to point B?

JOHNSON: As for what should happen next, Weingarten's clear. Congress needs to gather more evidence and call key witnesses to testify, people like former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

WEINGARTEN: If I was a Congressperson, and I was one day going to be called upon to make a judgment¹⁷ as to what should happen to the president of the United States, I would want a full record. And I would want every opportunity to work with my colleagues. This is consequential¹⁸ stuff.

JOHNSON: Early on, Weingarten helped figure out whether the standard for appointing an independent counsel to investigate the White House had been met. He prosecuted¹⁹ a key figure in the Iran-Contra investigation, that arms-for-hostages scandal on the team of independent counsel Lawrence Walsh. Later, he defended two of Bill Clinton's Cabinet secretaries in investigations launched by independent counsels.

Then, public opinion shifted. There was a consensus²⁰ - too many of those independent counsels had overreached, spent too much money, took too much time. In 1999, Congress let the law lapse²¹ and brought the authority to investigate people close to the White House back inside the Justice Department. Now Weingarten says it may be time to reconsider. I ask him whether any Justice Department should investigate a sitting president.

WEINGARTEN: I generally believe that it is healthy, when there is an allegation against the president of the United States, for there to be an investigation conducted by honorable, competent people independent of the administration.

JOHNSON: Weingarten says it's crazy that the president could have fired special counsel Mueller or ordered someone at Justice to do it.

Bob Mueller was never fired. The president says all the time, I could have fired him. I didn't do it.

WEINGARTEN: Just the could have (laughter) fired him and didn't do it here is the problem.

JOHNSON: And the stress to the system that that caused?

WEINGARTEN: Oh, for sure. For sure.

JOHNSON: Weingarten's been around long enough to have seen some stresses. But he also thinks the country will get through this one.

WEINGARTEN: I think our systems are strong. I think our courts are strong. I think our institutions are strong. I remain reasonably optimistic all things are going to end up just fine.

JOHNSON: Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

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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 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。

3 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》

4 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。

5 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

6 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。

7 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 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。

9 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

10 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

11 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

12 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

13 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

14 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。

15 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

16 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

17 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

18 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。

19 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》。

20 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

21 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。