美国国家公共电台 NPR--The appeal Trump wants justices to decide is extraordinarily narrow, Wehle says

The appeal Trump¹ wants justices to decide is extraordinarily² narrow, Wehle says

Transcript³

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Kim Wehle, visiting law professor at American University and author of How To Read The Constitution And Why, about former President Trump's appeal to the Supreme⁴ Court.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Former President Trump is asking even more judges to rule on the documents federal agents recovered from his home. Trump, you will recall, asked for help from a judge he appointed. He got it, but then was partially⁵ overturned by an appeals panel, two of whom he appointed. So now his lawyers filed a very narrow appeal to the Supreme Court, including three members he appointed. Kim Wehle, author of "How To Read The Constitution And Why," joins us once again. Good morning.

KIM WEHLE: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: How narrow is this appeal? What's he asking for?

WEHLE: It's extraordinarily narrow. It has to do with sort of a wonky procedural question as to when this appeal should go forward. Should it go forward now? Or should it go forward at the end of the case? Like, most appeals happen after all the rulings are made. So that's one issue. The second issue is - it's even more technical. Essentially⁶, they're saying the way this appeal went up - that the 11th Circuit can only address the injunction. That is, it can only address whether or not DOJ can keep looking at the documents.

INSKEEP: And I guess we should just mention this is only about a limited number of documents that were marked classified that Trump keeps claiming in public, but not in court, are declassified⁷ somehow. That's what this is about?

WEHLE: Yes. This is about - so the 11th Circuit said the special master can look at the 11,000 documents-plus except for about a hundred that were classified. They said, listen; that has to stay with the Department of Justice. And that is the question that this limited appeal addresses. But as I said, it's a little technical in which part of that question can go forward, whether the special master - the appointment of the special master can go forward or just DOJ's looking at those documents. At the end of the day, Steve, it's not going to stop the Department of Justice from continuing the investigation⁸ involving the classified information. It could slow things down because they've asked to vacate the 11th Circuit's order, stopping that part of the procedure before the special master.

INSKEEP: I don't want to speculate here. But I'm thinking about the nature of the case, the narrowness of the appeal, the somewhat delay in filing. And I know Donald Trump's legal strategy all his life has been to fight everything to the maximum all the time, which makes me imagine the former president pounding his fist on the table and demanding an appeal and his reluctant lawyers eventually coming up with something just to say that they appealed. Does it look that way to you?

WEHLE: Yeah, some people have said that because, as I said, it doesn't really change the dynamics⁹. It doesn't change sort of what's happening in the litigation. But it does change public opinion. That is, people - I think Donald Trump - and we saw this with the 60-plus lawsuits¹⁰ after the 2020 election - by filing things, create an impression that somehow there's a there there, that somehow there's another side to the story, that somehow DOJ or the judges did something wrong. And he scores points, I think, in sort of the misinformation that circles around it. When actually, people can file whatever they want. They can make arguments with some limitations. That doesn't mean they're good or merit - you know, strong arguments that are actually going to win.

But when public - the public hears that something's been filed by Donald Trump, it means somehow that he has a really strong argument, that in this moment, the 11th Circuit or, you know, the judges below or Justice Department did something wrong. And so far, I don't think any of those have really hit the mark, except with Judge Cannon¹¹, who got roundly, roundly reversed by the 11th Circuit on many elements of this case.

INSKEEP: Well, let's talk about that, Judge Cannon. The original district court judge was openly solicitous¹² of the former president, said he was a special case, deserves special consideration. The appeals court, including two judges that Trump appointed, said, no, we have normal rules. The normal rules apply. We're going to apply them. In a few seconds, how can the Supreme Court show that they are calling this case straight? What would demonstrate that?

WEHLE: Well, you know, I do think there is a legitimate¹³ argument that the appeal wasn't properly noticed here. But I think the Supreme Court should, as the 11th Circuit did, look at the big picture here, which is national security and just let this go forward.

INSKEEP: Kim Wehle, it's always a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much.

WEHLE: Thank you, Steve.

INSKEEP: She is a visiting law professor at American University.

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 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

8 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。

9 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

10 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

11 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

12 solicitous   

adj.热切的，挂念的

参考例句：

• He was so solicitous of his guests.他对他的客人们非常关切。
• I am solicitous of his help.我渴得到他的帮助。

13 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。