VOA新闻杂志2022--FBI突查特朗普海湖庄园

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FBI Searches Trump¹'s Florida Home for Records

Law enforcement agents in the United States searched and seized evidence Monday at the Florida home of former President Donald Trump. The Federal Bureau of Investigation², or FBI, is investigating possible illegal treatment of secret U.S. information, recognized by the government as classified.

Trump himself was the first to report the FBI action at Mar-a-Lago, as the home is called. It is in the city of Palm Beach. Trump was not home at the time.

The former president said in a statement, "After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate." He said the search involved "a large group of FBI agents," adding, "They even broke into my safe!"

What are they looking for?

Trump did not say what the agents were looking for at his Florida home. His son Eric Trump told Fox News that the search concerned documents that Trump had taken from the White House.

The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI did not comment about the reported search. But the Justice Department has been investigating the possible abuse of classified information during and after Trump's departure from presidential office.

U.S. law requires that all official presidential records, including letters, notes, emails, and all other written communications are saved and sent to the National Archives.

Trump brought several presidential records with him to Florida. After several requests, he surrendered 15 boxes of documents to the Archives in January. Some of the documents were marked "classified." So, the agency contacted the Justice Department about them.

In the U.S., law enforcement searches require permission from a judge. Though a search warrant does not suggest that criminal charges are near or even expected, investigators³ must persuade a judge that they have probable cause that a crime happened.

"Never happened before"

Trump noted⁴ in his long statement that "Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before."

Experts suggest that the warrant had to have been supported by FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee, and Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was appointed by President Joe Biden.

Phillip Halpern is a former government lawyer who worked on public corruption⁵ cases. He told Reuters, "This is as big a deal as you can have, and ... every single person in the chain would have had to sign off on this."

White House officials said President Joe Biden learned about the search through reporting from news organizations.

Thomas Schwartz is a Vanderbilt University history professor who studies and writes about the presidency⁶. He told the Associated Press that there is no precedent⁷ for a former president facing an FBI search -- even going back to Watergate. At that time, Richard Nixon was not permitted to take tapes or other materials from the White House when he resigned as president in 1974, Schwartz noted.

"This is different and it is a sign of how unique the Trump period was," said Schwartz.

On Monday night, the former president accused Democrats⁸ of "weaponization" of the justice system to keep him from running for president in 2024. Several Republican governors and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, used the same term to attack the search at Trump's home.

The search, however, is not the only legal issue that Trump is facing. The former president is currently facing legal issues concerning his businesses in New York, and investigations⁹ into possible election wrongdoing and the January 6 attack on Congress.

Words in This Story

relevant - adj. relating to a subject

appropriate - adj. right or suited for some purpose or situation

departure - n. the act of leaving a job

precedent - n. similar action or event that happened at an earlier time

unique - adj. very special or unusual

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 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。

3 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》

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 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。

7 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

8 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》

9 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。