VOA新闻杂志2023--美国总统法律问题简史

A Short History of US Presidential Legal Problems

美国总统法律问题简史

Former American President Donald Trump¹ is expected to appear Tuesday before a New York State judge to answer his indictment³.

A grand jury voted last week to indict², or charge, Trump with a crime or crimes. The vote came after the grand jury heard evidence related to payments made to adult movie actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump also faces other legal problems after he launched a third campaign for the presidency⁴.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the treatment of top-secret government documents when Trump left the White House in 2021. Federal investigators⁶ are also looking into Trump's possible responsibility in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021.

In the southern state of Georgia, the Fulton County District Attorney's office has been investigating whether Trump and his allies illegally interfered⁷ in the 2020 election.

However, Trump is not the first U.S. president, in or out of office, to have faced legal trouble. Several others have in U.S. history.

Andrew Johnson

During his presidency, Trump was impeached⁹ two times. The first time was over his dealings with Ukraine. The second time was over actions that led to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol.

But the dishonor of being the first impeached president belongs to Andrew Johnson in 1868.

During the years immediately following the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson clashed repeatedly with the Republican-controlled Congress over the reconstruction¹¹ of the defeated South. Johnson was a member of the Democratic Party.

The House of Representatives voted to impeach⁸ Johnson, but the Senate did not have the two-thirds majority required to remove Johnson from office.

Bill Clinton

In 1998, Bill Clinton became the second American president to be impeached for lying under oath and obstructing¹² an investigation¹³ related to his sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, a White House aide.

The investigation grew out of unrelated scandals from before Clinton's time in the White House. They were a land deal in Arkansas known as Whitewater and a sexual harassment¹⁴ case brought by Paula Jones.

Clinton's law license¹⁵ in his native state of Arkansas was suspended for five years after he reached a deal at the end of his second term in office.

Richard Nixon

In 1974, former President Richard Nixon might have avoided criminal charges related to the Watergate scandal when then-President Gerald Ford¹⁶ pardoned him just weeks after Nixon resigned.

Nixon resigned following the discovery of recordings¹⁷ showing that he had ordered a cover-up of the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington.

By 1974, the Watergate scandal had expanded beyond the break-in. Many of Nixon's top aides stepped down and some were sentenced to prison. Nixon himself was a possible target of the Watergate special counsel, a special investigator⁵ appointed by the government.

Ford said that an "indictment, a trial, a conviction, [of Nixon]" would have distracted the country from more immediate¹⁰ problems.

John A. Farrell wrote Richard Nixon: The Life, a prize-winning book published in 2017. He said, "There were partisans¹⁹ in Congress and on the special counsel's staff who would have liked to see Nixon indicted²⁰ after the resignation — or at least believed that the pardon was premature²¹."

Farrell noted²² that Nixon was so worried about his legal trouble that it affected²³ his health. He added, "His very worried family reached out to the White House, alerting Ford's aides of the ex-president's deteriorating²⁴ condition."

Warren Harding

Some historians wonder about President Warren Harding's fate had he not died in office, in 1923. "The walls were closing in on him," presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said of Harding.

Several officials around him were charged with crimes related to corrupt²⁵ land dealings known as the Teapot Dome²⁶ Scandal. His Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall was the first Cabinet officer convicted and sent to prison for accepting illegal payments.

Ulysses Grant

Nixon and Harding faced major scandals without being charged.

Ulysses Grant was a general and hero of the American Civil War. But members of his presidential administration were involved in many different kinds of financial wrongdoing.

Grant himself was caught for minor²⁷ offenses²⁸. In 1872, during his first term, he was stopped twice for riding his horse carriage too fast.

"The second time Grant had to pay a $20 fine, but never spent a night in jail," says historian Ron Chernow. His book about Grant's life was published in 2017.

Words in This Story

indictment –n. an official statement presented by a prosecuting²⁹ official saying that a jury (such as a grand jury) is charging a person or persons for a crime

grand jury –n. a jury that examines accusations³⁰ against a person or persons and votes on whether to bring official charges

impeach –v. to charge a public official with a crime before a body that is detailed³¹ in the law

scandal –n. an happening or action that causes people to be shocked or upset because it is morally wrong or illegal

conviction –n. the act of declaring someone guilty of a crime in a court of law under the rule of law

partisan¹⁸ –n. a person who strongly supports a leader, group, cause or political party

staff –n. (pl.) people who assist a director, or work for an organization

deteriorate³² –v. to become worse with the passing of time

1 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。

2 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

3 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

9 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

12 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

13 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。

14 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。

15 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

16 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。

17 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

18 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

19 partisans   

游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙

参考例句：

• Every movement has its partisans. 每一运动都有热情的支持者。
• He was rescued by some Italian partisans. 他被几名意大利游击队员所救。

20 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

21 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

22 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

23 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

24 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

25 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。

26 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

27 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

28 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

29 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。

30 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。

31 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

32 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。