美国国家公共电台 NPR--Author Chris Whipple on his inside look at the Biden White House

Author Chris Whipple on his inside look at the Biden White House

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with author Chris Whipple about his upcoming book on Joe Biden, "The Fight of His Life," after classified documents were found at the president's residence and former office.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Let's turn now to journalist and author Chris Whipple. His latest book looks at the Biden White House based on interviews with Chief of Staff Ron Klain and others in the administration. It's titled "The Fight Of His Life." And it's out tomorrow. Good morning.

CHRIS WHIPPLE: Good to be with you.

FADEL: So obviously, you must know this White House quite well. How significant is this classified documents case for the Biden presidency² and the job of leading a country that is so deeply divided?

WHIPPLE: Well, I don't think there's any question about the fact that Joe Biden is headed into his third year with the wind at his back. But obviously, this does not help. This has not been the finest hour for Joe Biden and his team. They've looked evasive with the drip, drip, drip of information that keeps coming out. And it's surprising because I spent two years interviewing almost all of Joe Biden's inner circle for my book. And while there's been plenty of drama - from the Afghanistan fiasco to his fraught³ relationship with the Secret Service, which I report about, to even troubles with Kamala Harris behind closed doors - this White House is usually pretty surefooted in a crisis. And it's been flat-footed here, I think. And I think it's important for them to step up their game because this goes to the heart of one of Joe Biden's - arguably Joe Biden's greatest asset, which is trust. And I think they need to really get a grip on this.

FADEL: Now, Biden has been intensely critical of Trump⁴'s mishandling of classified documents. And obviously, this is a very different case, about 20 documents found that appear to have been disclosed to authorities right away versus⁵ hundreds of documents in the Trump case, including many that were withheld⁶ from authorities. But it still begs the question, how did Biden and his staff let this slip?

WHIPPLE: Well, look; first of all, this is not even remotely comparable to Trump's shameless...

FADEL: Right.

WHIPPLE: ...Flouting⁷ of the law and obstruction⁸ of the Department of Justice trying to get the documents back. So there's really no comparison here in that respect. But, look; it's a big political problem. It's hard to know how it happened. I think there really needs to be a much better process for all presidents, I think, in handling of classified documents. But I think this really makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the Department of Justice to prosecute⁹ Trump over the Mar-a-Lago documents because no matter how much anybody says this is all about the facts and the law, it is inarguably a political decision. And that's going to be fraught now. It's hard to imagine Merrick Garland or Jack¹⁰ Smith not wondering at this point if a jury will find Trump's behavior all that egregious¹¹ when documents keep popping up every other day in Joe Biden's houses.

FADEL: Now, the president is widely expected to announce his reelection bid in the coming months. Can he afford a scandal like this if he does choose to run again?

WHIPPLE: Well, scandal is a pretty big, scary word to use for this. You know, I think this is a - more of a kerfuffle at this point. I think that, you know, in all likelihood, given the facts that we now know, that the special counsel will close this out at some point. So he's got to get past it. But I think, at the same time, as I said, I think they need to raise their game. It's - he can't afford to continue to make inconsistent statements. And I think it's going to be a real challenge now because Bob Bauer, the attorney who is very much in charge, it seems, is a guy who's not going to want the White House to be out there sharing lots of information. And the White House - it's going to be a real balancing act for Joe Biden to find that balance of sharing enough information without getting into trouble with the investigation¹².

FADEL: In the few seconds we have left, Republicans are criticizing the White House for what it's calling a lack of transparency on this issue. Is that a fair criticism?

WHIPPLE: Well, it's fair only to the extent that, you know, they've had to be very careful, given the circumstances.

FADEL: That's journalist and author Chris Whipple. His new book, which looks at the Biden White House, "The Fight Of His Life," comes out tomorrow. Thanks so much for your time.

WHIPPLE: Thanks for having me.

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 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。

3 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

4 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。

5 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

6 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 flouting   

v.藐视，轻视( flout的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• By selling alcohol to minors,the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯罪法。 来自口语例句
• By selling alcohol to minor, the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯法。 来自互联网

8 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

9 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

10 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。

11 egregious   

adj.非常的，过分的

参考例句：

• When it comes to blatant lies,there are none more egregious than budget figures.谈到公众谎言，没有比预算数字更令人震惊的。
• What an egregious example was here!现摆着一个多么触目惊心的例子啊。

12 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。