PBS高端访谈:探讨科米对希拉里邮件门的辩护

 　　Russia and the president were not the only subject that made news today.

　　Senators again questioned Director--former Director Comey about his handling of the investigation¹ into Hillary Clinton's e-mail

　　and what pushed him to take the unusual step to discuss it publicly last summer, which you all have brought up. Here, again, committee Chair Senator Richard Burr.

　　Let me go back, if I can, very briefly² to the decision to publicly go out with your results on the e-mail.

　　Was your decision influenced by the attorney general's tarmac meeting with the former president, Bill Clinton?

　　Yes. In, ultimately, a conclusive³ way, that was the thing that capped it for me that I had to do something separately to protect the credibility of the investigation,

　　which meant both the FBI and the Justice Department.

　　Were there other things that contributed to that, that you can describe in open session?

　　There were other things that contributed to that.

　　One significant item I can't, but I know the committee's been briefed on — there's been some public accounts of it, which are nonsense

　　but I understand the committee has been briefed on the classified facts.

　　Probably, the only other consideration that I guess I can talk about in open setting is that at one point the attorney general had directed me not to call it an investigation, but instead to call it a matter,

　　which confused me and concerned me, but that was one of the bricks in the load that led me to conclude I have to step away from the department if we're to close this case credibly⁴.

　　So, Carrie Cordero, this is the one part of today's hearing that looked back at the Clinton e-mail story, which, of course, went on for months and months.

　　How do we read what Director Comey is saying here about the former attorney general, Loretta Lynch?

　　So, I think the former director has take a really bad rap on this July decision to go public with his finding.

　　In my view, the attorney general at the time, Loretta Lynch, put him in an extraordinarily⁵ difficult position.

　　She didn't officially recuse from the decision, which she could have done after the tarmac meeting, nor did she say, I'm going to make the decision and I own it.

　　And because she did neither of those things, either said she was going to make the prosecutorial⁶ decision and own that decision, or officially recuse and say,

　　Sally Yates is in charge, she left this sort of middle ground where she just said, well, I'm going to accept the decision of the prosecutors⁷.

　　And, therefore, I think that what the former director was saying is, he felt then that that would have tainted⁸ any future decision.

　　I think some people — George Terwilliger, some people who are close to the former attorney general are saying that this came up more innocuously,

　　that it wasn't an order, stop using the term investigation, call it a matter.

　　Be that as it may, Comey has left out there being very critical of the former attorney general.

　　Yes, I'm sort of troubled by this aspect of that exchange and what we heard today.

　　I can understand the point that Carrie makes that Comey felt like the decision-making process at the Justice Department appeared corrupted⁹ because of the tarmac visit and so forth¹⁰. But there's other remedies to that.

　　And to point to a discussion with the attorney general, I mean, I sat in the attorney general's office. I was the acting¹¹ attorney general.

　　I'm sure I had discussions with subordinate officials about whether to call something a matter or an investigation. And I'm not saying this wasn't significant.

　　But it seems to me it kind of got blown out of proportion, if that's the justification¹² for the July proceeding¹³.

　　John Carlin, how do you see this?

　　I'm going to move to where Carrie started, which is, we know the Russians are going to attack us again.

　　They tried to undermine confidence in the integrity of our election.

　　It was reaffirmed today. It's been reaffirmed by every national security official. And they're going to do it as early as 2018.

　　Right now, when you think about the decisions last summer about the Clinton investigation, about the Russian investigation,

　　it is extraordinarily difficult for the political appointees to make a decision calling out investigations¹⁴, particularly when they have to do with the interference in an election.

　　What I worry about going into 2018 is, we're in far worse shape right now in having a credible¹⁵ official who can call out Russian meddling¹⁶ in our elections.

　　And so I think we should think seriously about which career — nonpartisan career officials do we give the task of calling out if the Russians attack our electoral system again in 2018?

　　In about 20 seconds, Greg Craig, you get to weigh in here, final word.

　　Well, on the Comey press conference in July, I do have views on that. I think he violated guidelines and practices in the Justice Department.

　　And he went beyond that and commented on her conduct. And it was unacceptable. And it was a mistake, a terrible mistake.

　　Well, that one, I don't think we're going to resolve as we sit here this evening.

　　But thank you all for being here. Greg Craig, Carrie Cordero, John Carlin, George Terwilliger, thank you all very much. undefined

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 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

4 credibly   

ad.可信地；可靠地

参考例句：

• I am credibly informed that. 由可靠方面听说。
• An effective management software ensures network to run credibly. 一个高效的网管软件是网络运行的可靠保证。

5 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

6 prosecutorial   

公诉人的，原告的； 起诉的

参考例句：

• If prosecutorial misconduct results in a mistrial, a later prosecution may be barred. 如果检察官的不轨行为导致审判无效，再行起诉可能会被除数禁止。 来自口语例句
• Prosecutorial supervision is required according to public power attribution of civil litigation. 民事诉讼的个性和检察监督是对立统一的关系，并不排斥检察监督。

7 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。

8 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

13 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

14 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

15 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

16 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句