唐纳德·特朗普针对众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔发起的这场运动，最令人惊讶的地方之一，在于其赤裸裸的程度。总统及其团队本可以至少维持表面文章，保留某种借口，声称对这位明尼苏达州民主党人的审查是合法的——但共和党官员们基本决定连这点功夫都懒得费了。
Among the more amazing things about Donald Trump’s crusade against Rep. Ilhan Omar is how utterly brazen it is. The president and his team could at least to keep up appearances, to maintain some kind of pretense that the scrutiny of the Minnesota Democrat is legitimate — but the Republican officials have largely decided not to bother.
相反，特朗普公开要求调查一位政治对手——这本身就是一种滥用职权——同时明确表示，他希望剥夺奥马尔的公民身份，并驱逐这位敢于与他作对的在任众议员。不久之后，联邦部门便遵照总统的既定目标行事。“美国民主的一项基本原则是，政府不能仅因个人的政治信仰或言论而有选择性地针对他们，”巴拉克·奥巴马在一份声明中说，“但特朗普政府正对明尼苏达州众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔做的正是这件事。”
On the contrary, Trump publicly demanded an investigation into a political opponent — which is itself an abuse — all the while making clear that he hoped to strip Omar of her citizenship and to deport a sitting congresswoman who dared to cross him. Soon after, federal departments did as they were directed to do in pursuit of the president’s stated goal“It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say,” Barack Obama said in a statement“But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.”
尽管缺乏确凿的不法证据，联邦探员还是扣押了一位在任国会议员的笔记本电脑、手机和护照，此时，要求进行此项调查的总统从国土安全部长马克韦恩·马林那里接受了一次极不寻常的简报。
Despite highly dubious evidence of wrongdoing, federal agents seized the laptop, cellphone and passport of a sitting member of Congress, at which point the president who demanded this probe received a highly unusual briefing from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
尽管目前仍没有证据表明这位明尼苏达州议员有任何不当行为，特朗普周四晚在爱荷华州的集会上花时间坚称奥马尔应辞职。这位共和党人还补充说，“民主党已放弃了她的席位”，她将不再被允许在国会任职。
While there’s still no evidence that the Minnesotan has done anything wrong, Trump took some time during his Thursday night rally in Iowa to insist that Omar resign. The Republican added that “the Democrat Party has conceded her seat” and she will no longer be permitted to serve in Congress.
特朗普呼吁伊尔汗·奥马尔立即辞职，并表示：“请通知我们伟大的议长詹姆斯·迈克尔·约翰逊，民主党已承认她的席位……她将不再被允许成为该机构的成员。”特朗普在爱荷华州的支持者随即高呼：“关押她！关押她！”
Trump calls for Ilhan Omar to immediately resign & says, "please inform our great Speaker, James Michael Johnson that the Democrat Party has conceded her seat … she will not be allowed to me a member of that body any longer"Trump's crowd in Iowa then starts chanting "Lock her up!
亚伦·鲁帕尔（@atrupar.com） 就在那时，仿佛约定好一般，他的追随者高呼：“关押她！关押她！”
Lock her up!" Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) At that point, as if on cue, his followers chanted, “Lock her up! Lock her up!”
活动结束后，总统在其社交媒体平台上发布声明，再次呼吁奥马尔“立即辞去国会职务”，并补充称，应有人通知众议院领导层，这位女众议员已“公开承认欺诈，她将不再被合法允许成为这尊贵机构的成员”。实际上，奥马尔并未“公开承认”任何不法行为，并多次否认白宫的指控。没有人承认放弃席位——奥马尔极有可能在11天后连任——她完全仍被允许在国会山任职，履行其选区选民选举她从事的工作。
After the event, the president published a statement to his social media platform, again calling on Omar to “IMMEDIATELY resign from Congress,” adding that someone should inform House leaders that the congresswoman has “openly admitted to FRAUD, and she will not be legally allowed to be a Member of this August Body.”In reality, of course, Omar has not “openly admitted” to any wrongdoing and has repeatedly denied the White House’s allegations. No one has conceded their seat — Omar is likely to be re-elected in 11 days — and she is absolutely still permitted to serve on Capitol Hill, doing the job Americans in her district elected her to do.
我不知道这场持续不断的攻势会有什么结果，如果有的话。考虑到特朗普团队在其首个任期内也曾下令调查奥马尔的记录，而该调查最终因缺乏证据而被放弃，总统或许应该降低预期。但这件事的发生本身，反映出无可辩驳的威权手段。
I have no idea what, if anything, will come of this relentless campaign. Given that Team Trump also ordered an investigation into Omar’s records in his first term and that probe was eventually abandoned for lack of evidence the president might want to temper his expectations. But that this is happening at all reflects unmistakable authoritarian tactics.
《纽约时报》编辑委员会解释道：“对她的调查是联邦政府利用其巨大权力压制批评者的一个令人不寒而栗的例子。这是对言论自由、法治和美国理想的冒犯。”
“The investigation of her is a chilling example of the federal government using its immense power to silence a critic,” the editorial board of The New York Times explained“It is an affront to free speech, the rule of law and American ideals.”
该社论补充道：“在奥马尔女士的案件中，政府追溯了四分之一个多世纪前的情况来调查一位著名的批评者。如果她的入籍资格可以被重新审视，那就意味着没有任何归化公民是安全的。这也表明，联邦政府可以去寻找任何几十年前的问题，以骚扰批评白宫的人士。这些都是威权社会的手段。”
The editorial added, “In the case of Ms. Omar, the administration has gone back more than a quarter-century to investigate a prominent critic. If her naturalization can be revisited, it suggests that no naturalized citizen is safe. It also indicates that the federal government can go searching for any decades-old problem to hound somebody who has criticized the White House. Those are the tactics of authoritarian societies The post Trump’s crusade against Ilhan Omar follows a familiar authoritarian playbook MS NOW