美国国家公共电台 NPR Why Did Trump Delay Security Aid To Ukraine?

Why Did Trump¹ Delay Security Aid To Ukraine?

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Why did the Trump administration delay nearly $400 million in security aid to Ukraine? That is the question at the heart of the impeachment² inquiry³ into President Trump. Was it because, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, the president tried to coerce⁴ an ally to help him take down a political opponent?

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NANCY PELOSI: The president abused his power for his own personal political benefit.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Or was it, as Republicans like Congressman⁵ Jim Jordan argue, a routine use of presidential power?

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JIM JORDAN: President Trump was still skeptical⁶ of giving hard-earned tax dollars to Ukraine, right?

KURT VOLKER: Yes.

JORDAN: You said that in your testimony⁷ as well. And the reason he's skeptical is - let's be honest - the guy doesn't like foreign aid.

KELLY: Our co-host Audie Cornish has been digging into that question and takes it from here.

AUDIE CORNISH, BYLINE⁸: This story isn't going to start in a smoky back room in the Ukrainian embassy or a grand hall at the State Department. Instead, we're going to the bowels⁹ of Capitol Hill to get help explaining from someone who usually has a front-row seat to how foreign aid gets spent - Tim Rieser.

TIM RIESER: Hi. How are you?

CORNISH: Rieser is a staff director of the Senate subcommittee that handles funding for State Department programs. He works for Vermont Democrat¹¹ Pat Leahy. And Rieser's office is covered with keepsakes from around the world.

RIESER: This wooden bell from Somalia - you know, just to remind me of why we're here.

CORNISH: He usually works behind the scenes. His Republican counterparts on the House and Senate declined to speak with us. We found Rieser's office after following this Byzantine path of Post-Its that landed at a fortress¹² of file cabinets.

RIESER: Oh, my God. That is a tiny fraction of it (laughter).

CORNISH: Now, a '70s-era law says a U.S. president can't unilaterally withhold¹³ funds designated for spending by Congress.

RIESER: They can't just simply decide, even though Congress appropriated money for X, we're going to spend it for Y.

CORNISH: Rieser says, the way it typically works - the White House can ask for a delay or even ask to halt funding altogether, but it has to tell Congress.

RIESER: We recognize that things do change, elections happen, governments are overthrown¹⁴, policies fail, and it makes sense to revisit them.

CORNISH: In July, the White House delayed Ukraine's aid package. Meanwhile, the Defense¹⁵ Department had certified¹⁶ that the country was making good on anti-corruption¹⁷ benchmarks, and yet the security assistance the Pentagon had asked for hadn't gone through. Rieser wondered if that meant the State Department aid to Ukraine might be frozen as well. Turns out, it was. When it comes to congressional funds, it's use it or lose it. So by the time September came around, the White House was skirting close to the deadline by which they were legally supposed to alert Congress to an official reason for the freeze. Then someone filed a whistleblower complaint. The White House released the funds shortly after. And by the end of the month...

RIESER: The whistleblower complaint became public.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: We've got breaking news as we come on the air in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Just moments ago, the House Intelligence Committee released a declassified¹⁸ complaint from that whistleblower against President Trump.

CORNISH: Here's how President Trump explained it all in an October interview.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW")

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have an obligation to investigate corruption.

SEAN HANNITY: Faithfully execute.

TRUMP: And that's what it was. In my opinion, that's what it was - is corruption.

CORNISH: But Rieser says this is actually part of a broader trend with this administration. Trump White House budgets have tried and failed to slash¹⁹ foreign aid, and the president isn't afraid to use diplomatic assistance as leverage²⁰. Think back to when Trump worried about migrant caravans²¹ at the border.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: We stopped payment to Honduras, to Guatemala and to El Salvador. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and we're not paying them anymore because they haven't done a thing for us.

CORNISH: But Rieser says the delay on aid to Ukraine was unusual because it involved military assistance that had bipartisan support. And after seeing the notes from President Trump's phone call and that line, do us a favor...

RIESER: It's just fundamentally different. It was to try to obtain information that could be advantageous²² in a political campaign, which has nothing to do with U.S. foreign policy or U.S. national security.

CORNISH: Rieser doesn't buy the idea that Trump's team was essentially²³ vetting²⁴ the new Ukrainian leader.

RIESER: It was laughable. They've never expressed concern to us about corruption in Ukraine, not this White House - or, frankly²⁵, anywhere.

CORNISH: There are ways for a White House to express concerns about corruption, and this isn't the first Republican administration skeptical of how foreign aid is spent.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH: As you can see, I'm traveling in some pretty good company today - Bono.

CORNISH: This is President George W. Bush back in 2002. The Irish pop star was at his side, and Bush was announcing a program to monitor and score countries that received special grant funding from the U.S.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BUSH: So the Millennium²⁶ Challenge Account will reward nations that root out corruption, respect human rights and adhere to the rule of law.

CORNISH: Brad Parks helped run it.

BRAD PARKS: Is this Audie?

CORNISH: Yeah. How are you?

PARKS: I'm doing quite well.

CORNISH: I hear if there's one person who knows about aid to countries that might, like, be dealing²⁷ with corruption, it's you.

PARKS: Guilty as charged.

(LAUGHTER)

CORNISH: Today Parks runs AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary that tracks foreign aid.

PARKS: At the government agency where I worked, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we documented over 200 instances of anti-corruption reforms that were encouraged or otherwise incentivized by the U.S. government. And I'm not aware of a single instance in which the U.S. government made an ask for a government to investigate or prosecute²⁸ a particular politician for abuse of power.

