CNN 2012-07-03

 To begin tonight's <Keeping the Modest>, with stunning¹ last minute developments in the Fast and Furious story. Just hours away from tomorrow's house vote on whether to cite Attorney General Eric Holder² for contempt of congress, a heavily researched story suggest that the scandal at the center of tomorrow's vote may not be a scandal at all or at least not the scandal we’ve been led to believe it is. Here's what we thought we knew about the ATF operation known as Fast and Furious. So-called straw buyers for Mexican drug cartels were allowed to buy guns in the southwest. Then those guns, thousands of them, were allowed to walk or be smuggled³ into Mexico with an eye toward

tracing their way through the cartels. Instead, as we, the house oversight⁴ committee another news organization, were led to believe, the ATF lost track of those weapons. Some made it back into the country, two were found at the scene where border agent Bryan Terry was gunned down. That was the story as we and nearly everyone thought we knew. Now tonight though, after six months of reporting, Fortune Magazine's Katherine Eban reveals a very different Fast and Furious. The bottom line, letting guns walk was not, I repeat, not part of the plan. She writes five law-enforcement agents directly involved in the Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic⁵. She goes on to say they insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite, they say they seized weapons whatever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors⁶ and weak laws which stymied⁷ them at every turn. The house oversight committee is slamming the story we'll get to that in just a moment. However, committee chairman Darrel Issa declined to come on this program to elaborate. Committee member John xxxx joined us in just a little bit. 

 

A: Fortune contributor Katherine Eban joins us now. It's nice to see you. The premise⁸ of your article is that there was no gun walking in Fast and Furious, which completely contradicts really the central arguments that we've seen in the political sphere now for months. 

 

 

B: That’s right. After six months of investigation⁹ what became clear to me is that the thing is that Congress was holding up as centerpieces of proof that guns had been walked were in fact misconstrued, incorrect, resulted from other motives¹⁰, other reasons, that there were alternate explanations, and that really this was a case of cherry picking, of you know, small phrases, sentences, without any of the context really that you need in order to understand what actually happened in Phoenix¹¹ groups 7. 

 

 

A: So why back in November of 2011 would the attorney general Eric Holder say that in fact the tactic happened and it was unacceptable. Let me play it a little bit. 

 

 

Attorney General：Instance of so called gun walking is simply unacceptable, regrettably this tactic was used as a part of fast and furious which was launched to combat gun trafficking and violence on our southwest border. 

 

 

A: It's that very testimony¹² that many people of course have connected to and said he's admitting gun walking in fast and furious. In fact what he's saying there under oath completely contradicts what's in your article. 

 

 

B: Right, well this is where we get to a very murky¹³ point because the letter that the justice department ended up retracting¹⁴ was a letter which said ATF always attempts to interdict¹⁵ weapons. Well that wasn't the case in the John Dodson's investigation. 

 

 

A: Why has no one in the department of Justice said in Fast and Furious there was no gun walking. Period. End of the story. That's what the article says. But they have not said that, why not?

 

 

B: I don't know exactly why. One sense is that you know when a scandal first broken, Congress made these allegations. The justice department went to other political folks to ask what happened. They never went to Dave Voth, the group supervisor¹⁶, and said “set us down and tell us what exactly happened”. In fact he was never even questioned of even any detailed¹⁷ by ATF. And to this day has not been. So there's a sense that the justice department immediately wanted to deal with the potential political repercussions¹⁸ without necessary grappling with the substantive¹⁹ question of what actually happened. Now I think they would say that they have turned to the inspector²⁰ general to do a thorough investigation. And they are withholding²¹ judgement pending²² that review. But in fact I think anyone watching Eric Holder testifying would conclude that he believes that that guns were walked. 

 

 

A: The focus now of course as we look at the contempt hearings for the attorney general, the question is why not turn over the documents. Mean that has become kind of a central question in your research. Can you answer that question?

 

 

B: I can't answer that question because I don't know what's exactly in those documents. But what's interesting is that those documents are not about the substance of what occurred in Phoenix. Those documents are about the internal deliberations within the justice department about how to respond to the congressional inquiry²³. 

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

3 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

4 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

5 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

6 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。

7 stymied   

n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句
• I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

8 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

9 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。

10 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

11 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

12 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。

13 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

14 retracting   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的现在分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• The cart can automatic retracting, releasing and laying cables. 本收放车具有自动收线、放线、排线功能。 来自互联网
• I mean, is the art of retracting just too much for you? 我是说，这个缩进技术对于你太难了吗？ 来自互联网

15 interdict   

v.限制；禁止；n.正式禁止；禁令

参考例句：

• Troops could be ferried in to interdict drug shipments.可以把军队渡运过来阻截毒品的装运。
• Interdict could also be sought for the protection of public interests.禁令也可以用于保护公共利益。

16 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

17 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。

18 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

20 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

21 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

22 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

23 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。