周四，司法部长托德·布兰奇和联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔宣布，对州参议员路易丝·卢卡斯提起敲诈勒索、洗钱和贩毒指控。这位82岁的立法者恰好在今年早些时候领导了弗吉尼亚州民主党的重新划分选区工作。但如果你想知道这是否只是中期选举前几周对民主党的报复，不必担心：布兰奇在此向你保证，这不是。
On Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel announced racketeering, money laundering, and drug trafficking charges against state Sen. Louise Lucas, the 82-year-old legislator who just so happened to lead Virginia Democrats’ redistricting effort earlier this year. But if you’re wondering if this is just retribution against the Democrats weeks before the midterm elections, don’t worry: Blanche is here to assure you that it’s not. “We don’t do political paybacks,” Blanche told the press with a straight face in Norfolk, Virginia.
“我们不搞政治报复，”布兰奇在弗吉尼亚州诺福克面对媒体一本正经地说道。这一表态与特朗普司法部的往绩形成鲜明对比，该机构已转向代表总统进行政治报复和法律战。从对纽约州检察长利蒂夏·詹姆斯提出毫无根据的抵押贷款欺诈指控，到最近突击搜查众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔的住宅——这显然是试图撤销其美国公民身份的一部分——政府正在针对一份日益增长的被视为总统敌人的名单。与卢卡斯一样，许多目标都是黑人女性。
The statement stands in stark contrast to the track record of Trump’s DOJ, an agency that’s pivoted to political payback and lawfare on the president’s behalf. From the unfounded claims of mortgage fraud leveled at New York Attorney General Leticia James to the recent raid of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home—part of an apparent effort to revoke her US citizenship—the administration is targeting a growing list of perceived enemies of the president. Like Lucas, many of those targets are Black women. According to the indictment, Lucas stands accused of running a “criminal marijuana enterprise,” dubbed “The Lucas Enterprise,” that was worth an “estimated $4.5 million.”
根据起诉书，卢卡斯被指控经营一个名为“卢卡斯企业”的“犯罪大麻企业”，价值“估计450万美元”。2021年，即弗吉尼亚州将大麻娱乐用途（而非零售销售）合法化的同一天，同样被起诉的卢卡斯女儿开设了一家名为“大麻直销店”的药房。卢卡斯是将大麻使用合法化的原始法案的作者，持有该公司的股份。
In 2021, on the same day recreational use—but not the retail sale—of marijuana was legalized in Virginia, Lucas’ daughter, who has also been charged, opened a dispensary called The Cannabis Outlet. Lucas, who authored the original bill legalizing cannabis use, owns a stake in the company. Not much is known about the DOJ’s case and supposed evidence against Lucas.
关于司法部针对卢卡斯的案件和所谓证据，知之甚少。但无法将这些指控与特朗普不懈地将司法部武器化以对付对手的努力割裂开来，也无法将其与起诉时机割裂开来，就像对奥马尔的调查一样，这打破了司法部长期以来关于可能影响选举的联邦执法行动的政策。正如弗吉尼亚州州长阿比盖尔·斯潘伯格在其关于卢卡斯被捕的声明中所写：“此次起诉的时机破坏了美国司法部长期以来的既定政策，即不在临近选举时采取法律行动——包括起诉或重大调查步骤——遗憾的是，这一时机进一步削弱了美国民众理应对司法部拥有的信任。”
But it’s impossible to divorce the claims from Trump’s relentless efforts to weaponize the Justice Department against his opponents or from the timing of the indictment, which, like the investigation of Omar, breaks longstanding DOJ policy around federal law enforcement actions that could have an impact on elections. As Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger wrote in her statement on Lucas’ arrest: “The timing of this indictment undermines the U.S. Department of Justice’s previously longstanding policy of not taking legal actions—to include indictments or significant investigative steps—close to an election and sadly, this timing further erodes the trust the American people deserve to have in the Department of Justice.”
州参议院多数党领袖斯科特·苏罗维尔表达了类似观点，他表示：“司法部由总统的前私人律师领导，而这起起诉是由美国历史上最腐败的政府提起的。”
State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell shared similar sentiments, stating, “The Department of Justice is led by the President’s former personal attorney, and this prosecution is being brought by the most corrupt administration in American history.”
卢卡斯向来直言不讳，她于周四发表声明，明确表示这些指控不会在政治上让她噤声。
Lucas, never one to mince words, released a statement on Thursday making it clear that the charges will do nothing to silence her politically.