美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Picks William Barr, Attorney General Under H.W. Bush, To Return To DOJ Helm

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

President Trump¹ is closing out the week with a flurry of staff appointments - a new U.N. ambassador, a new chairman for the Joint² Chiefs of Staff and a new attorney general. His choice for that last post? A prominent Republican lawyer who has held the job once before in the administration of President George Herbert Walker Bush. William Barr served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He was my first choice from day one, respected by Republicans and respected by Democrats⁴.

KELLY: NPR justice reporter Ryan Lucas is here to tell us more. Hey, Ryan.

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE⁵: Hi there.

KELLY: So what else do we need to know about William Barr, other than that he was really, really young the first time around that he did this?

LUCAS: (Laughter) Well, he's a well-respected, establishment Republican lawyer. He has a lengthy⁶ resume of government service. A lot of that dates back several decades. You mentioned of course that he was attorney general for George H.W. Bush. He served as deputy attorney general before that and also led the - DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel. So he knows the Justice Department. He knows how it works. People who worked with him there say he has deep respect for the institution.

Now, if he's confirmed as Trump's attorney general, Barr will take over from Matthew Whitaker. Whitaker has been leading the DOJ on an acting⁷ basis, temporary basis, since Jeff Sessions resigned last month. And that of course was under pressure from the White House.

KELLY: And I should explain my really young comment. Barr is 68 now, which put him in his early 40s when he first held this job, which...

LUCAS: That's right.

KELLY: ...Since I'm now 47, I'm going to qualify that as really, really young.

LUCAS: (Laughter).

KELLY: To get confirmed for this job, he is of course going to need to be confirmed by the Senate. How is his nomination⁸ being received on Capitol Hill?

LUCAS: Well, for Republicans, this is a solid, reassuring⁹ choice. They like Barr's experience. They view that as a major asset. Take for example Senator Lindsey Graham. He's a Trump ally, leading member of the Judiciary Committee, which of course will handle Barr's confirmation¹⁰. So Graham called Barr's selection outstanding. He says Barr is highly capable, calls him highly respected.

And he says that he'll provide new and much-needed leadership at the Justice Department. That of course appeared to be a nod to the turmoil¹¹ that surrounded the department during Jeff Sessions' tenure¹² as Trump's first attorney general. Trump, of course, routinely criticized Sessions, as well as the Justice Department itself.

KELLY: Not a surprise to hear that Republicans like Lindsey Graham are on board with this. What about Democrats?

LUCAS: Democrats acknowledge that Barr has experience, of course, running the department. They acknowledge his legal capabilities¹³ as well. But there are a number of things that they have concerns about. Chief among them is how Barr views the special counsel's Russia investigation¹⁴. Barr has voiced...

KELLY: Which he would be overseeing.

LUCAS: Yes, as of now, if he's confirmed. Barr has voiced concerns publicly about political donations made by Mueller's team. He's also suggested that Trump's calls for the department to investigate Hillary Clinton were not improper¹⁵. Those are sources of concerns for Democrats. He's also expressed some very sweeping¹⁶ views of presidential power. He did that back in the 1990s. That's a cause for concern as well. Democrats are looking for some guarantees from Barr. The top Democrat³ in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, wants him to commit under oath that he will not impede¹⁷ the Russia investigation and that he will make Mueller's final report available to Congress and to the public.

KELLY: And briefly¹⁸, Ryan, he has a long record in Washington. Is that going to hurt or help him in the confirmation process?

LUCAS: His nomination is getting some pushback from the civil rights and criminal justice reform advocates. But right now, Republicans appear to be on board. And they appear to be able to kind of push this across the line.

KELLY: All right. NPR's Ryan Lucas, thank you.

LUCAS: 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 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

7 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。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

10 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

11 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

12 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

13 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 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。

15 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

16 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

17 impede   

v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止

参考例句：

• One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
• The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。

18 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。