VOA慢速英语2019 美国最高法院首席大法官将对川普总统的任期产生影响（在线收听）

The leader of the highest court in the United States will likely receive a lot of attention next month. In January, Chief Justice John Roberts will supervise the trial of President Donald Trump in the U.S. Senate. Lawmakers there will decide if Trump is guilty of two charges against him: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

美国最高法院的领导人下个月可能会受到很大关注。明年1月，首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨将在参议院监督对川普的审判。参议员们将会裁决川普是否犯下了两项对他的控罪：滥用职权和妨碍国会。

If guilt is the ruling, Trump would be removed from office. However, the senate is expected to find him not guilty.

如果判决有罪，川普将会被免职。然而，预计参议院会判他无罪。

Chief Justice John Roberts will have more influence on Trump's presidency back at the Supreme Court building, across the street from the Senate. There, Roberts will play a major part in deciding several important cases that directly affect Trump.

首席大法官罗伯茨将在回到参议院对面的最高法院大楼后对川普的总统任期产生更大影响。在最高法院大楼，罗伯茨将在裁决直接影响川普的几个重大案件中扮演重要角色。

One deals with whether a president needs to give his financial records to government investigators and lawyers. Trump has long fought to keep his finances secret. And, unlike other recent presidents, he has refused to make his tax information public.

其中一起案件涉及总统是否需要向政府调查人员和律师提供其财务记录。川普长期以来一直努力保守着自己的财务秘密。而且与最近的其他总统不同，川普拒绝公开他的税收信息。

In a few months, the Supreme Court will decide whether Trump must offer his financial records. The court's ruling will affect future presidents, and also the current one: It will likely come in the middle of Trump's re-election campaign.

再过几个月，最高法院将裁决川普是否必须提供其财务记录。最高法院的判决将会影响到未来以及现任总统，审判结果可能会在川普连任竞选活动的中期出台。

How Roberts will vote on the case is not known. In recent decisions, Roberts has often joined with the four generally conservative judges. However, he also sometimes agrees with decisions made by the four more liberal judges. Roberts may be the deciding vote in the financial records case.

罗伯茨对该案将会如何投票尚不得而知。在最近的判决中，罗伯茨经常跟其他4位保守派法官联手。然而他有时候也会赞同另外4位自由派法官的裁决。罗伯茨可能会成为这起财务记录案件的关键一票。

An uneasy position

矛盾立场

But first, the Senate trial. The U.S. Constitution says the chief justice of the Supreme Court will oversee a trial to decide whether the president is removed from office. But the job is mostly ceremonial.

但是首先迎来的是参议院的审判。美国宪法规定由最高法院首席大法官监督审判，以裁决是否将总统免职。但是这项工作主要是象征性的。

The senators – not the chief justice – set the rules for the trial. Roberts' job is to keep the process moving in an orderly way.

为这场审判制定规则的是参议员们，而不是这位首席大法官。罗伯茨的工作是使得这项流程有序进行。

People who know the chief justice say he will take his job at the trial seriously. He is likely reading about the only two other impeachment trials in U.S. history – those of Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. In both cases, the presidents remained in office.

了解罗伯茨的人士表示，他会认真对待自己在这次审判中的职责。他可能会阅读美国历史上仅有的另外两次弹劾审判，即1868年对安德鲁·约翰逊，以及1999年对比尔·克林顿的审判。这两起案件中的总统都得以留任。

During Clinton's trial, the chief justice was William Rehnquist. A law school professor who worked for Rehnquist at the time said the chief justice had "relatively little to do" during the trial.

克林顿受审期间的首席大法官是威廉·伦奎斯特。当时为伦奎斯特工作的一位法学院教授表示，这位首席大法官在审判期间“相当地无能为力。”

Roberts has not spoken publicly about leading the Trump impeachment trial. Observers have noted that Roberts does not like calling attention to himself.

罗伯茨尚未公开谈论有关自己主持这次对川普的弹劾审判。观察人士指出，罗伯茨不喜欢出风头。

But he did take the unusual step of disagreeing publicly with Trump in November 2018. After the president spoke against judges who had ruled against him, Roberts issued a statement. It rejected the idea that federal judges worked for one president or another. And it defended "an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them."

但是他确实在2018年11月罕见地公开与川普意见相左。在川普总统抨击对他做出不利裁决的法官们之后，罗伯茨发表了一份声明。声明反驳了法官是为某人总统效力的说法。声明还辩称“我们拥有的是一群卓越的专职法官，他们尽自己最大所能让他们所面对的人获得平等权利。”

Roberts said that an independent judiciary is "something we should all be thankful for."

罗伯茨表示，司法独立是“我们所有人都应该感恩的事情。”