美国国家公共电台 NPR Judge Orders DOJ To Hand Over Mueller Material, Validates Impeachment Probe

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

House Democrats¹ won an important victory in court today. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Justice Department to turn over secret material leftover² from the Russia investigation³ led by former special counsel Robert Mueller. And more broadly, the judge recognized the legal weight of the Democrats' impeachment⁵ inquiry⁶. Joining us now to talk about all this is NPR national security editor Phil Ewing.

Hey, Phil.

PHIL EWING, BYLINE⁷: Hi, Ailsa.

CHANG: All right, so just remind us. What is this case about?

EWING: Well, there were two big questions here. One of them was, as you know very well, when federal prosecutors⁸ work with a grand jury, we know when it issues an indictment⁹ and sometimes a subpoena¹⁰. But most of what goes on inside the room is supposed to be secret. But the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, said Congress had the right to see not only what came from the grand jury that worked with special counsel Mueller, which was in his indictments¹¹ and court filings and his big report, but also the workings of the grand jury too and other secret material. The Justice Department said, in court, no, you don't. And that was the source of one of the disputes here today.

CHANG: OK. And what was the other big question in this case?

EWING: It was a little bit broader. It was this question that you've been hearing a lot lately. When does impeachment become impeachment for real? Doug Collins, the top Republican on Nadler's committee, argued, we haven't gotten a vote on whether we're in an impeachment inquiry. And what Collins said was, you know, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, can't just have a press conference and say that the House is pursuing impeachment. For this to be real in a legal sense, he argued, members have to have a vote. Republicans keep calling this a sham¹² impeachment or a fake impeachment.

CHANG: So...

EWING: The president and the White House took that position too. And not long ago, they sent a blistering¹³ letter to Congress, saying, you're not running any kind of impeachment inquiry that we have to respect. And so we won't. You're not going to get witnesses or documents from us.

CHANG: So what did the judge make of those arguments?

EWING: Well, Chief Judge Beryl Howell in Washington did not agree with those cases that the parties made. She said Democrats have the power to pursue impeachment in the way that they have been and that the administration's choice, in fact, to respond in the way that it has been helped lead her to decide to order the Justice Department to give Nadler this material that he wants.

Let me just read you a bit of what the judge wrote in her opinion today. Quote, "these arguments smack¹⁴ of farce¹⁵. The reality is the DOJ and the White House have been openly stonewalling the House's efforts to get information by subpoena and by agreement. And the White House has flatly stated that the administration will not cooperate with Congressional requests for information," close quote. Now, Judge Howell has ordered the Justice Department give this material from Mueller's investigation to Nadler's committee by next Wednesday.

CHANG: So how does this new development fit into the ongoing¹⁶ story about the impeachment inquiry?

EWING: That's a great question. And what may be more important over the long term, less than the Mueller grand jury material, is the validation¹⁸ that this ruling gives to Democrats' impeachment inquiry. It'll be easier, for example, for Jerry Nadler, the Judiciary Committee chairman, and the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to point to this ruling and say, you say our impeachment is fake or a sham. I have an opinion here from a federal judge saying that, in fact, it is valid¹⁷ and that we can proceed in the way that we are.

The reasons for which Democrats wanted to impeach⁴ Trump¹⁹ have broadened since this dispute went to court and Jerry Nadler began this process. Originally, it was about alleged²⁰ obstruction²¹ of justice by the president. Now we hear much more about the Ukraine affair, obviously. And one concerns that Republicans expressed about this was if you give grand jury material to members of Congress, that sets a precedent²², which they don't like. And it also means that it could get out into the open, you know? You could begin to read about this in the newspaper or hear about it on TV. That's been known to happen...

CHANG: Sure.

EWING: ...Up on Capitol Hill. And they're concerned about that. But there's something else here, obviously, too. There are witnesses coming in for depositions²³ with the committees doing impeachment, including current and former White House officials. If this position before was that they could not appear because of the, quote-unquote, "sham impeachment," the question now is whether this ruling will change that calculation. And they may, in fact, do these depositions and talk in the way that members of Congress want.

CHANG: That's NPR national security editor Phil Ewing.

Thanks, Phil.

EWING: Thank you.

1 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》

2 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

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 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。

9 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。

10 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

11 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

12 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。

13 blistering   

adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡

参考例句：

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 赛跑运动员如脱缰野马般起跑了。
• This failure is known as preferential wetting and is responsible for blistering. 这种故障称为优先吸湿，是产生气泡的原因。 来自辞典例句

14 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

15 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

16 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

17 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？

18 validation   

n.确认

参考例句：

• If the countdown timer ever hits zero, do your validation processing. 处理这种情况的方法是在输入的同时使用递减计时器，每次击键重新计时。如果递减计时器变为零，就开始验证。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Although the validation control is a very widespread idiom, most such controls can be improved. 虽然确认控件是非常广泛的习惯用法，但还有很多有待改进的地方。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

19 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。

20 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

21 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

22 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

23 depositions   

沉积（物）( deposition的名词复数 )； （在法庭上的）宣誓作证； 处置； 罢免

参考例句：

• The safety problems are more severe for low-pressure depositions because the processes often use concentrated gases. 对于低压淀积来说安全性问题更为突出，因为这种工艺通常使用高浓度的气体。
• The chief method is to take depositions of parties and witnesses. 主要的方法是录取当事人和证人的宣誓证言。 来自口语例句