美国国家公共电台 NPR--Texas House panel moves to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton

Texas House panel moves to impeach¹ Attorney General Ken² Paxton

Transcript³

A Texas House committee has filed articles of impeachment⁴ against Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton after investigators⁵ laid out a list of illegal acts they allege⁶ he carried out.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The attorney general of Texas faces possible impeachment.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Ken Paxton is a Republican, but so is the majority of the committee that says he abused his power. Investigators gave that legislative⁷ committee a list of alleged⁸ illegal acts, including bribery⁹, obstruction¹⁰ of justice and abuse of public trust. Paxton has denied all the allegations. He's repeatedly drawn¹¹ national attention, as in 2020, when he joined the effort to overturn the presidential election. It's only now that he is losing some of his party's support.

INSKEEP: The Texas Newsroom's Sergio Martinez-Beltran is on the line from Austin.

Hey there, Sergio.

SERGIO MARTINEZ-BELTRAN, BYLINE¹²: Good morning.

INSKEEP: As Michel noted¹³, hasn't Paxton been an attention-grabbing figure for many years?

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: He has. Paxton first won the AG's office about a decade ago and has been reelected twice since then. He's a conservative. And he's very popular with Republican voters here in Texas and a big supporter of former President Donald Trump¹⁴. Now, he's also controversial inside and outside of the Republican Party. That's in part because he's made a name by being strict on issues like voter fraud and for fighting with the Obama and Biden administrations over immigration, federal spending and medication abortion¹⁵. But Paxton might be best known for this fact. He was indicted¹⁶ on securities fraud about eight years ago and has yet to face a trial. He's also facing a federal investigation¹⁷ over alleged abuse of his office.

INSKEEP: OK, but his supporters stuck with him through all of that. Why are some in his party turning against him now?

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: The whole reason for this House investigation, Steve, is because Paxton's office asked the Texas legislature for $3.3 million for a settlement he's on the hook for. That money would go to four of his former employees who were fired in 2020 after making accusations¹⁸ about Paxton's alleged misdeeds related to a man named Nate Paul. Nate Paul is an Austin real estate investor¹⁹ and a political donor²⁰ to Paxton. He was being investigated by the FBI. And according to the House probe, Paxton tried to use his office to intervene and even fight federal law enforcement.

The legislature, however, doesn't want to pay for that settlement, so here we are. Now, the list of allegations against Paxton is very long. In fact, there are 20 articles of impeachment. They include constitutional bribery, abuse of official capacity. But like you said earlier, Paxton denies any wrongdoing. And he's even accused the speaker of the Texas House, who is also a Republican, of trying to push him out of office.

INSKEEP: Well, what are the next steps after this committee has taken its action?

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: So now the articles of impeachment move to the House floor for a vote by the full chamber²¹. It would only require a simple majority to impeach him. And as it was mentioned earlier, that panel is led by Republicans. So this isn't necessarily a partisan²² vote. And we already know multiple Republicans will vote for this resolution. They will vote to impeach. Now, we still don't know when that will happen, but the final day of the legislative session is Monday. So if it doesn't happen by then, lawmakers will have to return to Austin. If the House votes to impeach him, Paxton will be suspended from his duties while the state Senate gets a trial prepared and decides whether to convict him. And the Texas Senate does indeed have the power to remove an attorney general from office. In fact, his wife, Angela Paxton, is one of the senators who would have to vote.

INSKEEP: That's the Texas Newsroom's Sergio Martinez-Beltran.

Thanks so much.

MARTINEZ-BELTRAN: Thanks for having me.

1 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 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。

4 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。

5 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》

6 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

7 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

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 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 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。

16 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

17 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。

18 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

19 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

20 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

21 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

22 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。