Obama, Bush veterans dismiss Trump-Putin interpreter subpoena

[DonViejo]

BY OLIVIA BEAVERS AND AMIE PARNES - 07/20/18 05:56 AM EDT

Former officials from the Obama and George W. Bush administrations are pouring cold water on the idea that President Trump’s interpreter from the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin should appear before Congress.

While multiple former Obama officials say they understand the desire to talk to one of the only people in the room with Trump and Putin, several argued it would set a dangerous precedent.

“For the same reasons why we need to protect our own diplomats, there is a real concern about having translators be subject to subpoenas,” said David Mortlock, director of international economic affairs at the White House National Security Council (NSC) under Obama.

He acknowledged that there is “legitimate concern about what the president may have promised Vladimir Putin.” But he said subpoenaing an interpreter is a bridge too far, and would prevent presidents from speaking freely.

“They’re at the center of diplomatic relationships and it raises concerns about whether you can truly have diplomatic communications,” he said.

more
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/397995-obama-bush-veterans-dismiss-trump-putin-interpreter-subpoena

[PJMcK]

1. Questioning the interpreter might be useless anyway

Interpreters are not stenographers. In fact, the time pressure and the complexity of translating makes it likely that the interpreter doesn't remember much of the content of a discussion. Their focus needs to be on the immediate present and their function is not really to document a conversation.

Imagine how hard it is to listen to a speaker in one language and simultaneously think of how to express that thought precisely in another language and then have to articulate it! This would be even more difficult in a setting such as the United Nations where the speaker never pauses so the interpreter has to do all of the above and still listen to the speaker make further comments. To me, that would be chaotic!

With that intensity of the moment, I doubt that the interpreter would have a detailed memory of the conversation.