特朗普总统的前私人律师现正代理一名民主党政治操盘手，指控司法部在他达成认罪协议后未能公平对待他。
An ex-personal attorney to President Trump is taking on a Democratic political operative as a client, accusing the Justice Department of not treating him fairly after he took a plea deal.
肯德拉·沃顿将代表科林·斯特罗瑟，为他11月17日的量刑听证会做准备。此前，斯特罗瑟已承认犯有共谋洗钱罪，并同意配合调查其前上司——众议员亨利·库埃拉尔（民主党-得克萨斯州）。
Kendra Wharton will represent Colin Strother as he prepares for his Nov. 17 sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and agreeing to cooperate against his ex-boss, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).
特朗普在库埃拉尔夫妇面临接受近60万美元贿赂的指控并即将受审前，赦免了他们。
Trump pardoned Cuellar and his wife ahead of a trial on charges of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes.
但斯特罗瑟并未获得赦免，因此他仍可能面临最高五年的监禁。如今，他得到了沃顿的新支持，她主张此案应予撤销。
Strother wasn’t pardoned, so he is still staring down up to five years in prison. Now, he’s getting new help from Wharton, who argues the case should be dismissed.
沃顿在一份声明中表示：“这一结果超出了科林的控制范围，检察官对此可能产生的任何不满，都不应针对一位从一开始就全面配合的证人。”
“That resolution was beyond Colin’s control, and any frustration prosecutors may have with it should not be directed at a witness who cooperated fully from the outset,” Wharton said in a statement.
沃顿曾在特朗普的私人法律团队中担任司法部长托德·布朗奇的下属，后来加入司法部担任顾问。她于2025年7月离职，目前经营着自己的辩护律师事务所。她称这起新案件是“不公正的”，这也使她与前任雇主站在了对立面。
Wharton worked under Attorney General Todd Blanche on Trump’s personal legal team and later joined him at the Justice Department as an adviser. She left in July 2025 and now runs her own defense firm. The new case, which she called an “injustice,” puts her at odds with her former employer.
沃顿在声明中说道：“科林在财务和情感上都已承受了足够的痛苦。他做了政府要求的一切，却仍在遭受不公平的惩罚。他的合作值得被认真对待。我们相信，正义要求撤销他的案件，我们也将为此全力争取。”《国会山报》已联系司法部寻求评论。拜登政府时期的司法部于2024年以库埃拉尔议员接受阿塞拜疆政府所有石油公司和一家墨西哥银行贿赂的嫌疑对其提出起诉。该案原定于今年开庭审理，但特朗普重新当选总统后，情况发生了变化。
“Colin has suffered enough, financially and emotionally. He did what the government asked, and he is still being unfairly punished,” Wharton said in her statement. “His cooperation deserves meaningful consideration. We believe justice calls for dismissal of his case, and we intend to advocate forcefully for that result.”The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment The Biden-era Justice Department indicted the Cuellars in 2024 over alleged bribes the congressman accepted from an oil company owned by the Azerbaijan government and a Mexican bank. The case was on track for a trial this year when Trump retook the presidency.
他赦免了库埃拉尔，并将其作为特朗普所称拜登政府不公平对待的一个例子。这位国会议员将于今年11月参加连任竞选。
He pardoned Cuellar, holding him up as an example of what Trump says was unfair treatment by the Biden administration. The congressman is running for re-election this November.
斯特罗瑟预计将在两周后被判刑。他与一名圣安东尼奥商人的认罪，为检察官们提供了助力，他们正试图以此加强针对这位得州民主党人的贿赂案指控。
Strother is set to be sentenced two weeks later. His guilty plea — alongside one from a San Antonio businessman — marked a boost for prosecutors as they sought to bolster their bribery case against the Texas Democrat.
斯特罗瑟承认，2016年，这名商人开始每月向他支付1.1万美元的“咨询费”，但他最终认为这是一种“骗局”。他还承认，他受指示将大部分资金（总计超过20万美元）转交给这位国会议员的妻子。
Strother admitted that in 2016, the businessman began sending him $11,000 monthly “consulting” payments he ultimately concluded were a “sham.”He acknowledged he was under instructions to transfer most of the funds, totaling more than $200,000, to the congressman’s wife.
沃顿表示，斯特罗瑟从一开始就全面配合，并指出库埃拉尔的赦免获得了两党支持。
Wharton said Strother had cooperated fully from day one and noted Cuellar’s pardon had bipartisan support.
沃顿指出：“在特朗普总统称拜登政府已将司法部武器化来对付他们之后，众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯公开为这次赦免辩护，称这是正确的结果。而该案的首席检察官已不再在司法部任职。”
“After President Trump said the Biden administration had weaponized the Justice Department against them, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries publicly defended the pardon, calling it the right outcome. The lead prosecutor on the case no longer works at the Department of Justice,” Wharton noted.