美国国家公共电台 NPR Biden Blasts Trump As A President Who 'Believes He Is Above The Law'

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

A major shift in the Capitol today - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced minutes ago that the House will move forward with an impeachment² inquiry³ against President Trump⁴.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NANCY PELOSI: The actions of the Trump presidency⁵ revealed a dishonorable fact of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections. Therefore, today I'm announcing the House of Representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.

CORNISH: Prior to this, Pelosi had been reluctant to pursue impeachment. So to unpack⁶ all that's happened now, we have Scott Detrow in the studio. He covers politics for NPR.

Welcome back, Scott.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE⁷: Good afternoon.

CORNISH: We said it's a big shift. How big?

DETROW: Really big. Pelosi had been really wary⁸ about impeachment, to the frustration⁹ - increasingly vocal¹⁰ frustration of many liberal members of her caucus¹¹. Her mantra all along has been that impeachment needs to be bipartisan in both Congress and in the public in order to be successful. But it's clear that Pelosi and many members of the Democratic House Caucus viewed today - the news of the last few days as a bridge too far, and that's the reports that President Trump pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. And it's been a really remarkable¹² shift today. You've seen a parade all day long of statements from freshman¹³ Democrats¹⁴ in Republican-leaning districts who, up until now, had been really reluctant to support impeachment, worrying it's not something that their district would support.

CORNISH: The ones she allegedly was trying to protect, right?

DETROW: Exactly. These are the people who put Democrats in power and could lose their seats next year because they're swing districts. And they were all saying, this is too much. The president needs to cooperate and - especially if the president, the White House do not turn over the whistleblower report to Congress and do not cooperate with these probes. They were saying it is time for impeachment now. And today, Pelosi took that step.

CORNISH: Can we just parse¹⁵ that bit about the whistleblower? - because I know there's been some movements there as well in terms of the committees and what they're looking for.

DETROW: That's right. And in the next few days, we'll see more movement. The chairman of a key House committee, the Intelligence Committee, says lawyers for the whistleblower have been in touch, and this person wants to talk. Also already scheduled later this week, the acting¹⁶ Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire - this is the person who is denying Congress access to the report - is set to testify in an open hearing.

CORNISH: The context to this is Ukraine, and the person that President Trump has been trying to focus on is Joe Biden, his political opponent. And we actually heard from the former vice¹⁷ president today. What did he have to say about this allegation from President Trump?

DETROW: Yeah. And the - President Trump and his allies have been saying, without evidence, that while he was vice president, Biden interfered¹⁸ inappropriately in a corruption¹⁹ probe into an energy company his son Hunter was tied to. Biden said that he knew the president would go after him in this race.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOE BIDEN: I know that even though every reputable publication has looked at the charge that has been made against me and found them baseless and untrue and without merit, that's not about to stop him.

DETROW: Indicating that he expects these attacks to continue. But Biden did what his campaign has been doing for several days now, saying that if you look at all the reporting on this that's been done over the last few months, there is nothing - there's no evidence at this point to back what President Trump and his allies are repeatedly saying.

CORNISH: I know Biden spoke²⁰ earlier in the day before the House speaker, but can you talk about what his position has been on impeachment?

DETROW: Yeah, he is shifting the same way you've seen a lot of Democratic leaders. He had been skeptical²¹, saying before that he thought impeachment would be a gigantic distraction²². This has changed his thinking, too, Biden now saying that he would - he thinks Congress should move forward with impeachment if President Trump does not comply, does not cooperate. That is nowhere near as far as many other members of the 2020 Democratic field, many of whom for months have been saying Congress needs to impeach¹ the president, needs to move forward. Biden's still kind of saying it conditionally²³. Still, it's a big change in his view of this.

CORNISH: And we will continue following this throughout the evening.

That's NPR's Scott Detrow. Thanks so much.

DETROW: Sure thing.

1 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。

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 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。

5 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。

6 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

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 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

9 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

10 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

11 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

12 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

13 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

14 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》

15 parse   

v.从语法上分析；n.从语法上分析

参考例句：

• I simply couldn't parse what you just said.我完全无法对你刚说的话作语法分析。
• It causes the parser to parse an NP.它调用分析程序分析一个名词短语。

16 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。

17 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

18 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 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。

20 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。

21 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。

22 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

23 conditionally   

adv. 有条件地

参考例句：

• We will provide necessary English training to the new employees conditionally. 公司将为员工提供必要的英语培训。
• China should conditionally support and participate in the coordination. 我国对此宜持有条件支持并参与的立场。