指控美国总统犯罪是“不可行的”

Charging a US President with a Crime Is ‘Not an Option’

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has made his first public comments on his office’s investigation¹ of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The United States Department of Justice appointed Mueller to lead the investigation two years ago. The investigators³ uncovered numerous attempts to interfere² with law enforcement, a crime known as obstruction⁴ of justice.

On Wednesday, Mueller explained his decision not to propose legal action against U.S. President Donald Trump⁵. He said that charging Trump with a crime was “not an option” that his team could consider.

The special counsel added that if his office “had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”

Mueller said his office was required to follow Justice Department policies. He noted⁶ a long-standing legal opinion that a president “cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office.” “That’s unconstitutional,” Mueller said.

Mueller added that the U.S. Constitution “requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.” This process is called impeachment⁷.

In the impeachment process, the House of Representatives can vote to bring charges against a sitting president and the Senate can vote to convict the president of the charges.

In April, the Justice Department released parts of the Mueller investigation’s final report. It found there were many contacts between Russian agents and members of Trump’s presidential election campaign. However, it said, “…the evidence was not sufficient to support criminal charges.”

The report noted 11 instances of possible obstruction of justice. The special counsel noted, “while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate⁸ him.”

At the time of the report’s release, Trump claimed that the investigation found him innocent. He declared, “It’s called no collusion, no obstruction.”

Trump wrote on Wednesday: “Nothing changes from the Mueller Report. There was insufficient⁹ evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you.” His comments were published on the social networking website Twitter.

In the 10-minute long appearance, Mueller took no questions from reporters. As for speaking with members of Congress, Mueller said, “the report is my testimony¹⁰. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress."

Mueller ended his brief appearance by saying, “there were multiple, systematic¹¹ efforts to interfere in our election. And that allegation deserves the attention of every American.”

Congressional reaction

Representative Jerry Nadler chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. He said that since Mueller “was unable to pursue criminal charges against the President, it falls to Congress to respond to the crimes, lies and other wrongdoing of President Trump – and we will do so. No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law." Nadler is a member of the Democratic Party.

Doug Collins is the top Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee. He repeated Trump’s claim saying that the special counsel "confirmed today what we knew months ago when his report was released: there was no collusion and no obstruction."

Several Democrats¹² seeking to become president, however, were quick to call for Congress to start impeachment hearings – a constitutional process to remove a President from office.

Seth Moulton, one of the presidential candidates said, “Mueller did his job. Now it’s time to do ours. Impeachment hearings should begin tomorrow.”

I’m Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

option - n. something that can not be chosen

confidence - n. the feeling of being certain that something is true

sufficient - adj. having as much as needed

conclude - v. state an opinion

exonerate - v. to prove that someone is not guilty

collusion - n. secret cooperation for an illegal purpose

testimony - n. something that someone says in courts or Congress while formally promising¹³ to tell the truth

multiple - adj. many

allegation - n. a statement saying that someone has done something wrong or illegal

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 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。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 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。

8 exonerate   

v.免除责任，确定无罪

参考例句：

• Nothing can exonerate her from that.任何解释都难辞其咎。
• There is no reason to exonerate him from the ordinary duties of a citizen.没有理由免除他做公民应尽的义务。

9 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

10 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。

11 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

12 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》

13 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。