2015年经济学人 希拉里的电子邮件 对透明度的破坏

Hillary Clinton's e-mails

Nothing to hide?

A hoo-hah about transparency

AS SCANDALS involving people called “Clinton” go, it seems a bit tame. On March 2nd theNew York Times revealed that when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, she used a personal e-mail account rather than a government one for all her official business. This stumble reveals a more general problem with Mrs Clinton's undeclared presidential campaign.

The finding came through the Republican-controlled House Select Committee on Benghazi. (House Republicans have spent two years hunting fruitlessly for proof that, for political reasons, American missions in Libya were left vulnerable when they were attacked in 2012.) Federal rules require all e-mails sent for government business to be stored by departments. Mrs Clinton's evidently were not. They were in fact stored on a personal server set up in her home in Chappaqua, New York. That looks suspicious: because only Mrs Clinton possesses physical access to her e-mails, she can be selective about which ones she turns over.

For Republicans, the finding is politically convenient. The investigation¹ into Benghazi had all but died for lack of anything interesting to say. The idea that Mrs Clinton may have kept back e-mails could help to revive the allegations. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the investigative committee, quickly called for all Mrs Clinton's communications to be made available for his committee to scrutinise; on March 4th a subpoena² was duly issued.

For Mrs Clinton, the story could prove a lasting³ headache. It fits into a pattern of cloudy dealings. Republicans were already complaining about the Clinton Foundation, a charity controlled by Mrs Clinton and her husband Bill, for accepting donations from foreign governments, including some while she served at the State Department, which could raise conflicts of interest. The foundation does plenty of charitable work, but it also helps to provide a platform for Mrs Clinton to do things that look a lot like campaigning.

Few think that such murkiness⁴ will be cleared up by better control of e-mails, however. Politicians who want to conceal⁵ shady dealings have plenty of other ways to communicate. They can meet in person or use intermediaries. Some might simply use more private electronic systems. A Snapchat message disappears after a few seconds. Does the Freedom of Information Act cover that?

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 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 murkiness   

n.阴暗；混浊；可疑；黝暗

参考例句：

• There is a mass of murkiness which neither moonlight nor sunlight can penetrate. 日月无光。 来自辞典例句
• Ms Munro comes from southern Ontario, an area of considerable psychic murkiness and oddity. 芒罗女士(MsMunro)来自南安大略，一个奇特古怪的地方。 来自互联网

5 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。