上周，在特朗普政府官员针对明尼苏达州民主党众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔（Ilhan Omar）采取行动之后，巴拉克·奥巴马发表声明，谴责这种显而易见且带有政治动机的滥用职权，并解释道：“美国民主的一项基本原则是，政府不能仅仅因为个人的政治信仰或言论而有选择性地针对他们。”
Last week, on the heels of Trump administration officials going after Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Barack Obama issued a statement condemning the obvious and politicized abuse, explaining, “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.”
作为同一份声明的一部分，这位前民主党总统补充道：“这也不是第一次发生这种事。在特朗普总统任内，司法部曾多次针对他认为的政治敌人采取行动——从纽约州检察长，到前联邦调查局局长，再到美联储成员。” 鉴于共和党政府对詹姆斯·科米（James Comey）的讨伐，提及前联邦调查局局长非常合理，尽管奥巴马不可能预知八天后会发生的事。
As part of the same statement, the former Democratic president added, “And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve.”The reference to the former FBI director made a lot of sense in light of the Republican administration’s crusade against James Comey, although Obama could not have known what would happen eight days later.
MS NOW 报道，根据周一公开的法庭文件，前联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科米在华盛顿特区面临新的联邦刑事指控，罪名是非法传输敏感国防信息并密谋将其泄露给记者。
MS NOW reported Former FBI Director James Comey is facing new federal criminal charges in Washington, D.C., accusing him of unlawfully transmitting sensitive national defense information and conspiring to disclose it to a reporter, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
检察官于 10 月 5 日以密封形式提交了两项刑事指控，指控科米在 2016 年担任联邦调查局局长期间不当泄露国防信息。指控包括向未经授权的人员非法传输国防信息，以及密谋实施该罪行。
Prosecutors filed the two-count criminal information under seal on Oct. 5, alleging Comey improperly disclosed national defense information while serving as FBI director in 2016. The charges include unlawfully transmitting national defense information to an unauthorized person and conspiracy to commit that offense.
根据文件，科米对 2016 年 10 月 5 日发生的某种敏感泄密事件负责。该罪行的追诉时效为 10 年，这使得特朗普的司法部在最后期限当天提出新指控显得更加引人注目。
According to the filing, Comey was responsible for some kind of sensitive leak on Oct. 5, 2016. The crime carries a 10-year statute of limitations, which made it all the more notable that Trump’s Justice Department brought the new charges on the last possible day.
在一份声明中，这位前联邦调查局局长表示，这些事态发展“如果不是对司法部如此令人震惊的滥用职权，几乎会让人觉得好笑，我们不能对此变得麻木不仁。”科米补充道：“我的立场没有任何改变。我依然清白，我依然不惧怕这些人，我依然相信独立的联邦司法体系。”
In a statement, the former FBI director said the developments “would almost be funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to.”Comey added, “Nothing’s changed with me. I’m still innocent, and I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.”
这似乎是陈年旧事，但近十年前，特朗普曾视科米为政治盟友。事实上，2017年1月，特朗普刚上任两天，在白宫的一场活动中，总统似乎真的向时任联邦调查局局长吹了个吻，部分归功于科米在削弱希拉里·克林顿2016年竞选方面发挥的作用。
It might seem like ancient history, but nearly a decade ago, Trump saw Comey as a political ally. In fact, in January 2017, just two days into his first term, the president appeared to literally blow a kiss at the then-FBI director at a White House event, thanks in part to Comey’s role in undermining Hillary Clinton’s 2016 candidacy.
这份情谊并未持久。几天后，特朗普告诉科米他期望得到“忠诚”，科米却履行了职责，于是总统解雇了他，企图阻挠联邦调查局对“通俄门”丑闻的调查。
The affection did not endure. Days later, Trump told Comey he expected “loyalty,” and after Comey did his job instead, the president fired him in the hopes of derailing the FBI’s investigation into the Russia scandal.
这位终身共和党人科米公开表达对特朗普的担忧和批评后，总统开始将这位被解职的联邦调查局局长视为主要敌人之一，并于2018年4月开始要求起诉科米，指控其犯有特朗普难以具体指出的罪行。历经数年，总统终于看到了他长期寻求的结果。
When Comey, a lifelong Republican, went public with his concerns and criticisms about Trump, the president came to see the ousted FBI chief as one of his chief enemies, and in April 2018, he started demanding that Comey be prosecuted for crimes that Trump struggled to identify. It’s taken several years, but the president is seeing the results he’s long sought.
当特朗普的司法部去年首次起诉科米时，这对美国执法界来说是一个毁灭性的时刻。MS NOW的肯·迪拉尼安报道称，在司法部内部，许多内部人士认为这是该机构历史上“最严重的滥用职权之一”。迪拉尼安形容这一情况“令人震惊”，并补充道：“很难言过其实地形容这是多么重大的时刻。”确实，科米案最引人注目的地方之一在于，它几乎毫无正当性的伪装。
When Trump’s DOJ first charged Comey last year, it was a devastating moment for American law enforcement MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian reported that within the DOJ, many insiders believed it was “among the worst abuses” in the history of the institution. Describing the circumstances as “shocking,” Dilanian added, “It’s hard to overstate how a big a moment this is.”Indeed, among the most striking things about the Comey case was that it had barely a pretense of propriety.
