美国国家公共电台 NPR In U.S. Ethics Chief, An Unlikely Gadfly To Trump

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: 

One of the most unlikely figures to capture the spotlight¹ since the election is the lawyer who runs the Office of Government Ethics². Walter Shaub openly criticized Trump³'s moves to separate the presidency⁴ from his businesses as inadequate⁵, and he tweaked the president-elect on social media. As NPR's Alina Selyukh reports, that has made him a lightning rod in the nation's capital.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE⁶: When the Watergate scandal blew up in the 1970s, one of the things to emerge from its shadow was the Office of Government Ethics. And OGE usually works quietly behind the scenes to make sure that people who run the country have no financial ties that could influence their work.

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WALTER SHAUB: We can't risk creating the perception that government leaders would use their official positions for personal profit.

SELYUKH: That's director Walter Shaub, and he's been a lawyer at OGE for a decade. And when you ask people about him, he's described as careful, even-keeled, kind of boring, which made it all the more surprising that he was the man who orchestrated a bizarre Trump-style tweet storm from OGE, saying things like bravo and brilliant. Divestiture⁸ is good for you, very good for America. Except Trump had promised no such thing.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SHAUB: I was trying to use the vernacular⁹ of the president-elect's favorite social media platform to encourage him to divest⁷.

SELYUKH: This was another unlikely move by Shaub - an unexpected speech at a think tank last week.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SHAUB: I need to talk about ethics today because the plan the president has announced doesn't meet the standards that the best of his nominees¹⁰ are meeting.

SELYUKH: This was a direct public response to Trump finally revealing his financial plan - that as president, he will keep his business empire but shift the management to his sons. Trump's team says by law, presidents can't have conflicts of interest.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DONALD TRUMP: So I could actually run my business. I could actually run my business and run government at the same time.

SELYUKH: And that's true. While presidents have bans on bribes¹¹, foreign gifts and insider trading, they are exempt¹² from conflict of interest rules that apply to Cabinet members. Still, historically, presidents have voluntarily met the same standards as their nominees. Shaub's push for Trump to divest has put him in Republican crosshairs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JASON CHAFFETZ: All I really want is I want the person who heads up the Office of Government Ethics to be ethical¹³. And right now, I don't see that.

SELYUKH: That's Representative Jason Chaffetz on Fox News. He has accused Shaub of partisanship¹⁴ and has summoned him to a meeting, pointing out that the committee he chairs oversees¹⁵ OGE's budget.

RICHARD PAINTER: The worst thing is for Congress to start going after OGE on the behalf of the president. It makes the president look terrible.

SELYUKH: That's Richard Painter, who was the chief ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush. And he says OGE has no enforcement power. Potential conflicts of interest would likely fall to Congress, the Justice Department, to courts. So getting in a spat¹⁶ with OGE sends the wrong message, and any effort to push Shaub out of his job would be worse.

PAINTER: Firing the head of the Office of Government Ethics is about the dumbest thing I think a president could do if he wants the public to have confidence in his ethics.

SELYUKH: Shaub's term as OGE director runs into 2018, and the next time Trump will have to deal with him is when the president submits his financial disclosures. Alina Selyukh, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MANSIONAIR SONG, "HOLD ME DOWN - LCAW REMIX")

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

3 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。

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 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

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 divest   

v.脱去，剥除

参考例句：

• I cannot divest myself of the idea.我无法消除那个念头。
• He attempted to divest himself of all responsibilities for the decision.他力图摆脱掉作出该项决定的一切责任。

8 divestiture   

n.剥夺

参考例句：

• The court found divestiture to be necessary in preventing a monopoly.法庭发现在防止垄断方面进行资产剥离是必要的。
• Rapid progress was made in the divestiture of radio paging assets from the P & T sectors and the restructuring on a nationwide basis.全国邮电无线寻呼资产剥离、改制重组工作取得了较大进展。

9 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

10 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

11 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

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。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

12 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

13 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

14 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

15 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

16 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。