美国国家公共电台 NPR GSA Says Trump D.C. Hotel Lease Is Valid, Despite Ban On Elected Officials

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Trump¹ may have suffered a setback² this week with health care reform. But he did score a victory when it comes to his five-star hotel here in Washington, D.C. There had been a controversy³ over a particular clause in the lease on the hotel that is just blocks away from the White House. NPR's Jackie Northam has been following the story, and she joins us now in the studio to talk about this development. Hi, Jackie.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: So what was the issue, first off?

NORTHAM: Well, it has to do with the landlord, which is none other than the federal government. Trump's hotel is in the historic Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. And when Trump signed the lease for that hotel, it said that no elected official of the government of the United States can be a party to or benefit from that lease. And there are many ethics⁵ experts who say that the moment Trump took office, he was in violation⁶ of that clause.

Now, the General Services Administration, the GSA, is the agency that oversees⁷ federal property. And it's been looking into this for a couple of months and then yesterday determined⁸ that in fact the Trump Organization was in full compliance⁹ with that lease.

MARTIN: So how can that be? Explain what the reasoning is.

NORTHAM: Well, the reasoning that we saw is that the contracting officer, a fellow named Kevin Terry, wrote a letter to Donald Trump Jr., the president's son who is running his businesses at the moment. And Terry said that people were reaching, quote, "simplistic black and white conclusions regarding the meaning of the contracts ban on elected officials." And he said the lease is valid¹⁰ because Trump moved his interest into a revocable trust which is being managed by Trump's sons and some other close associates.

MARTIN: But he still owns the hotel.

NORTHAM: He - no, he leases the hotel from the federal government.

MARTIN: He still leases the hotel...

NORTHAM: Right.

MARTIN: ...But he still drives the profits from the hotel.

NORTHAM: Well, it's all gone into a revocable trust. So once he's out of office, he'll get it back.

MARTIN: He'll get it back.

NORTHAM: Right.

MARTIN: So how has this news been going over with all the government ethics folks who've been raising a lot of concerns about conflicts of interests?

NORTHAM: They were pretty vocal¹¹ yesterday about this. I spoke¹² with one fellow, Steven Schooner¹³, who's a government procurement¹⁴ law specialist, a professor at George Washington University here in D.C. And he said it was "unbelievable." And that's a direct quote. He said that the decision harmed the integrity and the credibility of both the GSA and the presidency¹⁵.

And the problem many ethics experts have is that now that he's in office, Trump is both the tenant¹⁶ and the landlord, and that the GSA never intended for politicians to profit from a government-owned building. And that's why the language was written in about banning elected officials from being on the lease.

MARTIN: So we should point out that the Trump Hotel is currently being used for events by embassies, other foreign groups. The president himself regularly visits, likes to talk about how great and luxurious¹⁷ his hotel is.

NORTHAM: (Laughter) Yes. He eats dinner quite often there as well, yes. And that's - you know, the problem with many experts, again, in ethics, is that, you know, you can have these special interest groups. You can have these lobbyists and even foreign governments coming in and using the hotel as a way to try and curry¹⁸ favor with the president. You know, and then there's this Emoluments¹⁹ Clause, which...

MARTIN: In the Constitution.

NORTHAM: In the Constitution, exactly, and which prohibits the president from receiving any payments from foreign governments. So some question of, say, whether an embassy renting a ballroom²⁰ in the Trump Hotel would be exactly that. The president says he'll turn over any profits from foreign governments to the Treasury²¹. But critics say, really, the only way to prevent any sort of conflict of interest or even perceived conflict of interest would be for the president to divest²² himself. And the president, of course, has refused to do that.

MARTIN: NPR's Jackie Northam. Thanks so much, Jackie.

NORTHAM: Thank you.

1 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。

2 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

3 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。

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 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

7 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

10 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

11 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

12 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。

13 schooner   

n.纵帆船

参考例句：

• The schooner was driven ashore.那条帆船被冲上了岸。
• The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate.急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。

14 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

15 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

16 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

17 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

18 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

19 emoluments   

n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The emoluments of this profession is not satisfactory. 此行业的报酬不令人满意。 来自辞典例句
• Emoluments connected with this position include free education for the children. 与这职务有关的酬劳包括为子女提供免费教育。 来自互联网

20 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

21 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

22 divest   

v.脱去，剥除

参考例句：

• I cannot divest myself of the idea.我无法消除那个念头。
• He attempted to divest himself of all responsibilities for the decision.他力图摆脱掉作出该项决定的一切责任。