欢迎来到VOA在线收网 www.voa365.com
当前位置:VOA NEWS > VOA慢速英语 > AS IT IS >

AS IT IS 2017-02-18 What Are ‘Leaks’ That So Anger President Trump?

2017-02-19 13:08来源:未知

音频下载

President Donald Trump calls on a reporter during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Donald Trump went on Twitter Thursday to talk about his continued concern about leaks. He wrote, “The spotlight has finally been put on the low-life leakers? They will be caught!”
 

The president then said later Thursday that he “called the Justice Department to look into the leaks.”

 

Trump has been very critical of leaks from people identified in stories as U.S. intelligence officials, though some may have come from White House aides.

 

The information provided to the New York Times and Washington Post, among others, covered discussions between Trump’s now former national security adviser and a Russian diplomat.

 

The former adviser, Michael Flynn, had told Vice President Mike Pence the discussion with the Russian diplomat did not include talk of U.S. sanctions. The intelligence officials who spoke to reporters said Flynn was not being truthful.

 

News that Flynn had not been truthful led to his resignation, Trump said Thursday. But he called Flynn, “a fine person.”

 

Leaks have long been a tradition in America. It means giving information to reporters.

 

Often the information would not be known unless it was “leaked” to reporters. And often the people providing the information do not want their names released for fear of losing their jobs or facing other punishment.

 

Trump is not the first president to speak out against leaks.

 

President Richard Nixon had many battles with news organizations. The Obama administration aggressively investigated suspected leakers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

 

“People in power never like leakers, whether we’re talking about President Trump or former President Obama,” said Roy Gutterman. He is director of the Tully Center for Free Press at Syracuse University in New York.

 

Notable leaks in US history

 

The kind of leaks Trump is criticizing is not new.

 

In 1973, Daniel Ellsberg gave reporters information from a secret report that the U.S. expanded the war in Vietnam without informing the public. Ellsberg, who had helped write the report, known as “The Pentagon Papers,” said Americans had a right to know.

 

Two Washington Post reporters received information from a source known only as “Deep Throat.” They reported stories about the cover-up of a break-in into Democratic Party headquarters. The news stories led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Many years later, “Deep Throat” was identified as a Federal Bureau of Investigation official.

 

In 2013, Edward Snowden, a contractor with the National Security Agency, gave thousands of documents to WikiLeaks. The documents provided information about U.S. government surveillance practices. After the release, Snowden left the U.S. for Russia.

 

Stories often start with call from concerned person

 

Many important stories start with call from a person who says something is not right where they work or live. Calls from doctors and nurses at U.S. veterans’ hospitals, for example, led to reporting in 2014 that officials were hiding long waits for medical care.

 

“Often the confidential information provided by a source leads a reporter to reach out to other sources and to get documents so that a story that should be known to the public gets out,” said Gutterman of Syracuse University.

 

But Trump said recent leaks provided information about his discussions with foreign leaders that he considered private.

 

He called it “a criminal act.”

 

Trump has called for an investigation of leaks. So have two Republican members of Congress -- Jason Chaffetz and Bob Goodlatte in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

They expressed concern about release of “classified information.”

 

Congressman Elijah Cummings, a Democrat, said that Chaffetz and Goodlatte are asking for the wrong investigation.

 

"Congress should be doing independent oversight of the executive branch and protecting whistleblowers,” he said.

 

In the past, some reporters who refused to identify their sources went to prison. Among the most recent was former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who served 85 days in prison in 2005 for not saying who gave her the name of a Central Intelligence Agency agent.

 

At a Thursday news conference, Trump continued his criticism of the news media. The president said, “the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake.”

 

During the 77-minute long news conference, he used the term “fake” news 13 times. This led a reporter to ask:

 

“If the information coming from those leaks is real, then how can the stories be fake?”


Words in This Story

 

 

leak - n. disclosure of information not known previously often from a person who doesn’t want his or her name known

 

source - n. a person who provides information to a reporter, often without revealing his or her name

 

surveillance - n. to keep careful watch of people

 

practice - n. how things are done by an organization

 

classified - adj. information considered secret by a government or government agency

 

oversight - n. to provide review of activities by people and or government

 

whistleblower - n. a person who provides secret information about bad or illegal activity

 

booster - n. someone that supports or champions someone or some group

 

(责任编辑:v365)
最新新闻
  1. 当前关注:拼多多“出海”:对标
  2. 微动态丨iPhone 14全线破发 苹果将
  3. 资讯:“二舅”UP主回应质疑:目前
  4. 特斯拉上海超级工厂一期第二阶段
  5. 苹果高管Huang回应iOS 16复制粘贴许
  6. 特斯拉8月份在北京上海等城市新
  7. 苹果宣布10月欧洲 App Store 应用和
  8. Lilium携手软件巨头Palantir展开合作
  9. 暴雪《暗黑破坏神 4》即将封测
  10. 因丰巢快递柜侵犯肖像权等,龚俊
  11. 美富豪亿万艾萨克曼与SpaceX合作
  12. 今日聚焦!碾压iPhone 14系列!曝华
  13. 当前头条:华为Mate50首发5G套装 明
  14. 即时看!iPhone 15明年或将搭载Type
  15. 全球即时:售价799元!华为Mate 50系
  16. 资讯:针对iPhone机型《王者荣耀》
  17. 每日看点!1.5K直屏+骁龙8+旗舰芯!
  18. 【独家】iPhone 14顶配速度拉胯了!
  19. 世界热点评!仅限30条!Mate50卫星通
  20. 天天微资讯!华为Mate 50系列通信壳
  21. 环球速讯:土豪金被冷落!iPhone1
  22. 世界看点:经济学家任泽平:iPho
  23. 每日速讯:工信部:鸿蒙操作系统
  24. 天天信息:鹿晗为关晓彤庆生 鹿
  25. 当前短讯!啃完华为又嚼苹果,手
  26. 天天时讯:赌王三房千金何超云获
  27. 世界看点:成立12年,中国首家上市
  28. 环球今亮点:井柏然晒秋日身穿毛
  29. 天天观热点:《奇怪的律师禹英雨
  30. 天天亮点:汪小菲张颖颖外出聚餐
  31. 世界微动态丨李政宰确诊新冠中断
  32. 世界快看点:林允儿回应《黑话律
  33. 天天视点:魔力红Maroon 5主唱被曝
  34. 全球热点评!9月20日酒泉疫情最新
  35. 环球观速讯:9月20日张掖甘州区疫
  36. 天天视点:9月20日甘肃疫情最新消
  37. 今日精选:9月20日岳阳疫情最新消
  38. 快资讯:9月20日湘潭疫情最新消息
  39. 每日资讯:2022-09-20 14:17哈尔滨疫
  40. 世界热资讯:青海昨日新增本土无
  41. 【环球时快讯】92号、95号汽油价
  42. 世界快播:9月20日杭州疫情最新消
  43. 世界视讯!官宣,iPhone即将支持《
  44. 当前关注:华为Mate 50系列5G通信壳
  45. 环球热门:比iPhone 14PM还贵!华为
  46. 当前视讯!大部分供应商将收到加
  47. 天天百事通!卢伟冰深夜疑惑:年
  48. 环球观焦点:华为Mate 50系列5G通信
  49. 环球焦点:青蛙会被水淹死吗
  50. 当前看点!OPPO K10系列荒野乱斗联名