美国国家公共电台 NPR--Corporate funders return to GOP attorneys general who embraced election fraud claims

Corporate¹ funders return to GOP attorneys general who embraced election fraud claims

Transcript²

NPR's Michel Martin talks to Ilya Marritz of ProPublica about how corporate donations to a Republican attorneys general group dropped off after Jan. 6, but they're rolling in again — two years later.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

After the attack on the Capitol in January of 2021, Republican states' attorneys general saw an exodus³ of corporate cash from their campaign organization. The AGs had associated themselves with the Stop the Steal movement that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and many big companies wanted nothing to do with it. Two years later, though, those same Republican AGs are bringing in corporate cash again but have not changed their positions. That's according to a new story out today from ProPublica. The reporter, Ilya Marritz, is with us now to tell us more. Good morning, Ilya.

ILYA MARRITZ, BYLINE⁴: Good morning.

MARTIN: So at this point, it's an almost common position for Republicans to talk about fraud in elections. So why did it stand out when Republican attorneys general specifically took a position?

MARRITZ: AGs are incredibly powerful players in our democracy. A well-crafted legal motion from an attorney general can result in a nationwide injunction, or it could set a new precedent⁵. In the past year, Republican AGs have been very active on issues people care about - abortion⁶, the border, student loan forgiveness. And they have oversight⁷ over election law and voting.

MARTIN: Let me just ask you to go back to the beginning and just, you know, remind us. What was the attorney general's role in the Stop the Steal movement? How did they get involved?

MARRITZ: Yeah. So after Donald Trump⁸ lost the 2020 election, his campaign filed dozens of legal challenges to the vote, and almost all of them were dismissed. But then in December of that year, a challenge came in from the Republican attorney general of Texas. He filed an emergency motion with the Supreme⁹ Court, asking them to actually invalidate the vote in four states that went for Biden, and 17 other Republican AGs joined him in a motion. That motion was rejected. Then a few weeks later, just before the big Trump rally, a nonprofit linked to the Republican AGs called the Rule of Law Defense¹⁰ Fund blasted out this robocall, basically telling people to get to D.C.

MARTIN: So what happened when all this came to light?

MARRITZ: Basically, companies deserted¹¹ the Republican Attorneys General Association, or RAGA. Donations fell off a cliff. Some donors¹², like the University of Phoenix¹³, even demanded their money back. It was an exodus.

MARTIN: But then these companies that said that they wanted to support democracy, that that is why they were withdrawing their campaign contributions or not giving them, and then affirm the result of the election, according to your reporting, they started coming back. How did that happen?

MARRITZ: We got a glimpse of it from a briefing document prepared by RAGA for its then-chairman, the AG of South Carolina, Alan Wilson. He had a meeting scheduled with two lobbyists from UPS in the summer of 2021, and the prep doc basically lays it out. It says, please remind them that their memberships lapsed¹⁴ in February and ask that they renew this quarter. And then it lists a bunch of UPS' policy concerns, like labor¹⁵ issues. Now, ethicists say it is concerning when a business meets directly with a prosecutor¹⁶ about political fundraising, but it may be these businesses feel they need to have good relationships with AGs. UPS told us, we support elected officials in both parties.

MARTIN: So you're telling us that big business has come back to support the attorneys general. But you report this group, these Republican attorneys general as a group, have not really changed their position on that or not moderated. Tell us more about that.

MARRITZ: That's right. RAGA said there's no place for violence in our politics, and they support protecting the Constitution. But, you know, one example, after the FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, many Republican AGs signed a legal brief in support of Trump, describing it as a ransacking¹⁷. And they poured money into candidates who denied the validity of elections, and some of them won.

MARTIN: That is Ilya Marritz. He reports on democracy for ProPublica, and he also covers Trump legal matters for NPR. Ilya, thank you so much.

MARRITZ: You're very welcome. Thank you.

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

4 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。

5 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

6 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

7 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

8 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。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

12 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

14 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

16 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。

17 ransacking   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present. 她正在彻底搜寻各家店铺，为吉姆买礼物。 来自英汉文学 - 欧亨利
• Ransacking the drawers of the dresser he came upon a discarded, tiny, ragged handkerchief. 他打开橱柜抽屉搜寻，找到了一块弃置的小旧手帕。 来自辞典例句