PORTER’S RESIGNATION put a long-overlooked issue in the spotlight.
波特的辞职让一个长期以来被忽视的问题引起了人们的注意。
The allegations of abuse had delayed completion of his background check; after a year spent working in the White House as staff secretary—
家暴指控使得针对他的背景调查迟迟不能结束,而彼时他已经在白宫担任幕僚秘书长达一年时间了,
a vital role that involves screening every paper that reaches the President’s desk—
而幕僚秘书一职至关重要,送往总统办公桌的所有文件都由他负责筛选 -
he was still operating with an interim security clearance.
他用的一直都是临时的安全通行证。
Among the dozens of other staffers without permanent clearance is Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who reportedly has access to the top-secret Presidential Daily Brief.
没有拿到永久性安全通行证的还有数十名工作人员,特朗普的女婿兼高级顾问贾里德·库什纳(Jared Kushner)就是其中之一,据报,他有权查看绝密的《总统日报简报》。
The White House response to the Porter revelations only made matters worse.
白宫对波特丑闻的回应可以说是火上浇油。
One official after another has failed to clarify the scope of the security clearance problem or how long key staffers had known about it.
在澄清白宫安全许可范围以及主要官员们知情时间的长短等问题上,官员们一个接一个地失败了。
“There are a lot of officials coming in with the new Administration,” principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on Feb.8,
2月8日,白宫首席副新闻秘书Raj Shah表示,“新政府新上任了很多官员,
“and a lot of individuals coming in have an interim clearance.”
“其中很多人都已经有临时通行证了。”
But that, say GOP White House veterans, is misleading.
但是,白宫共和党资深人士说,这就很容易让人产生误解。
Working in the White House for a year without permanent clearance would be “on the outer edge of what’s normal,”
在白宫工作一年却没有拿到永久通行证会让人有种“处于正常边缘的感觉,”
says Timothy Flanigan, White House deputy counsel under President George W. Bush.
曾任乔治·W. 布什总统的副法律顾问的蒂莫西·弗拉尼根说。
Wray testified that the FBI had been in contact with the White House about Porter’s situation last March, July and November,
Wray作证说,去年3月,7月和11月,联邦调查局都有就波特的情况同白宫进行接触,
then again in January and February, and that the agency had completed its work on Porter last month.
还有今年1月和2月,并于上个月完成了针对波特的调查工作。
If there are others working at the highest levels of government without a final okay from the FBI and the White House personnel security office,
如果还有其他人在没有联邦调查局和白宫人事安全办公室最后同意的情况下针对政府最高层进行调查,
that could put classified information at risk.
机密信息就有被泄露的风险。
One of Porter’s ex-wives, for example, says she told the FBI he could be subject to blackmail because of his history of abuse.
例如,波特的某位前妻就说,她曾经跟联邦调查局说过,由于他的虐待史,他可能会有被勒索的风险。
Senior staffers from previous Administrations say the Porter mess
前几届政府的高级官员表示,波特的困境
is indicative of a President whose approach to running government has been to throw out the rule book.
表明总统的行政管理方法就是抛开规则手册。
“There is a different level of tolerance of risk by the Trump White House in terms of the people that the President wishes to employ,”
“在对总统希望雇用的人员的背景方面,特朗普政府有着不一样的风险忍耐力,”
says Laura Terrell, an attorney who vetted securityclearance applications in George W. Bush’s Administration.
曾经在乔治·W. 布什执政期间担任审查清关申请律师的Laura Terrell说到。
“That’s the bottom line”
“这是他们的底线。”