VOA慢速英语2019 美国最高法院首席大法官将对川普总统的任期产生影响

The leader of the highest court in the United States will likely receive a lot of attention next month. In January, Chief Justice John Roberts will supervise the trial of President Donald Trump¹ in the U.S. Senate. Lawmakers there will decide if Trump is guilty of two charges against him: abuse of power and obstruction³ of Congress.

美国最高法院的领导人下个月可能会受到很大关注。明年1月，首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨将在参议院监督对川普的审判。参议员们将会裁决川普是否犯下了两项对他的控罪：滥用职权和妨碍国会。

If guilt² is the ruling, Trump would be removed from office. However, the senate is expected to find him not guilty.

如果判决有罪，川普将会被免职。然而，预计参议院会判他无罪。

Chief Justice John Roberts will have more influence on Trump's presidency⁴ back at the Supreme⁵ Court building, across the street from the Senate. There, Roberts will play a major part in deciding several important cases that directly affect Trump.

首席大法官罗伯茨将在回到参议院对面的最高法院大楼后对川普的总统任期产生更大影响。在最高法院大楼，罗伯茨将在裁决直接影响川普的几个重大案件中扮演重要角色。

One deals with whether a president needs to give his financial records to government investigators⁶ and lawyers. Trump has long fought to keep his finances secret. And, unlike other recent presidents, he has refused to make his tax information public.

其中一起案件涉及总统是否需要向政府调查人员和律师提供其财务记录。川普长期以来一直努力保守着自己的财务秘密。而且与最近的其他总统不同，川普拒绝公开他的税收信息。

In a few months, the Supreme Court will decide whether Trump must offer his financial records. The court's ruling will affect future presidents, and also the current one: It will likely come in the middle of Trump's re-election campaign.

再过几个月，最高法院将裁决川普是否必须提供其财务记录。最高法院的判决将会影响到未来以及现任总统，审判结果可能会在川普连任竞选活动的中期出台。

How Roberts will vote on the case is not known. In recent decisions, Roberts has often joined with the four generally conservative judges. However, he also sometimes agrees with decisions made by the four more liberal judges. Roberts may be the deciding vote in the financial records case.

罗伯茨对该案将会如何投票尚不得而知。在最近的判决中，罗伯茨经常跟其他4位保守派法官联手。然而他有时候也会赞同另外4位自由派法官的裁决。罗伯茨可能会成为这起财务记录案件的关键一票。

An uneasy position

矛盾立场

But first, the Senate trial. The U.S. Constitution says the chief justice of the Supreme Court will oversee⁷ a trial to decide whether the president is removed from office. But the job is mostly ceremonial.

但是首先迎来的是参议院的审判。美国宪法规定由最高法院首席大法官监督审判，以裁决是否将总统免职。但是这项工作主要是象征性的。

The senators – not the chief justice – set the rules for the trial. Roberts' job is to keep the process moving in an orderly way.

为这场审判制定规则的是参议员们，而不是这位首席大法官。罗伯茨的工作是使得这项流程有序进行。

People who know the chief justice say he will take his job at the trial seriously. He is likely reading about the only two other impeachment⁸ trials in U.S. history – those of Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. In both cases, the presidents remained in office.

了解罗伯茨的人士表示，他会认真对待自己在这次审判中的职责。他可能会阅读美国历史上仅有的另外两次弹劾审判，即1868年对安德鲁·约翰逊，以及1999年对比尔·克林顿的审判。这两起案件中的总统都得以留任。

During Clinton's trial, the chief justice was William Rehnquist. A law school professor who worked for Rehnquist at the time said the chief justice had "relatively⁹ little to do" during the trial.

克林顿受审期间的首席大法官是威廉·伦奎斯特。当时为伦奎斯特工作的一位法学院教授表示，这位首席大法官在审判期间“相当地无能为力。”

Roberts has not spoken publicly about leading the Trump impeachment trial. Observers have noted¹¹ that Roberts does not like calling attention to himself.

罗伯茨尚未公开谈论有关自己主持这次对川普的弹劾审判。观察人士指出，罗伯茨不喜欢出风头。

But he did take the unusual step of disagreeing publicly with Trump in November 2018. After the president spoke¹⁰ against judges who had ruled against him, Roberts issued a statement. It rejected the idea that federal judges worked for one president or another. And it defended "an extraordinary group of dedicated¹² judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them."

但是他确实在2018年11月罕见地公开与川普意见相左。在川普总统抨击对他做出不利裁决的法官们之后，罗伯茨发表了一份声明。声明反驳了法官是为某人总统效力的说法。声明还辩称“我们拥有的是一群卓越的专职法官，他们尽自己最大所能让他们所面对的人获得平等权利。”

Roberts said that an independent judiciary is "something we should all be thankful for."

罗伯茨表示，司法独立是“我们所有人都应该感恩的事情。”

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 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

3 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

4 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。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

8 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 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。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。