ALI SWENSON 华盛顿报道——民主党全国委员会于周三起诉唐纳德·特朗普总统政府，指控其近期播出的电视广告为其政治信息做宣传，同时耗费纳税人数百万美元。
ALI SWENSON WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sued President Donald Trump’s administration for recent television s that promoted his political message while costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
该诉讼在哥伦比亚特区美国地区法院提起，指控这些广告属于非法的政府资助宣传，并指责特朗普亲自主导了这些广告。诉讼要求法院宣布这些广告非法，并停止使用联邦资金支付广告费用。
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that the ads are illegal government-sponsored propaganda and accuses Trump of personally directing them. It asks the court to declare the ads illegal and stop the use of federal funds to pay for them.
这些广告美化特朗普本人，并重复其竞选主张，正值中期选举不足一个月、选民开始提前投票之际，因此引发了两党共同的反对。
Trump has faced bipartisan backlash for the ads, which glorify him and echo his campaign pitch as voters cast early ballots with the midterm elections less than a month away.
据媒体监测公司 AdImpact 称，这些广告自 9 月开始播出，目前已花费超过 1200 万美元，而美国国土安全部共拨款 2000 万美元用于支付广告费用。
The spots, which began airing in September, already have cost more than $12 million to run, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact, and a total of $20 million in Homeland Security Department funding has been tapped to pay for them.
周一，特朗普在回应批评时称，这些广告是“对我们伟大美国国的正面宣传”，并表示今后将使用其 MAGA Inc. 超级政治行动委员会的资金支付广告费用。
Responding Monday to the criticism, Trump defended the ads as “positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” but said he’d pay for them using his MAGA Inc. super PAC going forward.
但周二，该系列广告的第五则广告开始播出，并标注“由美国政府支付”，宣传特朗普今年早些时候在委内瑞拉的军事行动。同一天，特朗普明确表示，他尚未承诺偿还已支出的任何资金，并对记者说：“我们会再做决定。”
But on Tuesday, the fifth ad in the campaign began airing with the notice “paid for by the U.S. Government,” promoting Trump’s military actions in Venezuela earlier this year. The same day, Trump made it clear he hasn’t committed to reimbursing any money that has already been spent, telling reporters “we’ll decide.”
民主党全国委员会主席肯·马丁在一份声明中表示，特朗普正在滥用纳税人资金，“这是为了在 11 月拯救共和党人而做的最后一搏”。他补充道：“美国人值得更好的待遇，他们的辛苦赚来的税款不应被用于特朗普的非法计划。”
DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that Trump is misusing taxpayer dollars in “a last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November.”“Americans deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars used for Trump’s illegal schemes,” he added.
法律专家表示，这些广告违反了一项旨在防止国会拨款被用于“宣传或宣传活动”的联邦法规，并可能触犯了其他联邦法律。用于制作这些广告的国土安全部资金来自于国会作为特朗普移民执法议程的一部分向该部门提供的一笔1.75亿美元的拨款。
Legal experts have suggested the ads run afoul of a federal statute against congressionally appropriated money being used for “publicity or propaganda,” and potentially other federal laws. The Homeland Security money tapped for the ads comes from a $175 million package Congress gave to the department as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
白宫为这些广告进行了辩护，称其为公益广告，类似于历届政府为宣传各项政策而做的事情。法律专家表示，最近的这些广告与过去的许多公益广告不同，因为它们并非旨在帮助公众从特定的政府项目中受益。
The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements akin to what past administrations have done to promote various policies. Legal experts have said the recent ads differ from many past public service announcements because they aren’t aimed at helping members of the public benefit from specific government programs.
诉讼中的被告——特朗普、白宫、国土安全部以及行政管理和预算局——没有立即回应置评请求。
The defendants in the lawsuit — Trump, the White House, DHS and the Office of Management and Budget — didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.