CORNISH: Parks says over the last 15 years, the U.S. has actually developed a pretty good framework for foreign aid to countries struggling with corruption. For example, in 2005, the U.S. withheld²⁹ aid from Yemen when it looked like that country was backsliding on reforms. But everyone - Congress and the White House - they were all in agreement.

PARKS: And they would ensure that all of the different parts of the U.S. government are singing from the same sheet of music, trying to reinforce the importance of adequately funding anti-corruption agencies and safeguarding their independence to ensure that they can investigate and prosecute abuses of power without fear or favor.

CORNISH: Yemen followed through, strengthening its anti-corruption commission, making government contracts more transparent³⁰. Parks says Trump's handling of Ukraine this summer sends the wrong message abroad.

PARKS: You know, one of the things that I'm paying close attention to is whether the signal that other countries around the world will get is that the U.S. government is principally concerned with the strength of countries' anti-corruption policies and institutions or if parts of the U.S. government view anti-corruption institutions as tools to be used for very specific political purposes, which I think could undermine these broader efforts that have been underway for the better part of the last decade to encourage clean government.

CORNISH: OK, so with that in mind, let's go back to this moment.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Can you explain to us now, definitively³¹, why was funding withheld?

CORNISH: The October press conference with Mick Mulvaney, the acting³² White House chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB. Mulvaney told the press the White House was worried about corruption in Ukraine and worried other countries weren't doing their part to contribute.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MICK MULVANEY: Those were the driving factors. Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that. But that's it. That's why we held up the money.

CORNISH: But when pressed...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #3: What you just described is a quid pro¹⁰ quo. It is - funding will not flow unless the investigation³³ into the Democratic server happened as well.

MULVANEY: We do that all the time with foreign policy.

CORNISH: And Mulvaney didn't stop there.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MULVANEY: And I have news for everybody - get over it. There's going to be political influence in foreign policy.

SAM BERGER: We were all a little bit shocked.

CORNISH: Sam Berger was watching, too. He used to work as a lawyer for OMB but under the Obama administration.

BERGER: Always happy to talk OMB.

CORNISH: And from his point of view, the White House did violate budget law in delaying assistance to Ukraine. We asked OMB to comment. They did not respond. Berger says if you look at the testimony from OMB officials during the impeachment inquiry, they say staffers raised concerns about the freeze on Ukraine aid; in fact, two quit in part because of it. And the White House, Berger says, carried on, having a political appointee sign off.

To you, why does this matter? I mean, are budgetary concerns like this impeachable³⁴ offenses³⁵?

BERGER: Well, also, it shows the irregular process that they undertook in order to route around career officials. You don't do that because you're doing something straightforward³⁷, legal that you can justify³⁸ to everyone. You do that because you're trying to cover up what it is that you're getting at. And so we saw, in a regular foreign policy process led by Rudy Giuliani and others, here we have an irregular budget process. So it's not that the violation³⁹ of the budget law itself is an impeachable offense³⁶, but it's what it was used for, right? It was used to extort⁴⁰ a foreign power to interfere⁴¹ in our elections.

CORNISH: Extortion, bribery⁴² - these are the terms that can land a president under threat of impeachment. But Andrew Natsios, the former head of USAID under George W. Bush, says he does not think that's what Trump has done.

ANDREW NATSIOS: I'm a Republican - not a Trump Republican. I'm a Reagan-Bush Republican.

CORNISH: Natsios is now at Texas A&M University. Oh, and he's writing a book on the topic.

NATSIOS: Guns are not enough foreign aid in the national interest.

CORNISH: He says there are plenty of times he's disagreed with how the president handles foreign aid, like withholding⁴³ support from those Central American countries.

NATSIOS: Did he have the right to do it? Absolutely. Was it wise policy? Absolutely not.

CORNISH: I asked Natsios about the president's hold this summer on aid to Ukraine. Was that, to him, an impeachable offense?

NATSIOS: Should Jimmy Carter be investigated because he provided a generous aid package to Egypt and Israel to get them to sign the Camp David Accords? Is that bribery? I don't think so. I agreed with him doing it.

CORNISH: Is there something particular about a request that would personally benefit the president?

NATSIOS: Yes. The question is you'd have to prove intent. He can argue, which is what he's been doing, that he was worried about the level of corruption in the Ukrainian government. You can be skeptical about his reasoning, but that is a legitimate⁴⁴ question. Whether he had other motives⁴⁵ for doing it is a debatable question. Is it impeachable? I don't think so.

CORNISH: And that decision will have consequences; consequences that extend far beyond the halls of Congress.

KELLY: That's our co-host, Audie Cornish, and that piece was produced by Sam Gringlas.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 coerce   

v.强迫，压制

参考例句：

• You can't coerce her into obedience.你不能强制她服从。
• Do you think there is any way that we can coerce them otherwise?你认为我们有什么办法强迫他们不那样吗？

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 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。

9 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

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 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

13 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。

14 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

17 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。

18 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

19 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

20 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

21 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

22 advantageous   

adj.有利的；有帮助的

参考例句：

• Injections of vitamin C are obviously advantageous.注射维生素C显然是有利的。
• You're in a very advantageous position.你处于非常有利的地位。

23 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。

24 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

25 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。

26 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

27 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

28 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

29 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》

30 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

31 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

32 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

33 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。

34 impeachable   

adj.可控告的，可弹劾的

参考例句：

• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• The government officer committed an impeachable offence. 那位政府官员犯了可能招致弹劾的罪行。 来自辞典例句

35 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

36 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。

37 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

38 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

39 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

40 extort   

v.勒索，敲诈，强要

参考例句：

• The blackmailer tried to extort a large sum of money from him.勒索者企图向他勒索一大笔钱。
• They absolutely must not harm the people or extort money from them.严格禁止坑害勒索群众。

41 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

42 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。

43 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。

44 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

45 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。