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独立于白宫。
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选举前保持克制。
With just nine days until the midterms, the Trump
为何重要：特朗普总统治下的司法部以一连串政治敏感的调查、起诉和最后时刻影响投票的行动，打破了选举前传统上的平静。
administration is escalating its assault on two of the Department of Justice's most sacred guardrails: • Independence from the White House. • Restraint before elections.
深入来看：司法部迄今最具侵略性的选举干预发生在本周的阿拉斯加州，一项先发制人的诉讼试图推迟该州美国参议院选举结果的认证——前提是民主党人获胜。
Why it matters: President Trump's DOJ has shattered the traditional calm of a pre-election period with a barrage of politically sensitive investigations, prosecutions and eleventh-hour efforts to influence the vote.
- 司法部主张，第二位候选人小丹·J·沙利文可能会让选民困惑，并分流共和党现任参议员丹·S·沙利文的支持票。
Zoom in: The Justice Department's most aggressive election intervention yet came this week in Alaska, where a preemptive lawsuit seeks to delay certification of the state's U.S. Senate results — if the Democrat wins.
- 政府希望在参议员沙利文输给民主党人玛丽·佩尔托拉、但本可以凭借投给另一位沙利文的选票获胜的情况下暂停认证，等待对选民意图的调查。
• The DOJ argues that a second candidate, Dan J. Sullivan Jr., could confuse voters and siphon support from the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. • The administration wants certification halted if Sen. Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola but could have won with votes cast for the other Sullivan, pending an investigation into voter intent.
言外之意：阿拉斯加最高法院已经裁定，第二位沙利文应出现在选票上，而该州的排序选择投票制允许选民对两位候选人都进行排序。
Between the lines: Alaska's Supreme Court already ruled that the second Sullivan belongs on the ballot, and the state's ranked-choice system allows voters to rank both candidates.
- 法律专家质疑司法部是否有权阻止州级选举的认证，或者官员们如何能在不损害选票保密性的情况下确定选民的意图。
• Legal experts question the DOJ's authority to block certification of a state-run election, or how officials could determine voters' intentions without compromising ballot secrecy.
- 佩尔托拉的竞选团队和全国民主党人已申请介入该诉讼，挑战政府先发制人阻止认证的企图。
• Peltola's campaign and national Democrats have moved to intervene in the lawsuit, challenging the administration's preemptive attempt to halt certification.
阿拉斯加只是十月攻势的一条战线，这场攻势旨在铲除所谓的选举舞弊、调查知名民主党人，并重新翻出特朗普最早的政治积怨。
Alaska is just one front in an October offensive aimed at rooting out alleged election fraud, investigating prominent Democrats and relitigating Trump's oldest political grievances.
- 10月7日，特朗普设立了一个白宫委员会，调查美联储理事莉萨·库克涉嫌的抵押贷款欺诈，并授权司法部人员参与可能导致其被免职的程序。库克否认有不当行为。
• On Oct. 7, Trump established a White House committee to investigate alleged mortgage fraud by Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, authorizing DOJ personnel to participate in proceedings that could lead to her removal. Cook denies wrongdoing.
- 10月12日，联邦特工搜查了伊尔汗·奥马尔（民主党-明尼苏达州）众议员的住宅，并扣押了她的手机，作为对可能的移民欺诈调查的一部分。《华尔街日报》报道，政府正构建案件，试图剥夺这位出生于索马里的议员的公民身份，并最终将其驱逐出境。
• On Oct. 12, federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-Minn.) home and seized her cellphone as part of an investigation into possible immigration fraud. The Wall Street Journal reports that the administration is building a case to try to strip the Somali-born lawmaker of her citizenship, and ultimately deport her.
- 10月15日，司法部起诉加利福尼亚州，要求阻止超过2万张涉嫌非公民的选票。周五，检察官要求县官员在48小时内对标记的选票进行隔离，并警告可能面临刑事责任。司法部还寻求紧急上诉法院干预。
• On Oct. 15, DOJ sued California to block ballots from more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens. On Friday, prosecutors demanded that county officials segregate flagged ballots within 48 hours, warning of potential criminal liability. DOJ has also sought emergency appellate intervention.
