CNN 2012-06-28

 Hey, I’m Anderson Cooper. Welcome to the Podcast about over the bungled¹ "Fast and Furious" opposition² sets of a showdown between congress and the White House for "Keeping Them Honest." Also they are ridiculous. Let’s get started.

 

Good evening, everyone. We begin tonight "Keeping Them Honest." With big developments on the story we've been following on from day one. The bungled ATF operation called "Fast and Furious." Developments that could land the nation's top law enforcement official in contempt of Congress and perhaps set off a constitutional battle between Congress and the White House. 

 

Let me give you some background first. "Fast and Furious," you may remember, let buyers purchase guns in the United States, smuggle³ them into New Mexico. The idea was to track the guns as they made their way inside Mexican drug cartels. 

 

Instead the ATF lost track of those guns in part because U.S. authorities never bothered to tell the Mexican authorities about the scheme. They never had a way to actually track the guns. That is, not until people started dying. 

 

The only way you're going to find those guns in Mexico is where? 

 

At crime scenes. At the death - at the site of somebody who's dead. At a gun battle between the police and the bad guys in which either the bad guy was killed and his gun was left at the scene or used during the commission of a crime in which the gun was left behind. 

 

That makes no sense to me. 

 

Between reasonable men within the law enforcement community, no, there is no reasonable explanation to let these guns walk. 

 

Well, two of those guns made their way back north to the scene where border agent Brian Terry was shot dead a year and a half ago. He just finished buying Christmas presents for his family. Two months later, ATF agent Jaime Zapata was killed in Mexico by one of a batch⁴ of 10 firearms bought in Houston as part of "Fast and Furious." 

 

Now lawyers for the family confirmed today that they'll be suing the Justice Department, but the big headlines today were in Washington, D.C. After initially⁵ cooperating with the House Oversight⁶ Committee, which is investigating "Fast and Furious," Attorney General Eric Holder⁷ refused to turn over more internal Justice Department documents. In a letter today, the deputy attorney general, James Cole, notified the committee chairman, Darrell Issa that President Obama was withholding⁸ them on the basis of executive privilege. 

 

Now the move came after threats from the committee to cite Holder for contempt and negotiations⁹ yesterday between the Attorney General and committee members. Today's decision to invoke¹⁰ executive privilege led Republicans on the committee to say their search for accountability is being stymied¹¹. 

 

If Congress has time to look into Major League Baseball, the BCS and invite Stephen Colbert to come to a committee hearing, surely to goodness, we have time to get answers on a fundamentally flawed lethal¹² investigation¹³ like "Fast and Furious." 

 

Well late today Gowdy's committee voted along party lines to recommend the house issue a contempt citation¹⁴ against Holder and Democrats¹⁵ accused Chairman Issa and his Republican committee colleagues of conducting a political witch hunt. Republicans suggest the administration is impeding¹⁶ the search for accountability and using executive privilege to do that. 

 

Keeping both sides honest though tonight, it's worth pointing out a couple of facts: This is the first time that President Obama has invoked¹⁷ executive privilege. Back when Democrats controlled the House, any Republican administration was claiming executive privilege for the sixth time by the way, the sound bites were 180 degrees opposite. Back then, as House members debated contempt citation against two George W. Bush advisers¹⁸, Republican members including Darrell Issa simply got up and walked out. 

 

We will not stand here and watch this floor be abused for pure political grandstanding at the expense of our national security. We will, we wil, we will not stand for this and we will not stay for this. And I would ask my House Republican colleagues and those who believe that we should be here protecting the American people not vote on this bill. Let's just get up and leave.

1 bungled   

v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
• John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 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。

7 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

8 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

11 stymied   

n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句
• I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

12 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

13 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。

14 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

15 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》

16 impeding   

a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的

参考例句：

• Fallen rock is impeding the progress of rescue workers. 坠落的石头阻滞了救援人员的救援进程。
• Is there sufficient room for the kiosk and kiosk traffic without impeding other user traffic? 该环境下是否有足够的空间来摆放信息亭？信息亭是否会妨碍交通或者行走？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

17 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》

18 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。