美国国家公共电台 NPR 2,800 JFK Assassination Files Have Been Released, Others Withheld

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The government is releasing some of the last of its files on the assassination¹ of President John F. Kennedy. History buffs and conspiracy² theorists are among those who have been eagerly checking the National Archives website all day. The White House says it's making some 2,800 documents available. Most of them have been kept classified ever since Kennedy's murder in Dallas almost 55 years ago. But some documents are being withheld³ for the time being.

Joining me now is NPR's Brian Naylor. And Brian, which records are being released, and which aren't?

BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE⁴: Well, Robert, there are a lot of documents, so it's going to take a while to wade⁵ through them to figure out just what's in there. So maybe it's easier to say which aren't being made available. Administration officials say they're mostly FBI and CIA files, and leaders of those agencies urged President Trump⁶ to withhold⁷ them, saying that they contain material that is still deemed sensitive relating to law enforcement, intelligence and foreign policy.

SIEGEL: Let's look a little bit further at that. The killing⁸ was in 1963. Why would the FBI and the CIA still want to keep those records secret?

NAYLOR: Yeah, that is the question. I spoke⁹ with Barbara Perry, who is director of the University of Virginia's Miller¹⁰ Center which studies the presidency¹¹, and she believes in part it's because the agencies had been watching Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who shot Kennedy, and that there may be still some secrets the agencies don't want revealed. Here's what she said.

BARBARA PERRY: We think there will be documents that indicate that he was on the radar¹² screen of the CIA and the FBI, that they did trace him to Mexico City and this visit that he made in the months leading up to the assassination with the Soviets¹⁴ and with the Cubans. We just don't know to what extent these documents will reveal what was going on in those trips to Mexico City or after.

NAYLOR: And so the agencies are arguing that there are still some sources that are too sensitive to reveal and some activities involving foreign partners that they don't want to reveal.

SIEGEL: Let's assume that they - that that's what those agencies think. Do they have the authority - the FBI and the CIA - to stop the release of these documents?

NAYLOR: So it's up to the president by law. And interestingly, the president twice tweeted about the planned release, kind of promoting it yesterday on his way to Dallas, of all places, where he appeared at a fundraiser. He anticipated the long - he the tweeted the long-anticipated release of the JFK files will take place tomorrow. And he added, so interesting.

But administration officials say that agency leaders made their case to retain some of the documents, and the president acknowledged that their concerns were valid¹⁶. Officials say the president does want to ensure this information gets out as soon as possible. So they now have six months to comb through these remaining unreleased documents and to make redactions if needed before they're released.

SIEGEL: I mentioned conspiracy theorists earlier. There are a lot of conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination. Are these documents, do you think, likely to put any of those theories to rest?

NAYLOR: Well, yeah, probably not. There have been conspiracies¹⁷ ever since the findings of the Warren Commission the year after Kennedy's death that Oswald was the lone¹⁸ gunman. There were some who said that there was somebody on the grassy¹⁹ knoll²⁰ near Dealey Plaza²¹, others who've said that the Soviet¹³ Union or Cuba or organized crime was involved.

In fact the president himself during last year's campaign accused the father of Republican Senator Ted¹⁵ Cruz of associating with Oswald, citing a cover in the National Enquirer²². Barbara Perry says it's part because it's been hard for people to accept that Kennedy was killed by someone that his biographer Robert Dallek called so inconsequential.

PERRY: He did inspire people. And to be taken at such a youthful age, leaving behind a beautiful wife and two beguiling²³ children was just more than the country could bear to contemplate²⁴ at the time. And I think that's what's made this raw feeling so open to conspiracy theories.

NAYLOR: And so, you know, undoubtedly²⁵ given the delay in the release of all of the records today, there will still be those who believe the government is covering something up. We'll have a better idea next spring.

SIEGEL: NPR's Brian Naylor. Brian, thanks.

NAYLOR: You're welcome.

1 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

2 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

3 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》

4 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。

5 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

6 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。

7 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

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 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

11 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。

12 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

13 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

14 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

15 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

16 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

17 conspiracies   

n.阴谋，密谋( conspiracy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was still alive and hatching his conspiracies. 他还活着，策划着阴谋诡计。 来自辞典例句
• It appeared that they had engaged in fresh conspiracies from the very moment of their release. 看上去他们刚给释放，立刻开始新一轮的阴谋活动。 来自英汉文学

18 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

19 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

20 knoll   

n.小山，小丘

参考例句：

• Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll.对于希尔弗来说，爬上那小山丘真不是件容易事。
• He crawled up a small knoll and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘，看了看周围的地形。

21 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

22 enquirer   

寻问者，追究者

参考例句：

• The "National Enquirer" blazoned forth that we astronomers had really discovered another civilization. 《国民询问者》甚至宣称，我们天文学家已真正发现了其它星球上的文明。
• Should we believe a publication like the national enquirer? 我们要相信像《国家探秘者》之类的出版物吗？

23 beguiling   

adj.欺骗的，诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等）

参考例句：

• Her beauty was beguiling. 她美得迷人。
• His date was curvaceously beguiling. 他约会是用来欺骗女性的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

25 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。