VOA标准英语2008年-Investigator: Political Bias a Factor in US Jus

The inspector¹ general at the Justice Department says a top aide to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales used political considerations in screening candidates for employment at the agency in violation² of federal law. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill, where Fine presented his report.

Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, inspector general Glenn Fine said a top adviser³ to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Monica Goodling, improperly⁴ used partisan⁵ considerations in the hiring of agency lawyers and immigration judges.

"We concluded that Goodling regularly considered political affiliations⁶ in screening candidates for career positions at the department, which also was misconduct and violated department policy and federal civil service law," said Fine.

Fine says Goodling chose candidates seen as pro-Republican and supportive of President Bush and rejected those she deemed too liberal.

"This was particularly damaging to the department because it resulted in high quality candidates to important details [jobs] being rejected in favor of less qualified⁷ candidates," he said.

Federal law and Justice Department policy require that career officials be hired on merit, and prohibit discrimination based on political affiliations - a point noted⁸ by committee chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat⁹.

"By infusing politics into the hiring of career assistant attorney positions, senior career attorney positions, main Justice detailees, young career attorneys, and immigration judges, this administration and its operative have done serious damage to the rule of law," he said.

Inspector General Fine blames the situation on a lack of oversight¹⁰, but says there is no evidence that former Attorney General Gonzales was aware of Goodling's actions.

Fine described one case in which Goodling rejected a terrorism prosecutor¹¹ for a job in counter-terrorism at the department because his wife was involved in local Democratic Party politics, and chose a less experienced lawyer.

Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, says there are serious implications to the actions.

"These revelations are not just a blow to the department's reputation, but they also affect our ability to keep the country safe, it seems," he said.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who succeeded Gonzales, issued a statement saying he is disturbed by the findings of the inspector general. That statement did not go far enough for Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee.

"I would like to see, frankly¹², a very forceful statement out of the Department of Justice as to what they intend to do, and what they think about it in some detail," said Specter. "They have the prosecution¹³ responsibility."

Fine says the Justice Department has taken steps to ensure that political considerations are no longer used to screen applicants¹⁴. Goodling no longer works at the department.

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

3 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。

4 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

5 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

6 affiliations   

n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 )；附属机构；亲和性；接纳

参考例句：

• She had affiliations of her own in every capital. 她原以为自己在欧洲各国首府都有熟人。 来自辞典例句
• The society has many affiliations throughout the country. 这个社团在全国有很多关系。 来自辞典例句

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

8 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。

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

10 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

11 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

13 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

14 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。