VOA慢速英语2019 美国参议院宣布川普弹劾罪名不成立

The United States Senate has voted to clear President Donald Trump¹ of charges of abuse of power and obstruction² of Congress.

美国参议院已经投票证实川普总统滥用职权和妨碍国会的罪名不成立。

The vote brought an end to the third impeachment³ trial in the nation's history. It followed months of impeachment processes that demonstrated the nation's sharp political divide three years into the Trump presidency⁴.

这次投票结束了美国历史上的第三次弹劾审判。在此之前，持续数月的弹劾程序表明川普当选总统3年以来，美国的政治分歧明显。

The U.S. House of Representatives, which has a Democratic majority, impeached⁵ Trump in December. The impeachment trial in the Republican-led Senate began in January.

民主党占多数席位的众议院于去年12月对川普提起弹劾。今年1月份，共和党领导的参议院开始进行弹劾审判。

The U.S. Constitution requires two-thirds, or 67, "guilty" votes in the Senate to remove a president from office for "high crimes and misdemeanors."

美国宪法要求参议院有2/3，也就是67票支持才能以“重罪和轻罪”罢免一位总统。

Democrats⁶ who brought the impeachment charges fell short of that Wednesday. All but one Republican senator said that Trump, a member of the Republican Party, was "not guilty" of the two charges he faced. All Democrats in the Senate voted "guilty."

提起弹劾指控的民主党人在周三未能达到这项要求。除一名共和党参议员以外的所有共和党参议员都支持川普在他面临的两项指控上无罪，川普是共和党人。所有民主党参议员都投票支持川普有罪。

Senator Mitt⁷ Romney, the Republican Party's presidential nominee⁸ in 2012, announced Wednesday that he would vote to convict Trump of the first charge -- abuse of power.

作为2012年共和党总统候选人的参议员米特·罗姆尼周三宣布，他将投票支持对川普面临的第一项指控，即滥用职权的指控定罪。

Romney said, "The president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The president withheld⁹ vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The president delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders¹⁰. The president's purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the president is guilty of an appalling¹¹ abuse of the public trust."

罗姆尼表示：“总统要求外国政府对他的政治对手展开调查。总统冻结了对该国政府的重要军事援助以督促它这么做。总统推迟了对与俄罗斯交战的美国盟友的援助。总统是出于个人和政治目的。因此总统犯有严重滥用公众信任的罪名。”

The first article of impeachment charged Trump with abusing his power by asking Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to launch an investigation¹² into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son. At the same time, Trump temporarily withheld over $390 million in military aid to Ukraine.

第一条弹劾条款指控川普滥用职权，要求乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基对民主党候选人乔·拜登和他的儿子展开调查。同时，川普临时冻结了对乌克兰的超过3.9亿美元的援助。

The second impeachment article accused Trump of obstructing¹³ -- or blocking -- congressional investigations¹⁴ into his Ukraine-related actions. It said he did so by directing people close to him not to answer questions or provide documents to impeachment investigators¹⁵.

第二条弹劾条款指控川普妨碍国会对其与乌克兰有关行为展开调查。弹劾条款称川普通过指示身边的人不要回答弹劾调查人员的问题或给他们提供文件，从而构成妨碍国会。

The final vote numbers Wednesday were 52 to 48 on abuse of power and 53 to 47 on obstruction of Congress.

周三在滥用职权指控上的最后投票数是52对48票，在妨碍国会指控上的最终投票数是53对47票。

The vote Wednesday brought an end to the fastest, most divided impeachment trial in U.S. history. It included no witnesses and lasted three weeks.

周三的投票结束了美国历史上最快、最分裂的弹劾审判。这次审判没有证人，持续了三个星期。

The U.S. Senate has never removed a president from office. The impeachment trials of Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999 also both ended in acquittal.

美国参议院从未罢免过总统。1868年安德鲁·约翰逊和1999年比尔·克林顿的弹劾审判都以无罪告终。

Trump, however, is the first president to be impeached while facing re-election.

然而川普是首位在面临连任时被弹劾的总统。

The president's press secretary released a statement following the Senate's decision. It read in part, "As we have said all along, he is not guilty. The Senate voted to reject the baseless articles of impeachment, and only the President's political opponents – all Democrats, and one failed Republican presidential candidate – voted for the manufactured impeachment articles."

总统新闻秘书在参议院判决之后发表了一份声明。其中部分内容为：“正如我们一直说的那样，川普总统是无辜的。参议院投票否决了毫无根据的弹劾条款，只有作为川普政治对手的所有民主党，以及一位败选的共和党总统候选人投票支持弹劾条款。”

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 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

3 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 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》

7 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

11 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

12 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。

13 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

14 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。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》