2007年VOA标准英语-Former Justice Official Testifies on Attorneys

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
23 May 2007

Monica Goodling, a former Department of Justice official and aide to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, 23 May 2007

Monica Goodling, a former Department of Justice official and aide to U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzalez, has testified before Congress in the controversy¹ over the firing of eight U.S. prosecutors². VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, majority Democrats³ say the testimony⁴ prompts many new questions, while Republicans say it failed to reveal any information that would damage the attorney general

Monica Goodling was granted partial immunity⁵ in return for her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee after she asserted her constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination.

Goodling said although she had the title of Justice Department White House Liaison⁶, her contacts with the White House were limited, and she was not a decision-maker.

"I did not hold the keys to the kingdom as some have suggested. I was not the primary White House contact for purposes of the development or approval of the U.S. attorney replacement⁷ plan. I never attended a meeting of the White House judicial⁸ selection committee. The attorney general and [his former chief of staff] Kyle Sampson attended those

meetings. To the best of my recollection I have never had a conversation with Karl Rove or Harriet Meiers while I served at the Department of Justice, and I am certain that I never spoke⁹ to either of them about the hiring or firing of any U.S. attorney," he said.

Goodling said she did have discussions with staff members of Rove and Meiers, in her words, "regarding specific aspects of the replacement plan", and acknowledged she attended one meeting after the decision to fire the attorneys was made, at which Rove was present.

But she denies ever recommending that specific prosecutors be added to or removed from a list compiled by Kyle Sampson, and does not recall any recommendations coming from the White House.

In resisting calls for his resignation, from Democrats as well as Republicans, Attorney General Gonzalez has maintained that none of the dismissed U.S. attorneys were removed for political reasons, although he acknowledged the matter was handled badly.

Democratic House judiciary committee chairman John Conyers says Goodling's testimony shows there is much more to be learned about possible White House involvement in the firings.

"We have learned today that trust has been violated, that false statements have been made under oath, not Monica Goodling's, and there is a possible obstruction¹⁰ of justice, as well as perjury," he said.

Conyers was referring to Goodling's testimony that Attorney General Gonzalez appeared to have made false statements to Congress, and that a former deputy attorney general, Paul McNulty, withheld¹¹ information during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But Congressman¹² Chris Cannon¹³, a Republican on the committee, assessed the testimony this way. "There were no surprises here today. There was nothing of interest even. Nothing to indicate any kind of corruption¹⁴. And the premise¹⁵ of all of the activity here is corruption, and we just did not see that," he said.

In her testimony Wednesday, Goodling did acknowledge that she "crossed the line" by taking political considerations into account in some hiring decisions at the justice department.

Neither Paul McNulty, the former deputy attorney general mentioned in Goodling's testimony, nor Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to the attorney general, have testified before the House Judiciary Committee.

But saying that plenty has gone wrong and contradictions are all over the place, Congressman Conyers is raising the possibility of calling both of those former officials to testify, along with a repeat appearance by the attorney general.

Gonzales also faces possible no-confidence measures, introduced by Democrats in the House and Senate, although these have yet to be acted upon.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

3 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》

4 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。

5 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

6 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

7 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

8 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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》

12 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。

13 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

14 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。

15 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。