特朗普政府官员正在聘请律师。从内阁部长到中层职员，为特朗普总统工作的人们正在致电律师事务所，寻求法律建议，以应对明年可能出现的调查洪流——如果民主党在中期选举中赢得国会一院或两院的话。
Trump administration officials are lawyering up. From cabinet secretaries to midlevel staffers, people who work for President Trump are calling law firms in search of legal advice as they brace for an avalanche of investigations next year if Democrats take one or both houses of Congress in the midterms.
律师们表示，这些咨询反映出人们对民主党可能调查从所谓的“权力换取”特赦、肯尼迪中心翻修项目，到唐纳德·特朗普 Jr. 婚礼的各种事项感到不安。这些调查已被党内领导人提前透露，可能会干扰特朗普在任期剩余两年的议程。如果政府官员被卷入这些调查，他们个人将面临法律、声誉和财务风险。
Lawyers say the inquiries signal unease that Democrats will investigate everything from alleged pay-to-play pardons, to the Kennedy Center renovation and Donald Trump Jr. wedding. The probes, which party leaders have already previewed, could interfere with Trump’s agenda for his remaining two years in office. Administration officials personally face legal, reputational and financial risks if they are roped into those inquiries.
“这些电话从六月开始零星出现，此后频率逐渐增加，”奥斯汀、德克萨斯州的律所Stone Hilton的联合创始人贾德·斯通说道，该所由德克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿办公室的校友创立。
“The calls started sporadically in June and have picked up in frequency since then,” said Judd Stone, co-founder of Stone Hilton, an Austin, Texas-based firm founded by alumni of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office.
虽然司法部将在为政府辩护方面发挥主导作用，但斯通表示，内阁级官员和机构负责人一直在探讨他们是否希望有一位完全为其最大利益工作的律师站在他们这边。
While the Justice Department will play a leading role defending the administration, Stone said cabinet-level officials and agency heads have been exploring whether they want a lawyer on their side who is working solely in their best interest.
潜在客户正在全国一些顶尖律所以及在特朗普第二任期内声誉日益提升的较小保守派精品律所之间寻找代表，其中包括总部位于华盛顿特区的精品律所Torridon Law，其合伙人包括前特朗普政府司法部长威廉·巴尔和前参议院共和党领导层首席法律顾问迈克·弗拉格索。
Potential clients are shopping for representation both at some of the nation’s top firms and at smaller conservative boutiques that have grown in stature during Trump’s second term, including Torridon Law, a Washington, D.C.-based boutique whose partners include former Trump Attorney General William Barr and Mike Fragoso, a former chief counsel to Senate GOP leadership.
根据一位熟悉情况的知名律师的说法，利益冲突规则意味着同一家律所不太可能同时代表多名工作人员，因此高级官员正在争先恐后地锁定他们偏好的律师，以免被他人抢先。
Conflict-of-interest rules mean the same law firm is unlikely to be able to represent several staffers simultaneously, so senior officials are scrambling to lock in their preferred counsel before someone else does, according to a prominent lawyer familiar with the situation.
Lex Politica 合伙人史蒂夫·罗伯茨表示，该所专注于为保守派客户提供服务，近期收到的咨询电话不仅来自高级政府官员，还包括《财富》500强企业和初创公司。“如果他们一直支持这届政府，他们就会知道自己可能成为调查的目标，”他说。
Steve Roberts, a partner at Lex Politica, said the firm catering to conservative clients has been getting calls not just from high-ranking administration officials but also from Fortune 500 companies and startups. “If they have been supportive of this administration, they know there is a possibility that there is a target on their back,” he said.
Cooley 律所合伙人苏珊·格鲁姆斯，曾任美国众议院监督与政府改革委员会首席法律顾问，表示该所拥有约1400名律师，也出现了企业客户咨询增多的情况，这些客户希望了解如何为潜在调查做准备。她表示，曾向特朗普项目捐款、或曾与政府或特朗普家族有业务往来的公司，可能会被卷入调查。
Susanne Grooms, a partner at Cooley and former chief counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said the firm with some 1,400 lawyers has also seen an influx in corporate clients looking for advice on how to prepare for potential investigations. She said companies that donated to Trump’s projects or that did business with the government or the Trump family could be swept up in the probes.
根据现任和前任官员的说法，白宫通讯办公室和法律顾问办公室的高级官员等，今年春季开始会面，讨论如何应对国会对政府的调查以及如何回应传票。
Senior officials, including from the White House communications and counsel’s offices, began meeting this spring to discuss how to handle congressional investigations into the administration and respond to subpoenas, according to current and former officials.
