PBS高端访谈:特朗普任期最长的模特美女助手辞职（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: White House Communications Director Hope Hicks made the surprising announcement late today that she will leave the Trump administration in the coming weeks. The 29-year-old is the latest of well over half-a-dozen top advisers to leave during President Trump's 13 months in office and she is the president's longest-serving aide. The news comes just one day after Hicks' testified for hours before the House Intelligence Committee as part of its ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Ashley Parker is a White House reporter for The Washington Post. Ashley, thank you for joining us. So, what is known about why Hope Hicks is doing this?

ASHLEY PARKER, The Washington Post: So, I first should underscore that this is an incredibly stunning development. There was a sense that even in a chaotic and tumultuous White House, if there was one person who would be with President Trump through the end of his, or potentially two terms, it would be Hope Hicks. Our understanding is that she did actually make this decision before esterday's testimony on Capitol Hill. And she has told people that she basically wants to spend -- be closer to home, to her family in Connecticut, that three years focused solely on one thing and working in this incredibly high-pressure and high-intensity environment just takes a toll on anyone. And she realized it was her time and moment to move on. I do have to say, this comes as she, herself, was under a lot of personal stress. There wasn't just that testimony. She had been romantically linked to Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who was forced out of the White House amid allegations of domestic abuse. And, more broadly, right now, he Mueller probe is intensifying, and it feels like it's creeping closer to the West Wing and the Oval Office. Hope Hicks is someone who literally sits outside the Oval Office, and is intimately involved in everything. If there is someone who would sort of know every little bit and piece of what is said and done in that White House, it is Hope Hicks.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She sits right next to the president, has the closest office to his. And, Ashley, there was reporting yesterday after her testimony that she had told the committee members that she did sometimes tell what she called white lies for the president. There's been a lot of speculation about that and whether that had

ASHLEY PARKER: That's right. And, again, she has told people she had made the -- she told some people about this decision before her testimony, where she mentioned the white lies, and she claims that the Russia investigation in general has nothing to do with this. But you have to recognize that, again, more than anyone in this White House, Hope is in an incredibly precarious position because she was often called upon, by her own admission, to sort of fib for the president, and, you know, maybe engage in some misdirection. And there's no crime, as we unfortunately all know, with lying to the media. But you cannot lie under oath to congressional investigators and you certainly cannot lie when you speak to a special counsel.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And just quickly, Ashley, you pointed out she's been at the president's side for a long time. We said longest-serving aide. And this does follow a number of other top advisers to the president who have left just in the first year.

ASHLEY PARKER: That's another incredibly important point. And this is a president who runs the White House like a family business, and he likes to surround himself with familiar faces and people he's comfortable with. And with Hope Hicks leaving, it leaves him increasingly isolated. All these familiar faces, people he's known forever, are gone.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Ashley Parker with The Washington Post, thanks very much.

ASHLEY PARKER: Thank you.

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：白宫通讯主任霍普·希克斯今日晚些时候发表惊人声明，称她将在数周内辞去特朗普政府职务。总统特朗普执政13个月以来，超过六名（白宫）顶级顾问相继离去，现年29岁的霍普·希克斯是最近一位，她是陪伴总统时间最长的助手。希克斯在众议院情报委员会前作证数小时，这是俄罗斯干涉2016年美国总统大选调查的一部分，此后一天，这条新闻发布。阿什利·帕克是华盛顿邮报的白宫记者。阿什利，谢谢你的参与。那么，霍普·希克斯此举究竟为何呢？

阿什利·帕克，华盛顿邮报：我首先要强调的是，这真是难以置信，事态发展令人瞠目。甚至在这样一个混乱喧嚣的白宫，如果说有一个人，会陪伴特朗普总统走完他的，抑或可能是两个任期的话，那就是霍普·希克斯。我们的理解是，她确实在昨天美国国会山作证之前就已经做出了这个决定。她告诉人们，她只是想花——想离家近些，离康涅狄格州的家人近些，三年来她只专注一件事，她的工作压力和强度令人难以置信。这种工作只会让任何人付出（巨大）代价。她意识到她该走了。我得说，这是因为她自己承受了巨大的个人压力。而不仅仅关乎那个证词。她被传与幕僚秘书罗布·波特关系暧昧，波特曾因家庭虐待的指控被迫离职。而且，更广泛地说，现在，缪勒的调查越来越激烈，感觉似乎正一步步直逼白宫西厢和椭圆办公室。霍普·希克斯是一个真正坐在椭圆办公室外面的人，与一切有着密切关系。如果有人对白宫的一切蛛丝马迹了如指掌，那就是霍普·希克斯了。

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：她就坐在总统旁边，离他办公室最近。还有，阿什利，昨天她作证后告诉了委员会，她有时的确会为总统，编造她所说的善意的谎言。人们对此多有猜测，它是否会对这个产生影响？

阿什利·帕克：是的。而且，她又告诉别人她做了这个——她告诉了一些人，在她作证之前，她已经做了这个决定，她还提到了善意的谎言，她声称总的来说，俄罗斯调查与此无关。但是，你必须认识到，在这个白宫里，霍普的职位比任何人的都要艰险万分，因为根据她的言辞，她经常需要应召为总统撒谎，有点像总统的撒谎器，并且，你知道，可能会发生一些指示错误。很不幸，正如我们所知，对媒体撒谎不构成任何犯罪。但你在国会调查员面前起誓时不能撒谎，当然你也不能对特别顾问撒谎。

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：好，简单说一下，阿什利，你指出她已经在总统身边很长时间了。我们称为任职时间最长的助手。这一点确实跟总统身边的一些其他高级顾问一样，在总统任职第一年里，纷纷离总统而去。

阿什利·帕克：那又是非常重要的一点。总统管理着白宫，就像一个家族企业，他希望围绕在他身边的都是他熟悉的面孔，以及让他舒服的人。随着霍普·希克斯的离开，他越发孤立了。所有这些熟悉的面孔，他知根知底的人，都不见了。

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：来自华盛顿邮报的阿什利·帕克，非常感谢。

阿什利·帕克：谢谢你。