一位失败、绝望且不得人心的总统想要让一名批评者被起诉，完全不顾案件是否有依据；他公开要求起诉，并找到了愿意满足其报复欲望的官员。这是一个悲剧性的教训，让美国人明白他们现在生活在一个总统可以下令起诉其政治对手的国家里。
A failing, desperate and unpopular president wanted a critic to be charged, without regard for merit; he publicly demanded the indictment he found officials who were willing to feed his appetite for revenge. It was a tragic lesson that Americans now live in a country where the president’s political opponents are prosecuted at his command.
前司法部官员、现明尼苏达大学法学院教授艾伦·罗岑施泰因对《纽约时报》表示：“我们看到的是，作为一个建立在法治基础上的组织，司法部几乎全面崩塌。”该案最终告终，但联邦法官在案件结束前猛烈抨击检方表现出了他所谓的“先起诉，后调查”态度。大致同一时期，一群两党背景的前联邦检察官和法官在一份法庭文件中写道，该案是对司法制度的“攻击”。
Alan Rozenshtein, a former DOJ official who now teaches at the University of Minnesota Law School, told The New York Times“What we are seeing is the almost wholesale collapse of the Justice Department as an organization based on the rule of law.”The case ultimately collapsed but not before a federal judge blasted prosecutors for what he described as an “indict first, investigate later” attitude. Around the same time, a bipartisan group of former federal prosecutors and judges wrote in a court filing that the case was an “assault” on the justice system.
理论上，特朗普的司法部本应因这些谴责和案件的失败而受到警戒。实际上，这个无耻地被武器化的部门决定再试一次，于4月再次起诉科米，指控他利用Instagram通过所谓的贝壳相关密码呼吁对特朗普实施暴力。据报道，法律专家对该案荒诞的性质感到“极度震惊”，理由充分：没有任何公正的观察者能为这种虚假指控辩护或当真。尽管如此，现在案件已然存在。
In theory, Trump’s DOJ should have been chastened by the condemnations and by the case’s failure. In practice, the shamelessly weaponized department decided to give it another try, charging Comey again in April alleging he used Instagram to call for violence against Trump by way of a purported seashell-related code Legal experts were reportedly “shell-shocked” over the preposterous nature of the case, and with good reason: No fair-minded observer could defend or take seriously such spurious charges. Nevertheless, there’s now case.
这些案件最终会有什么结果——如果有的话——只有时间才能给出答案，不过没有理由认为定罪是特朗普的预期终点。相反，从更宏观的背景来看，这份新起诉书为这位共和党总统勾选了另一组选项。
Time will tell what, if anything, comes of the cases, though there’s no reason to assume that a conviction is Trump’s intended end point. On the contrary, in the broader context, the new indictment checks a different set of boxes for the Republican president.
首先，特朗普似乎急于表明，他可以完全凭自己的一时兴起和琐碎欲望来策划联邦起诉，而不顾及是非曲直或证据。实际上，存在一份白宫敌人名单，而总统似乎急于恐吓并让名单上的人心生恐惧。
First, Trump appears eager to make it clear he can orchestrate federal prosecutions based entirely on his whim and petty desires, without regard for merit or evidence. There is, for all intents and purposes, a White House enemies list, and the president seems eager to intimidate and instill fear in those whose names appear on it.
其次，特朗普正在向其他可能倾向于将法治置于白宫意愿之上的联邦检察官发出一个毫不含蓄的信号。事实上，在追究这位前联邦调查局局长一事上，选择对科米提出指控的检察官被替换成了那些会服从政治指令的人。随着第二批指控推进，向其他检察官传递的信息再清楚不过：配合这场复仇行动，否则就面临失业。
Second, Trump is sending an unsubtle signal to other federal prosecutors who might be inclined to prioritize the rule of law over the White House’s wishes. Indeed, when it comes to the pursuit of the former FBI director, the prosecutors who chose to bring charges against Comey were replaced with those who would follow political instructions. As a second set of charges moves forward, the message to other prosecutors couldn’t be clearer: Play along with the revenge campaign or face unemployment.
第三，对科米的起诉让总统得以展示，他能够迫使自己眼中的敌人因其对他的违抗而承受法律、个人和财务上的困境，即便这些起诉书是个笑话，被告最终也被宣判无罪。
And third, the Comey prosecution allows the president to demonstrate he can force his perceived enemies to endure legal, personal and financial hardships as a direct consequence of their defiance of him, even if the indictments are a joke and the defendants are ultimately acquitted.
试图给这位前联邦调查局局长定罪在很大程度上无关紧要。腐败才是关键所在。
Trying to convict the former FBI director is largely irrelevant. The corruption is the point.
《司法部对科米的案件很可能失败。对特朗普来说，定罪可能并非关键所在。》
The post The DOJ’s cases against Comey will likely fail. For Trump, a conviction may not be the point.