VOA慢速英语--Report Shows Clinton Broke Email Policies

AS IT IS 2016-05-27 Report Shows Clinton Broke Email Policies

A new report says former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke department rules by using private email to do government business.

Clinton’s use of private email has been an issue in her presidential campaign. Her critics say she has been dishonest. She has said she did nothing illegal.

Clinton admits to making a mistake by not having two separate accounts – one for work and another for personal email.

“I am sorry about that. I take responsibility,” she said in a television interview last year.

The 83-page report by the Inspector¹ General said Clinton risked the security of official information when she stored email on a private server, or equipment, in her home. It also said the department would not have approved use of the server if security officials had known about it.

Clinton provided 50,000 pages of official email, as well as her personal server, as part of the investigation². The report said she should have given all her official government email to the State Department.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Clinton was not the only secretary to break the policies.

“We could have done a better job at preserving emails and records of secretaries of state and their senior staff going back, frankly³, several administrations. So back to before Secretary Clinton. We recognize that.”

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell also was criticized in the report for using personal email for government business.

The report found that many employees use personal email accounts for official business. But it identified three officials who used it exclusively: Clinton, Powell and a former ambassador to Kenya, Scott Gration.

Every time a new government report is released, the issue returns to the campaign discussion.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump⁴ quickly reacted Wednesday to the inspector general’s new report.

“Crooked⁵ Hillary, crooked Hillary, she’s as crooked as they come,” he said at a campaign rally. He later described the report as “not so good.”

Rated by Politifact.com, Clinton speaks “true” or “mostly true” the majority of the time. Trump speaks “false,” “mostly false” and “pants on fire” false the majority of the time.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi defended Clinton. She said the report showed weaknesses in the system that included other high-ranking government officials.

The report criticized the State Department for being “slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks” of official email use.

Words in This Story

server – n. a computer that manages access to a centralized network

exclusive – adj. not shared, available to only one person or group

crooked – adj. not honest or trustworthy

pants on fire -- idiom, from a children's rhyme, or poem, about someone who lies so much, their pants catch on fire

cybersecurity – n. measures taken to protect computers from unauthorized attacks

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 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。

3 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。

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 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。