美国国家公共电台 NPR--GOP-led Texas House impeaches Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton

GOP-led Texas House impeaches² Republican state Attorney General Ken³ Paxton

Transcript⁴

Texas AG Ken Paxton has been suspended from office. He's awaiting a trial in the state Senate after the state House voted to impeach¹ him over allegations of bribery⁵ and other misconduct.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas, has been suspended from his duties as he awaits a trial before the state Senate. This follows a vote by the GOP-led state House of Representatives to impeach him over allegations of bribery, abuse of office and other misconduct. Sergio Martinez-Beltran, who covers politics for the Texas Newsroom, was in the House chamber⁶ during that vote on Saturday, and he joins us now. Good morning.

SERGIO MARTINEZ-BELTRAN, BYLINE⁷: Hi, Leila.

FADEL: Hi. So what was the mood like in that chamber during the vote?

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: Well, it was very somber⁸. The whole impeachment⁹ vote lasted about four hours. Members of the House General Investigating Committee laid out the evidence against Attorney General Paxton. And, you know, this is a bipartisan panel. So both Republicans and Democrats¹² went into detail over Paxton's alleged¹³ misdeeds involving one of his political donors¹⁴.

And one of the big accusations¹⁵ is that Paxton used the office of the attorney general to intervene in an FBI investigation¹⁶ against his friend. He even hired an outside attorney for this despite his staff telling him not to. And a reminder¹⁷ that Paxton was indicted¹⁸ by federal authorities in 2015 and still hasn't gone to trial yet. Some of these articles of impeachment are related to that. Now, we should mention some Republican members raised concerns about the whole process, but didn't defend Paxton, which I thought was interesting to hear.

FADEL: Yeah. Now, only a simple majority was needed, but most Texas House members voted to impeach, right?

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: Right. One hundred twenty-one members voted in favor of the 20 articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton. So that means nearly all Democrats and most Republicans. I talked to Texas State Representative Ann Johnson. She's a Democrat¹¹ who serves on the House General Investigating Committee. She says she's not surprised to see so many members of both parties vote this way.

ANN JOHNSON: Public integrity is not partisan¹⁰. And this was an overwhelming vote to recognize that the top cop was on the take, engaged in, as accused, issues of bribery, public corruption¹⁹, official abuses, abuse of capacity, and so many other potential state crimes.

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: Again, Johnson is a Democrat, but Republicans have also said Paxton has acted like he's above the law. One of the Republican members even said from the House floor that Paxton had called members and threatened them with political consequences in their next election if they voted to impeach.

FADEL: Now, we should note that Paxton has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and has lashed²⁰ out against the impeachment proceedings²¹ in the Texas House, calling it a sham²², illegal. And as you point out, though, many of his fellow Republicans are part of this impeachment process in agreement. What do we expect to happen now that it goes to a state Senate trial?

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: So first the House would have to select members to serve as impeachment managers in the trial, and they would be presenting the case in the Senate. And then that chamber will then conduct a trial, and senators will have to decide whether to convict Paxton. Now, the threshold in the Senate is higher - a two-third vote is needed to convict. And it's important to note, Leila, that Ken Paxton's wife, Angela Paxton, is a state senator, and she's required to be in attendance. Now, it's unclear if she will recuse herself.

FADEL: And how rare is it to see impeachment proceedings like this in Texas?

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: Really rare - only two other public officials have been impeached²³ in Texas history - a governor in 1917 and a judge in 1976. And this issue is also rare because Paxton is beloved by Republican voters, he's friends with former President Donald Trump²⁴ and was a prominent election denier, even trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. So all of this is historic. It's unprecedented²⁵. And quite frankly²⁶, it's pretty wild.

FADEL: Sergio Martinez-Beltran covers politics for the Texas Newsroom. Thanks so much.

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: Thanks.

1 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

2 impeaches   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的第三人称单数 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• The Illinois House impeaches Governor Rod Blagojevich. 伊利诺斯州议院弹劾州长罗德。布拉戈耶维奇。 来自互联网

3 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

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 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

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 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

9 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

10 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

11 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

16 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。

17 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

18 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。

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

22 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

23 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 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。

25 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

26 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。