美国国家公共电台 NPR--Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Trump's former White House counsel Pat Cipollone

Jan. 6 committee subpoenas² Trump³'s former White House counsel Pat Cipollone

Transcript⁴

The House Jan. 6 panel has issued a subpoena¹ for former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. The committee is asking him to appear for a deposition⁵ next week.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

After weeks of calling for former White House counsel Pat Cipollone to cooperate, the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol finally issued a subpoena for him last night. The committee is asking Cipollone to appear for a deposition next week. And the subpoena comes the day after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson offered startling testimony⁶ under oath. She recounted how Cipollone tried repeatedly to block former President Trump's efforts to disrupt the electoral count to formally elect President Joe Biden. NPR correspondent Susan Davis joins us now. Why this subpoena only issued now, Sue?

SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE⁷: Well, it looks like the committee tried to do it the easy way. And now they're going to do it the hard way, you know? Cipollone has spoken with them. He appeared voluntarily in an informal capacity back in April. But in a letter to Cipollone, the committee says he has refused all efforts to cooperate since then. And he's refused to provide any on-the-record testimony. So they say they were left with no other choice. Now, Cipollone hasn't responded to the subpoena. It's not clear if he will actually appear. But defying a congressional subpoena could open the door to possible legal action against him if he chose that.

MART?NEZ: All right. So what do they want to ask Cipollone about?

DAVIS: Well, the committee says he has direct knowledge of President Trump's involvement in a lot of efforts to subvert⁸ the 2020 election, including trying to submit fake ballots⁹ to Congress, trying to politicize the Justice Department and, of course, the president's role on the Capitol attack. In her testimony on Tuesday, Hutchinson repeatedly invoked¹⁰ Cipollone's name. She testified under oath that he was a key figure inside the White House trying to stop Trump from going to the Capitol on January 6. Now, Trump did not go to the Capitol on January 6. She said he asked her to help make sure it didn't happen, saying, quote, "we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen." She also testified that Cipollone pleaded with Trump and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to do more to stop the violence once the riot at the Capitol was underway.

MART?NEZ: Now haven't other people who have testified before the committee also offered testimony on Cipollone's actions right around the time?

DAVIS: Yeah. I mean, former Justice Department officials testified that he backed up their efforts to block Trump from appointing Jeffrey Clark to run the department. Clark was willing to illegally try to aid Trump's efforts to overturn the election from there. And former campaign aide Jason Miller¹¹ testified that Cipollone also confronted Trump lawyer John Eastman over his theory that Vice¹² President Pence had the authority to stop the electoral count. He did not have that authority. And Cipollone said it was crazy.

MART?NEZ: So it seems to me that this paints a picture of someone who tried to uphold the law and tell the president to do the same. Why resist, then, cooperating with the committee?

DAVIS: That has certainly been the view of Wyoming Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney. She's the panel's co-chair. She has said publicly that the committee's evidence shows that Cipollone and his office tried to do, quote, "the right thing." She also said she thinks the public should hear it from him directly. You know, there are probably some questions here about executive privilege, attorney-client privilege and the kind of things he can be compelled to say or not say. If he engages with the committee, it's possible he might not appear next week. But they could schedule it at a later date. This might take some lawyering.

But really, this is not about Pat Cipollone. This is about Donald Trump. I mean, the committee has been building a very public, very provocative¹³ case that a sitting president tried to subvert the peaceful transfer of power. And they've also relied really heavily on Republican witnesses to make their case. I mean, Trump's White House counsel, who was there for all of it, would be able to provide valuable insight into the president's state of mind and his intentions at the time.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR correspondent Susan Davis. Susan, thanks a lot.

DAVIS: You're welcome.

1 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

2 subpoenas   

n.（传唤出庭的）传票( subpoena的名词复数 )v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• My company has complied with committee subpoenas by supplying documents confirming all that I have said. 本公司按照委员会的要求，提供了能够证实我刚才发言的文件。 来自辞典例句
• Congressional Investigations: Subpoenas and Contempt Power. Report for Congress April 2, 2003. 金灿荣：《美国国会的监督功能》，载《教学与研究》2003年第2期。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 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。

5 deposition   

n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物

参考例句：

• It was this issue which led to the deposition of the king.正是这件事导致了国王被废黜。
• This leads to calcium deposition in the blood-vessels.这导致钙在血管中沉积。

6 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 subvert   

v.推翻；暗中破坏；搅乱

参考例句：

• The rebel army is attempting to subvert the government.反叛军队企图颠覆政府统治。
• They tried to subvert our state and our Party. This is the crux of the matter.他们是要颠覆我们的国家，颠覆我们的党，这是问题的实质。

9 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

12 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

13 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。