美国国家公共电台 NPR Senior FBI Official McCabe To Face Closed-Door Grilling From House Lawmakers

Senior FBI Official McCabe To Face Closed-Door Grilling¹ From House Lawmakers

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The FBI's No. 2 official, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, will be testifying today before the House Intelligence Committee. McCabe's appearance behind closed doors comes as some Republicans are stepping up their criticism of the bureau and special counsel Robert Mueller's team, alleging² what they say is an anti-Trump³ political bias⁴. NPR's Ryan Lucas has been following this and joins us. Hey, Ryan.

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE⁵: Good morning.

GREENE: So Andrew McCabe - not exactly a household name. Why are lawmakers so interested in him?

LUCAS: Well - because of his job as deputy director, he is the number No. 2 official in the FBI, and that gives him a key role in kind of overseeing domestic and international investigations⁷. And of course, two of the biggest investigations in the past couple years that we've seen have been the investigation⁶ into Hillary Clinton's email server and the Russia investigation. So he's really been kind of at the center of two of these really big, really important, politically charged investigations. But it's also important to note here that he is not a political appointee. He is a career FBI official, and he's risen up through the ranks over the past 20 years.

GREENE: So the middle of political controversy⁸ - not always where a career official wants to be.

LUCAS: Right.

GREENE: Well - so he goes before a House committee today. It will be behind closed doors. But any idea what lawmakers are going to ask him?

LUCAS: Well, one big thing he's expected to be asked about is a senior FBI agent by the name of Peter Strzok, who's been in the news a lot lately. Republicans say that Strzok played a role in changing language in then-FBI Director James Comey's statement ending the Clinton email investigation.

Now, Strzok was also a member of the special counsel's Russia investigation, and Mueller removed him from his team after it emerged that Strzok had been sending politically charged text messages. And these are texts that Republican lawmakers say show political bias. They reference one text in particular that appears to reference a conversation that took place in McCabe's office in which Strzok talks about a, quote, "insurance policy." And Republican lawmakers haven't explained exactly what they fear here, but they have portrayed⁹ it as something sinister¹⁰.

Now, the other big thing that Republicans are expected to ask about is this infamous¹¹ Trump dossier. Republican lawmakers want to know what role, if any, that dossier played in the FBI's decision to open its Russia investigation.

GREENE: That's the dossier that was prepared by that former British spy, that there was damaging allegations about Trump. And the Republicans are suggesting that the FBI may have played some kind of role, so they're looking at that. They're looking at these text messages, and they're really just latching¹² on to this to say - what? - that Mueller and the bureau are out to get Trump?

LUCAS: That's basically it, yes. Now, they've grabbed onto that. They're running with it. You've seen a lot of that sort of narrative¹³ in conservative media. Now, Strzok's emails - it has to be said - have certainly given them a lot of ammunition¹⁴. In one, he called Trump an idiot. That certainly doesn't look good. But it's important to remember here that with all of the sort of political churning around this, the White House legal team says it is cooperating with the special counsel's office and the investigation. But the president's allies really have seized on these revelations and interpreted them as evidence that the investigation is slanted¹⁵ and not going to give the president a fair shake.

GREENE: They've also seized on this suggestion that Mueller's team may have improperly¹⁶ obtained some emails from Trump's transition team. A Trump transition lawyer has suggested that in a letter to Congress. What is that?

LUCAS: Well, basically, what you just said. The problem with it is that legal experts have questioned the arguments that the transition lawyers have made, saying that they're basically groundless. And the special counsel's office has said that it has done everything properly. But, you know, this is an argument that Republicans can lean on when raising questions about the investigation.

GREENE: All right, NPR's Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thanks.

LUCAS: Thank you.

1 grilling   

v.烧烤( grill的现在分词 )；拷问，盘问

参考例句：

• The minister faced a tough grilling at today's press conference. 部长在今天的记者招待会上受到了严厉的盘问。
• He's grilling out there in the midday sun. 他在外面让中午火辣辣的太阳炙烤着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

3 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。

4 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

11 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

12 latching   

n.闭塞；闭锁；关闭；闭塞装置v.理解( latch的现在分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• They have a reputation for latching onto all the latest crazes. 大家都知道他们对所有的最新时尚都有兴趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes we should tolerate people's mistakes instead of latching on to them. 有的时候我们要能够容错，不要揪着对方的失误不放。 来自互联网

13 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

14 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

15 slanted   

有偏见的； 倾斜的

参考例句：

• The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
• She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。

16 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。