美国国家公共电台 NPR White House Aides Used Private Email For Official Business: 'Just Very, Very Stupid'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The House Oversight¹ Committee is asking the White House for a list of aides who've used private email accounts for official business. This request comes after confirmation² that President Trump³'s son-in-law and top adviser⁴, Jared Kushner, used a personal account for at least some White House business. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith has this look at what the rules are for these kinds of communications.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE⁵: The Presidential Records Act has, since 1978, made it plain that the president and his advisers⁶ need to preserve all presidential records.

NATE JONES: Essentially⁷, the law on the books since the Nixon administration says that the public needs to know the official business of the federal government.

KEITH: Nate Jones is with the National Security Archive, an open government group. Presidential records include emails and text messages. In 2014, Jones says the law was updated.

JONES: To make it crystal clear that you couldn't use personal or any other email and that if you did, for example, for convenience, or if the email was broken, or the occasions that we all know in real life - if you did, you had to forward it to the official account within 20 days.

KEITH: This was all prompted by something that happened during the George W. Bush administration. Richard Painter was chief White House ethics⁸ lawyer at the time and instructed all aides and officials that they shouldn't use non-government emails for official business.

RICHARD PAINTER: But a number of people chose to use Republican National Committee email for official United States government business. And then the Republican National Committee's server apparently⁹ deleted it.

KEITH: Millions of emails went missing, though they were recovered much later. Painter says there are two main reasons why using personal email for official business is problematic - for records preservation¹⁰ and because of the risk that classified information could end up on nongovernment systems. But Painter says it seems to keep happening.

PAINTER: You know, it was embarrassing. And I would have hoped that Secretary Clinton would've learned from that. Apparently, she didn't. And I would hope that the Trump administration would've learn from what has happened before, as well. And, apparently, they don't learn the lesson, either.

KEITH: Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and adviser, sent or received about a hundred work-related emails on his personal account from January through August - usually forwarded articles or an exchange initiated¹¹ by someone else. That is according to a statement from his attorney, Abbe Lowell. Lowell added, quote, "all nonpersonal emails were forwarded to his official address, and all have been preserved in any event." But that passive voice - were forwarded - catches Jones's ear.

JONES: The key thing that Mr. Kushner's lawyer didn't say was if he forwarded the emails before 20 days were over or not because, if he did, he would be in the clear. But if he forwarded his emails to the official account after, he did break the law.

KEITH: Kushner's lawyer did not respond to questions about when Kushner forwarded the emails. to his official account. But here's the thing. Even if Kushner did violate the Presidential Records Act, there aren't many consequences - possible disciplinary action.

PAINTER: It's not a criminal offense¹². It's just very, very stupid.

KEITH: Again, Richard Painter.

PAINTER: None of this is criminal. Nobody's getting locked up. But it really is very, very poor judgment¹³.

KEITH: Reports in Politico and The New York Times indicate Kushner is not the only senior Trump White House aide, past or present, to use a personal account. The House Oversight Committee has set an October 9 deadline for the White House to respond to its request for information about who has been using personal email for government business. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.

1 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。

2 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

3 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。

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

5 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。

6 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。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

11 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

12 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。