美国国家公共电台 NPR For Attorney General Sessions, Hill Testimony Presents Risk And Opportunity

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When the history of President Trump¹'s administration is written, it will have to include space for the story of Jeff Sessions. The Alabama senator was one of the few mainstream² politicians to back Trump early. He then left his Senate seat, triggering Alabama's special election and the nomination³ of Roy Moore. Sessions became Trump's attorney general. He recused himself from the investigation⁴ of Russian efforts to support Trump, a recusal that has infuriated his boss. Yet Sessions is still questioned about his own contacts with Russians, and he will face more questions at a House hearing today.

It's been revealed that Sessions himself chaired a campaign meeting where an aide discussed efforts to arrange contacts between Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been covering all of this. Hi, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁵: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: So how does that latest news of that meeting match up with what Sessions has previously⁶ said under oath?

JOHNSON: Well, it seems to contradict some previous statements by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. George Papadopoulos in the course of his guilty plea documents said he proposed arranging a conversation between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at that campaign meeting on March 31, 2016. Both Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions attended that meeting, were photographed sitting at the table with Papadopoulos. And another person at the table that day, a guy named J.D. Gordon, has told reporters he does remember Papadopoulos floating the idea of some kind of conversation between Trump and Putin.

But Gordon says that Jeff Sessions shot down the idea, which is confusing because at a couple of points this year, at least under oath, Sessions has said he's not aware of communications between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. He said he didn't know that anyone had talks with Russians as surrogates for Trump. So the attorney general is really going to be walking a tightrope⁷ here, Steve, reckoning his inability to remember these events with his denials about Russian outreach to the Trump campaign last year.

INSKEEP: This story is sounding familiar, Carrie, because didn't Jeff Sessions face an embarrassment⁸ earlier in the year when it was revealed that he had met with a Russian ambassador? And he had to explain that he didn't think that that was campaign related or was serious. But of course this time, he's got a meeting that he didn't seem to remember that was explicitly⁹ part of the campaign, right?

JOHNSON: For people close to Jeff Sessions, this is a mark of how busy he was and how, in their view, insignificant¹⁰ some of these people were with whom he was meeting. For Democrats¹² and other folks who are more alarmed by the allegations concerning Russia, this is too many things, they say, to keep forgetting, and there has to be some kind of accounting¹³ of that in his testimony¹⁴ today, in his conversation with the American public.

INSKEEP: OK, so we mentioned that Sessions has recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation which his boss has said repeatedly he's unhappy about. And the president has gone on to make more recent remarks that he's frustrated¹⁵ that as president of the United States, he's not supposed to interfere¹⁶ with the workings of the Justice Department. That's the way it's always been. He wishes it weren't that way and wishes there were things he could do. Could that be part of today's discussion?

JOHNSON: Yeah. For Democrats and Justice Department veterans of both political parties, these boundaries with the White House are a real worry. There's a lot of examples, Steve. And in fact, President Trump has said repeatedly he wants the Justice Department to investigate his political opponent Hillary Clinton. Last night on the eve of this hearing, the Justice Department said they have directed senior federal prosecutors¹⁷ to evaluate whether they should name another special counsel to investigate what they call, quote, alleged¹⁸ unlawful dealings at the Clinton Foundation or elsewhere.

Now, this letter will give Republicans a way to change the subject from Russia at the hearing and also help Sessions ingratiate himself with his boss. Remember; Jeff Sessions is supposed to be recused from anything regarding Hillary Clinton because of his close campaign ties to Donald Trump last year. And it also comes on the heels of other dust-up over DOJ independence allegations by former FBI Director James Comey that the president had asked him to go easy on an investigation of then-national security adviser¹⁹ Mike Flynn. And new questions last week about whether President Trump or anyone else in the White House who doesn't like the reporting of CNN has put their fingers on the scales with respect to an antitrust deal involving its parent, Time Warner, and AT&T.

INSKEEP: You said Sessions is supposed to be recused. Is he recused from this decision about whether to go after Hillary Clinton?

JOHNSON: The letter from the Justice Department to congressional Republicans last night, Steve, said that these senior federal prosecutors evaluating Clinton-related allegations will be reporting to the deputy attorney general and the attorney general. If Sessions is truly recused, I would like to know more about what he's doing in that respect. And I think that will come up at the hearing today.

INSKEEP: Very briefly²⁰, Carrie, what do you make of another news story? Donald Trump Jr. has now affirmed that he communicated - as reported by The Atlantic, he communicated with WikiLeaks during the campaign. They were offering advice, and Trump a number of times seemed to take the advice.

JOHNSON: Well, Trump Jr. has said he exchanged a small number of messages - direct messages with WikiLeaks - but another data point here about contacts regarding emails during last year's campaign and after since WikiLeaks, according to the intelligence community, did get information and share it with people overseas with respect to Hillary Clinton and Democrat¹¹ emails.

INSKEEP: And I guess this week should emphasize this is related to the larger story because according to U.S. intelligence officials, WikiLeaks has cooperated or has contacts with Russia, which U.S. intelligence agencies do not like at all.

JOHNSON: Absolutely - one more point for these investigations²¹ in the Congress and the special counsel to pursue.

INSKEEP: So much to follow, and NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is following it. Carrie, thanks very much.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

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 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 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。

5 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。

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

7 tightrope   

n.绷紧的绳索或钢丝

参考例句：

• The audience held their breath as the acrobat walked along the tightrope.杂技演员走钢丝时，观众都屏住了呼吸。
• The tightrope walker kept her balance by holding up an umbrella.走钢丝的演员举着一把伞，保持身体的均衡。

8 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

9 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

11 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

12 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》

13 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

14 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。

15 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

17 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。

18 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

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。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

19 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

20 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

21 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。