白宫还进行了一些近期人事调整，这可能使其在应对调查时处于更有利的位置。特朗普将前检察官、总统个人律师威尔·沙夫调任白宫法律顾问。白宫还任命了曾在众议院和参议院监督委员会工作的凯蒂·贝利为立法事务办公室主任，该办公室负责与国会山协调。
The White House has also made some recent personnel moves that could put it in a stronger position to deal with the investigations. Trump moved Will Scharf, a former prosecutor and the president’s personal attorney, to White House counsel. The White House also chose Katie Bailey, who has experience on House and Senate oversight committees, as director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, which coordinates with Capitol Hill.
白宫法律顾问办公室一直在与各机构领导会面，讨论最佳实践，包括如何回应询问以及预测民主党可能采取的调查策略。但官员们公开淡化了对11月可能出现损失的担忧。
The White House Counsel’s Office has been meeting with agency leaders to discuss best practices, including how to respond to inquiries and anticipate Democrats’ likely investigative strategies. But officials have publicly played down concerns about losses in November.
“媒体沉迷于推动一个由他们虚假民意调查支持的虚假叙事，称共和党将失去对参议院和众议院的控制。民主党没有改善美国人民生活的议程——他们的唯一议程就是继续对特朗普总统进行长达十年的猎巫行动，”白宫发言人劳伦·比斯说。
“The media is obsessed with pushing a false narrative backed by their fake polls of Republicans losing control of the Senate and House. Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of Americans—their only agenda is to continue their decadelong witch hunt against President Trump,” said White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis.
众议院监督和政府改革委员会以及参议院司法委员会的民主党人已经开始发送信件，这些信件提供了一条路线图，说明政府可以预期什么。
Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Senate Committee on the Judiciary have already begun sending letters that provide a road map for what the administration can expect.
众议院议员们已向与政府有关联的个人和实体发送信件，其中包括特朗普的女婿贾里德·库什纳、肯尼迪表演艺术中心领导层、国防部长皮特·赫格塞思以及总统赦免的个人。他们还针对唐纳德·特朗普 Jr. 进行调查，原因是据报道一名俄罗斯寡头为一场婚礼庆典提供了资金。
House members have sent letters to people and entities connected to the administration, including Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts leadership, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and individuals who were pardoned by the president. They have also targeted Donald Trump Jr. regarding a Russian oligarch’s reported financing of a wedding celebration.
律师们认为这些信件是传票的前兆，也是国会调查将比民主党在特朗普第一个任期期间夺回众议院控制权时更快启动的迹象——可能早在二月就会开始。
Lawyers see the letters as precursors for subpoenas and a sign congressional probes will kick off more quickly than when Democrats flipped control of the House during Trump’s first term—potentially as soon as February.
“这一次，民主党比第一次更加老练，”曾担任众议院共和党领导层法律顾问、现任詹纳与布洛克律师事务所国会调查业务联合主席的阿什利·卡伦说。
“Democrats are much more savvy this time around than the first time,” said Ashley Callen, who co-chairs Jenner & Block’s congressional-investigations practice and formerly served as a legal adviser to House Republican leadership.
为雇佣个人律师的工作人员而言，法律费用可能会迅速攀升。在第一届政府期间，成立了爱国者法律费用基金信托，以帮助承担司法部和国会相关的俄罗斯调查所产生的法律费用。前政府官员表示，这一次他们不知情有任何类似的法律辩护基金。
Legal costs for staffers who hire personal representation can mount quickly. During the first administration, a Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust was established to help cover legal expenses associated with Russia probes at the Justice Department and in Congress. Former administration officials were unaware of any similar legal-defense fund this time.
罗伯特·比特曼曾领导克林顿政府时期的莫妮卡·卢温斯基调查，他说他曾建议进入特朗普政府工作的人从一开始就购买职业责任保险，以覆盖任何可能产生的个人法律费用。
Robert Bittman, who led the Monica Lewinsky probe during the Clinton administration, said he had advised people going into the Trump administration to get professional liability insurance from the outset to cover any personal legal bills.
特朗普本人曾经历过国会调查和弹劾程序，但他的许多工作人员没有经历过，他们可能会低估所需的时间和金钱。
While Trump himself has experienced congressional investigations and impeachment proceedings, many of his staffers haven’t and they might underestimate the time and money required.
“一方面，由于他在第一个任期所经历的一切，特朗普对此将完全做好准备，”米克·马尔瓦尼说，他在特朗普第一个任期内担任过首席幕僚长。“另一方面——我认为人们忽略了这一点——他的大多数工作人员没有经历过这种情况。”
“On one hand, Trump will be completely prepared for it because of everything he went through in the first term,” said Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump’s chief of staff during his first administration. “On the other hand—and I think people are missing this—most of his staff has not been through this.”
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