美国国家公共电台 NPR Kushner Family Business Pitch In China Prompts Questions About Investor Visas

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Anybody in business can tell you that connections matter. And if you want a connection to the president of the United States, what better way than through his family? Jared Kushner is the president's son-in-law and close adviser¹. His sister went to China and made a pitch to investors² over the weekend. Reporters were watching the session, which promoted her company's ties to the White House. NPR's Jackie Northam reports.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE³: The pitch made by Jared Kushner's sister, Nicole Meyer, to Chinese investors in Beijing and Shanghai was clear. Their $500,000 investment towards a real estate project in New Jersey⁴ could earn them a path to residency in the U.S. But the pitch came with a sweetener. Meyer talked about the Kushner family, including her brother, who holds a powerful position in the White House as senior adviser to President Trump⁵. Larry Noble with the Campaign Legal Center says the marketing⁶ push was inappropriate.

LARRY NOBLE: This is not unheard of where in other countries, the way you get to the leader is by financially supporting the family, even if none of the money goes directly to the leader. And the perception is that what you're getting a chance here is to basically do business with the government or the family of people high up in the government. And that's - it's a very valuable thing in a lot of other countries to be able to do that.

NORTHAM: The law firm representing Jared Kushner says their client has no involvement in the project being pitched by his sister. And a spokesperson for Kushner Companies said Nicole Meyer apologized if the mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure⁷ investors. Jared Kushner had been running the family business until he went to the White House. That's when he resigned from the daily operations and sold assets in some projects to family members.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer says Kushner has taken necessary steps to prevent conflicts of interest.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SEAN SPICER: Jared has done everything to comply with the ethics⁸ rules to make sure that had nothing to do with him, per se. He wasn't involved.

NORTHAM: But Noble says this overlap⁹ between the White House and family business, whether the Trumps¹⁰ or the Kushners, can't be taken as just a single event.

NOBLE: We're seeing this over and over again. And the strong feeling is that they, the Trump family, the Kushner family, see the White House and being in the government as a marketing opportunity.

NORTHAM: Noble says that may send a signal to future administrations and government officials that they too may run a business while in high office. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington.

1 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。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 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。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 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。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

8 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。

9 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

10 trumps   

abbr.trumpets 喇叭；小号；喇叭形状的东西；喇叭筒v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去式 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• On the day of the match the team turned up trumps. 比赛那天该队出乎意料地获得胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Every time John is late getting home he trumps up some new excuse. 每次约翰晚回家都会编造个新借口。 来自《简明英汉词典》