美国国家公共电台 NPR--A special counsel will probe documents found at Biden's home and private office

A special counsel will probe documents found at Biden's home and private office

Transcript¹

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed special counsel Robert Hur, who will take charge of an investigation² of classified documents found at President Biden's home and private office.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

For the second time in two months, Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to investigate a politically sensitive subject.

DWANE BROWN, HOST:

This time the special counsel is former prosecutor³ Robert Hur. His job is to find out how classified documents came to be located at President Joe Biden's home in Delaware and at an office tied to him in Washington.

FADEL: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been following the story, and she joins us now. Good morning, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁴: Good morning.

FADEL: So what do we know about the mandate⁵ of this new prosecutor?

JOHNSON: The DOJ wants him to investigate the possible unauthorized removal and retention⁶ of classified documents or other records found at two sites connected to President Biden. That's his home in Delaware and an office he used at a think tank in Washington, D.C., after he served as vice⁷ president. Now, of course, classified materials are supposed to be stored in special places, not out in the open or even in a locked room or a closet. The White House says Biden isn't sure what's in these papers that his lawyers found, and he didn't know the papers were there. A White House lawyer says these documents were misplaced, that this was a mistake, not intentional⁸. But that's going to be for the Justice Department to decide. The special prosecutor is going to get to work in the coming days. And, Leila, he's already pretty familiar with how the DOJ operates. Robert Hur was a top official there in the Trump⁹ years. He also served as the U.S. attorney in Maryland in that era.

FADEL: Now, Attorney General Merrick Garland came into office pledging to restore public confidence in the Justice Department. Is that why he made this appointment?

JOHNSON: Merrick Garland said these regulations at the Justice Department called for him to appoint an outsider here because these are extraordinary circumstances. Here's more of what the attorney general had said to explain his decision.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MERRICK GARLAND: This appointment underscores for the public the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.

JOHNSON: And Garland had praise for lawyers and agents who've already been working on this matter. He says he's going to make sure the new prosecutor has all the resources he needs to do this job.

FADEL: Now, this week, Republicans in Congress opened a separate investigation into President Biden and his family. How are they reacting to this appointment? I mean, he is, as you said, a top official that was there in the Trump years.

JOHNSON: Yeah. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says there's still a role for Congress to play in investigating these Biden documents. And the new chairman of the House Oversight¹⁰ Panel, James Comer of Kentucky, agrees. But Comer says he's really not a fan of special counsels. Here's what he said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JAMES COMER: When that special counsel is appointed, it limits our ability to do some of the oversight investigations¹¹ that we want to do with respect to this. I think the House Oversight Committee can be a lot more effective and a lot quicker in getting to the truth of what really went on with those classified documents than a special counsel.

JOHNSON: Well, we have a special counsel now, and Comer says he's going to push for answers still about why the Biden administration kept this all secret from the public for months and who had access to Biden's office and his home. On the Senate side, the Intelligence Committee says they want a briefing, too, not just about these Biden papers, but also about what the FBI found in its search of former President Donald Trump's home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. That Trump investigation is much more advanced, of course. Special Counsel Jack¹² Smith is leading that probe. He's been on the job since last November. We know some former Trump White House aides have answered questions, but there's been no public action there in that case just yet.

FADEL: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Thanks, Carrie.

JOHNSON: Happy to be here.

1 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。

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 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。

4 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。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

6 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

7 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。

8 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

9 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。

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 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。

12 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。