美国国家公共电台 NPR McCabe's 'The Threat' May Be Darkest Vision Of Trump Presidency Yet

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Andrew McCabe used to be the deputy director of the FBI until he was fired by President Trump¹. Now almost a year later, McCabe is talking. In his first public interview on the subject, McCabe told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he authorized² investigations³ into President Trump. And he said that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein considered invoking⁴ the 25th Amendment⁵ to try to remove Trump from office. We'll be hearing from Andrew McCabe about his new book "The Threat" on this program Monday. In the meantime, we have NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving with us. He reviewed the book for NPR.

Good morning, Ron.

RON ELVING, BYLINE⁶: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: What exactly did Andrew McCabe say about the discussions around using the 25th amendment to remove President Trump from office?

ELVING: In the book, he talks about how top officials in the FBI and the Justice Department were profoundly disturbed at the way that the president fired FBI Director James Comey back in May of 2017. And in that interview with "60 Minutes" you mentioned, McCabe says they were so disturbed and so concerned about what the president might do next that they discussed the constitutional means for restraining or even removing a president. And that led them to the 25th Amendment, which has a section that's never been used but which allows the vice⁷ president and a majority of the cabinet to remove a president they see as no longer fit for office if they can get two-thirds of the House and Senate to go along.

MARTIN: In that same CBS interview, McCabe said that Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general at the time, speculated about wearing a wire in meetings with the president. Has Rosenstein said anything about that, confirmed it - anyone else responded to this?

ELVING: He has disputed that account. And in fact, McCabe is the only person to come out in public and confirm this story, which first appeared in The New York Times in September last. The Times report was based on unnamed sources, one of whom said Rosenstein might've been talking about wearing a wire in sarcasm⁸ or as a kind of grim joke. But Rosenstein put out a statement back in September, which the Justice Department reiterated⁹ yesterday, saying, he doesn't remember all this or at least not the way McCabe is describing it.

MARTIN: Andrew McCabe, like his former boss James Comey, kept memos¹⁰ - a lot of memos of his interactions with White House officials, especially in the days after James Comey was fired. Are those memos in the book?

ELVING: The book is a narrative¹¹. It's not just a collection of notes or memos. But the memos are the source of McCabe's observations and insights and judgments¹² about President Trump, whom he portrays¹³ at times as a liar¹⁴ and a bully¹⁵.

MARTIN: What else do we learn from this account about the overall tensions between the FBI and the president?

ELVING: The fundamental tension is between what McCabe sees as the bureau's independent mission - the FBI's independent mission - and Trump's understanding of that mission. In McCabe's view, Trump is not interested in the facts or the law but in who is on his team and who is not.

MARTIN: NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving for us. Thanks so much, Ron.

ELVING: Thank you, Rachel.

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 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

3 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。

4 invoking   

v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• You can customise the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can customize the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自辞典例句

5 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

6 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。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

9 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

10 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

13 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

15 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。