美国国家公共电台 NPR As Trump Inquiries Flood Ethics Office, Director Looks To House For Action

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The chief of the Office of Government Ethics¹ says his small staff has been inundated² with questions and complaints about the Trump³ administration, but there's only so much his office can do. It coaches officials on how to obey ethics laws, but it can't launch investigations⁴ or penalize⁵ rule breakers. So director Walter Shaub, Jr., is calling on Congress to be more vigilant⁶. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE⁷: Walter Shaub says unprecedented⁸ numbers of Americans are turning to the Office of Government Ethics with questions about the Trump administration, but ethics oversight⁹ is up to Republican Congressman¹⁰ Jason Chaffetz of Utah.

WALTER SHAUB JR.: Chairman Chaffetz runs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He's got authority to investigate these things and compel responses, so hopefully we'll see some action from him.

OVERBY: Shaub said Chaffetz could investigate the White House use of secret waivers - that is, undisclosed decisions to exempt¹¹ new appointees from the Trump administration's ethics pledge. The waivers were first reported Saturday in The New York Times. OGE lacks the investigative power to get the waivers from the White House.

So far, House Oversight has shown little interest in questioning the administration's ethics policies. Here's another example. Back in February, White House counselor¹² Kellyanne Conway urged the public to buy merchandise marketed by Trump's daughter Ivanka. It seemed to violate the rule against using your position in government to endorse¹³ a product.

SHAUB JR.: When Kellyanne Conway had endorsed¹⁴ Ivanka Trump's product line, our phones rang off the hook, and they practically melted the system.

OVERBY: It wasn't the first time that Trump ethics questions overwhelmed the little agency's phone system. In the six months from last October to this March, OGE data show more than 39,000 public contacts with the agency - phone calls, emails and letters.

SHAUB JR.: That 39,000 number only counts the number of calls and emails that got through, but we've had a number of times where it just jammed the system, and a lot of calls weren't getting through.

OVERBY: Again, Walter Shaub...

SHAUB JR.: This is a level of attention that we haven't seen before in terms of public interest.

OVERBY: For perspective, OGE has stats on when the Obama administration came to D.C. in 2009. The number of public contacts then - about 700. And again, the number now - more than 39,000, all aimed at an agency with 71 employees and 11 percent of its jobs unfilled for lack of funds. Of course, the trigger for all this public attention is President Trump's approach to ethics. Here he is at a press conference a few days before he took office. He pointed¹⁵ out the conflict of interest law doesn't apply to presidents.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

DONALD TRUMP: I have a no-conflict situation because I'm president, which is - I didn't know about that until about three months ago, but it's a nice thing to have.

OVERBY: Still, Shaub tried to coax¹⁶ Trump into selling off his assets, divesting¹⁷ them. He even used a Twitter campaign which may account, at least in part, for another eye-popping data point. OGE has more than 42,000 followers¹⁸ on Twitter. It has other followers, too, on Capitol Hill. A year ago, between October 2015 and March 2016, OGE received just 20 requests from lawmakers. This year, it's gotten more than five times as many. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

1 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。

2 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 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。

5 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

6 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

7 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。

8 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

9 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。

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 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。

12 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

13 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

14 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

17 divesting   

v.剥夺( divest的现在分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服

参考例句：

• Methods: The indication, methods and outcome of87 patients undergone laparoscopic ovarian cyst divesting surgery were analyzed. 方法对87例卵巢囊肿进行腹腔镜下剥出手术，严格把握操作要领。 来自互联网
• Conclusion The patients performed laparoscopic ovarian cyst divesting surgery had less complication and recovered soon. 结论腹腔镜下卵巢囊肿剥出术创伤小，术后恢复快并发症少，集诊断与治疗为一体，临床应用价值比较肯定。 来自互联网

18 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。