- 10月22日，检察官公布了对弗吉尼亚州参议员路易丝·卢卡斯的八项指控——她是该州民主党重新划分选区工作的关键人物——指称她帮助运营非法大麻企业。卢卡斯否认有任何不当行为。
• On Oct. 22, prosecutors unveiled an eight-count indictment against Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas — a key figure in Democrats' redistricting efforts in that state — alleging she helped operate an illegal marijuana enterprise. Lucas denies wrongdoing.
- 10月23日，两名曾任高级职务的联邦调查局官员因向国会撒谎而被起诉，涉及他们在亨特·拜登调查中的角色。联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔将这些逮捕描述为对所谓针对特朗普的政治“武器化”进行的打击。
• On Oct. 23, two former senior FBI officials were charged with lying to Congress about their roles in the Hunter Biden investigation. FBI Director Kash Patel cast the arrests as part of a crackdown on alleged political "weaponization" against Trump. The big picture:
整体概况：十月的行动正与对长期特朗普对手的案件调查或重新启动同步进行，其中包括前中央情报局局长约翰·布伦南、前联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科米以及纽约州总检察长莱蒂蒂亚·詹姆斯。
The October blitz is unfolding alongside efforts to investigate or revive cases involving longtime Trump adversaries, including former CIA Director John Brennan former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James Reality check:
事实核查：司法部长期观察到选举前60天或90天的非正式高度警惕期，尽管没有任何全面禁令。
DOJ has long observed an informal 60- or 90-day period of heightened caution before elections, though no blanket prohibition exists.
- 周四被问及卢卡斯起诉案时，司法部长托德·布兰奇驳斥了这一不成文的惯例，并指出调查始于拜登总统任期。
• Asked Thursday about the Lucas indictment, Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed the unwritten convention and pointed out that the investigation began under President Biden.
- 司法部的书面规则明确禁止检察官在选举期间安排调查或起诉时间以影响选举。布兰奇表示，该机构不进行“政治回报”，并公正执行法律。
• DOJ's written rules separately prohibit prosecutors from timing investigations or charges to influence elections. Blanche says the agency doesn't do "political paybacks" and enforces the law impartially.
他们的说法：在给Axios的一份声明中，司法部为其与选举相关的干预行动进行了辩护，称加州的案件涉及的是以往选举中涉嫌存在的不当行为。
What they're saying: In a statement to Axios, DOJ defended its election-related interventions, arguing that the California cases concern alleged misconduct in previous elections.
- “一旦非法选票被投出并计入，就无法再被撤销，”司法部表示。“我们期望执法部门防患于未然，而不只是事后记录。”
• "Once an unlawful ballot is cast and counted, it cannot be uncounted," DOJ said. "We expect law enforcement to prevent harm, not just document it."
- 该部门称，将卢卡斯案和前联邦调查局官员的案件与中期选举联系起来是“抹黑”，并指出这些被告均不在11月的选票上。
• The department called linking the Lucas and former FBI officials' cases to the midterms "a smear," noting that none of the defendants are on November ballots.
- 关于独立性，司法部主张，从宪法上讲，司法部是行政部门的一部分，并指责拜登政府将联邦执法“武器化”，用来“对付美国人民”。
• On independence, DOJ argued that it is constitutionally part of the executive branch and accused the Biden administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement "against the American people."
要点： 2016年，时任联邦调查局局长科米在选举前11天发出的一封关于希拉里·克林顿电子邮件的信，就足以引发全国对司法部政治中立性的反思。
The bottom line: In 2016, a single letter from then-FBI director Comey about Hillary Clinton's emails, sent 11 days before the election, was enough to provoke a national reckoning over the DOJ's political neutrality.
- 十年后，布兰奇公开拒绝接受司法部独立于白宫这一理念，称其为“误解”，并于本周宣称：“我为特朗普总统工作。”
• A decade later, Blanche openly rejects the notion of independence from the White House as a "misperception," declaring this week: "I work for President Trump."
- 周五，特朗普将下令提起阿拉斯加州诉讼归功于自己个人——这是对一场可能决定参议院控制权归属的竞选活动的非同寻常的干预。
• On Friday, Trump took personal credit for ordering the Alaska lawsuit — an extraordinary intervention in a race that could decide control of the Senate.
- “我就是那个说‘动手’的人，”他告诉记者。
• "I'm the one that said, 'Do it,' " he told reporters.