科米将指称川普试图影响FBI调查工作

 

James Comey says he believes he lost his job as head of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation¹ because of its investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 elections.

Comey served as the FBI’s director until last month. Then President Donald Trump² ordered his dismissal.

Comey met with a U.S. Senate committee Thursday. He accused Trump of not being truthful³ when he said he fired Comey because FBI agents no longer trusted his leadership and that the agency was in disarray⁴.

"Those were lies, plain and simple."

Comey went further then he did in written testimony⁵ to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Those written statements were released on Wednesday.

In the earlier testimony, the former FBI director said he and the president spoke⁶ about Trump’s former national security adviser⁷, Michael Flynn. Comey said Trump told him that he hoped he would drop an investigation into Flynn’s possible connections to Russian officials.

Comey remembered the president saying, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go.” He also said that Trump told him during a private White House dinner: “I need loyalty⁸. I expect loyalty.”

That was troubling, Comey said, because the FBI is supposed to operate independently of the president.

Separately, Trump’s personal lawyer, Mark Kasowitz, denied that the president ever demanded loyalty from Comey.

But he said Comey’s testimony confirmed the president “was not under investigation as part of any probe into Russian interference” with the 2016 elections.

After testifying for about 2 1/2 hours, Comey met in private with committee members. They said he would be asked about issues related to “classified” information that could not be discussed in public.

Is Hope the Same as an Order?

Idaho Senator James Risch is a member of the committee and, like Trump, belongs to the Republican Party. Risch asked Comey if hoping that something would be done is the same as ordering him to take action.

Comey said it is different when the U.S. president makes the request.

“This is a president of the United States with me alone, saying I hope this. I took it as, this is what he wants me to do.”

Comey said he was so concerned with one-on-one discussions with the president that he decided⁹ to follow up the meetings by writing reports on what was discussed.

“I knew there might come a day when I might need a record of what happened not only to defend myself, but to protect the FBI,” he said. Comey said he was “honestly concerned" that the president "might lie about the nature” of their meetings.

Comey said he had given his reports to Robert Mueller, a former FBI director who last month was appointed to lead an independent federal investigation. Mueller is exploring possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the U.S. election.

Earlier, Comey had said the Russian interference with the vote was done to hurt the candidacy of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She was the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.

Asking a Friend to Release Information

Comey told the Senate committee about his actions after being fired. He said he asked a friend to give one of his reports about his meetings with Trump to a reporter. Comey said he hoped the information might lead to the appointment of a special prosecutor¹¹.

On May 17, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein did exactly that, appointing Mueller to the position of special counsel.

Trump Lawyer Criticizes Comey’s Leaks

Kasowitz, Trump’s lawyer, criticized Comey’s statement that he had asked a friend to give information about his talks with Trump to a reporter. Kasowitz said there are people in government, in his words, “attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications.”

“Comey has now admitted that he is one of the leakers,” Kasowitz said.

Last month, Trump commented on his conversations with Comey. He tweeted that Comey “better hope there are no tapes of their conversations.

“Lordy, I hope there are tapes,” Comey told the Intelligence Committee.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat¹⁰, asked Comey a question that Republicans have been raising since his firing.

If he felt that Trump’s requests were wrong, Feinstein asked, “why didn’t you stop and say, ‘Mr. President, this is wrong?”

“It’s a great question. Maybe, if I were stronger, I would have. I was so stunned¹² by the conversation that I just took it in. The only thing I could think to say, because I was playing in my mind -- 'cause I could remember every word he said - I was playing in my mind what should my response be. That’s why I carefully chose the words.”

The former FBI director would not say if he thought Trump could be charged with a crime. “That's Bob Mueller's job to sort that out,” he said.

At the White House, Trump administration official Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about Comey’s statement that Trump had lied about his firing.

“No, I can definitively¹³ say the president is not a liar,” she said. “It’s frankly¹⁴ insulting that that question would be asked.”

President Trump has often taken to Twitter to criticize the Russian investigation. He did not do so during the hearing on Thursday. But his son, Donald Jr., did. He criticized Comey for saying his father was ordering him to stop investigating Flynn, when it was just a request.

“Knowing my father for 39 years when he 'orders or tells' you to do something there is no ambiguity¹⁵, Donald Trump Jr. said. “You will know exactly what he means."

Words in This Story

disarray - adj. a confused or messy condition

plain - adj. easy to see or understand

further - adv. to a greater degree or extent

testimony - n. something that someone says especially in a court of law while formally promising¹⁶ to tell the truth

probe - n. an investigation

bar - n. a place where alcoholic¹⁷ drinks are served

classified - adv. information that is supposed to be kept secret from the public

leak - n. providing information that was not previously¹⁸ known to a reporter

privileged - adj. conversations that are supposed to remain private

sort that out - phrase, determine what the facts are

definitely - adv. certainly the case

1 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。

2 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。

3 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

4 disarray   

n.混乱，紊乱，凌乱

参考例句：

• His personal life fell into disarray when his wife left him.妻子离去后，他的个人生活一片混乱。
• Our plans were thrown into disarray by the rail strike.铁路罢工打乱了我们的计划。

5 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。

6 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。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 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。

11 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

13 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

14 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。

15 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

16 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

17 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

18 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。