美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why a liberal and a conservative agree Trump's indictment is unwise

Why a liberal and a conservative agree Trump¹'s indictment² is unwise

Transcript³

When Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted⁴ former President Donald Trump this week, he said he was upholding "a solemn responsibility." He added "everyone stands equal with the law."

Naturally, many Trump critics appreciated this moment, while Trump's supporters called it political.

But two longtime Trump critics on opposite sides of the political spectrum⁵ are now agreeing that prosecuting⁶ him on this was a bad idea. Mona Charen, a conservative columnist⁷ with The Bulwark⁸, and Jonathan Chait, a liberal columnist with New York Magazine, spoke⁹ to NPR's Steve Inskeep.

The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Mona Charen

My problem with this particular prosecution¹⁰ is that it is shockingly weak. We kept thinking there must be more to it than the falsifying business records, which is a misdemeanor which can only be bootstrapped into a felony if it is in service of some other crime. And we waited in vain to find out what was the other crime. And Alvin Bragg did not say what the other crime was.

And this is my bottom line in all of this: It would be a catastrophe¹¹ for the United States to do anything that strengthens Donald Trump and increases the chances that he will ever sit in the Oval Office again by bringing a weak case and possibly giving him the opportunity to portray¹² himself as a victim and a martyr¹³, but also possibly giving him the opportunity to defeat the case, have it either thrown out or have him acquitted¹⁴. It will only burnish¹⁵ his sense of invulnerability. And we've seen what he does with those feelings in the past.

Jonathan Chait

There are a lot of cases, as anyone who knows how prosecutors¹⁷ work, where there's real discretion¹⁸ involved as to whether something violates the law. You could look back at James Comey's decision not to prosecute¹⁹ Hillary Clinton over the emails. He said, and I think correctly that no, the no prosecutor¹⁶ would bring charges under these circumstances. So I think people are using that construction as a justification²⁰ for what he's doing so that we don't need to actually look at these charges in a specific way and say, is prosecution the correct choice? Is that the choice we would make if it was Donald Trump but some other person who who maybe ran for some other office in 2016?

On whether law enforcement authorities are being unfair to Trump

Mona Charen

Gosh, it is so hard to answer that in the affirmative, since this is a person who has done more to trash respect for law in this country than any other person since Robert E Lee. But look, it is an unwise prosecution because it's very weak and it's so wobbly that even dyed-in-the-wool NeverTrump fanatics²¹ like me are twisting our faces up and saying, 'What was he thinking?' I mean, it's not so much the unfairness to Donald Trump that worries me. It's the fact that the case will not succeed and will only strengthen Donald Trump.

Jonathan Chait

I think Donald Trump is basically a career criminal. But it is possible to frame a guilty man. And I'm not saying he's being framed, but he's being prosecuted²² in a way that very few people either in this situation would be charged for. So in a way, he's being singled out unfairly. But I would almost flip²³ the premise²⁴ of the question around and say, is he being treated unfairly? I would say that Bragg may be doing a favor for Trump by bringing the first legal charge against him, while others are expected to follow. That creates the predicate for his victimization narrative²⁵. So the only effect of this will just be to jump start Republican support for him in corners of the Republican Party into supporting his legal case, when in other circumstances they might have had more critical distance from him.

On what you tell others who are opposed to Trump to do, given the way they see this case

Jonathan Chait

My advice is just to have a little bit of patience. If you're itching²⁶ to see a strong legal case where Donald Trump will be convicted and possibly sent to prison, you probably won't have to wait very long for one to come along. And you can have your principles and still have the outcome you want, if you just admit to yourself that this case isn't worth bringing, but the next one probably will be.

Mona Charen

Unfortunately, there's just no way to unwind what has already happened. So this train has left the station and the best course would be - rather than try to justify²⁷ this particular prosecution and twist themselves into pretzels in the attempt to do that - to focus on the cases that are stronger. The Mar-a-Lago documents, the January 6th insurrection, and the solicitation²⁸ of election fraud in Georgia.

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 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

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 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

5 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

6 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

7 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

8 bulwark   

n.堡垒，保障，防御

参考例句：

• That country is a bulwark of freedom.那个国家是自由的堡垒。
• Law and morality are the bulwark of society.法律和道德是社会的防御工具。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 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。

11 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

12 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

13 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

14 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

15 burnish   

v.磨光；使光滑

参考例句：

• Many people,fearful for their jobs,are trying to burnish their contacts at other firms.许多人因为担心自己的工作，正在努力抹去和其他公司接触的痕迹。
• I burnish joyful sparks from my sorrows.我从伤痛里擦亮喜悦的火花。

16 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。

17 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

18 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

19 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？

20 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

21 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？

22 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

23 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

24 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

25 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

26 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

28 solicitation   

n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说

参考例句：

• Make the first solicitation of the three scheduled this quarter. 进行三位名单上预期捐助人作本季第一次邀请捐献。 来自互联网
• Section IV is about the proxy solicitation system and corporate governance. 随后对委托书的格式、内容、期限以及能否实行有偿征集、征集费用由谁承担以及违反该制度的法律责任进行论述，并提出自己的一些见解。 来自互联网