根据代表一名试图阻止肯尼迪中心关停的俄亥俄州女国会议员提交的法庭文件显示，在总统唐纳德·特朗普介入并按照其意愿重组约翰·F·肯尼迪表演艺术中心18个月后，一名担忧该华盛顿机构财务状况流血不止的高级官员曾敦促将其关闭。
Eighteen months after President Donald Trump stepped in to remake the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in his image, a top official worried about the Washington institution’s hemorrhaging finances urged for it to be shut down, according to court documents filed on behalf of the Ohio congresswoman seeking to stop the center from being shuttered.
“她告诉他，我们需要关停，并且需要一致投票，”一系列9月的短信内容如此写道，其中描述了董事会副主席珍妮弗·费舍尔与商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克之间的对话，后者一直是特朗普政府努力翻新肯尼迪中心（其中包括将总统的名字印在建筑上）的推动力量。“她说我们已经破产，并借钱来支付账单。”这份于周五晚间代表身为当然董事会成员的众议员乔伊斯·比蒂提交的文件，旨在驳斥特朗普政府的辩称，即其正在推进的2亿美元翻新工程是因为存在“危险的荒废和破旧”状况，从而需要将其关停两年。
“She told him we need to get shut and need a unanimous vote,” reads a series of September text messages describing a conversation between the board of trustees Vice Chair Jennifer Fischer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has been a driving force in the Trump administration’s efforts to renovate the Kennedy Center by, among other things, placing the president’s name on the building. “She said we are broke and borrowed money to pay the bills.”The tranche of documents filed Friday night on behalf of Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio board member, seek to undermine the Trump administration’s contention that the $200 million renovation it is pursuing is due to “dangerously dilapidated and decrepit” conditions that require it to be shuttered for two years.
肯尼迪中心就有关该文件的提问将CNN转介给了司法部。CNN已联系司法部。
The Kennedy Center referred CNN to the Department of Justice for questions about the filing. CNN has reached out to the DOJ.
该案的一名法官已发布一项临时限制令，强制该中心在诉讼持续期间保持运营，肯尼迪中心官员也通过在被称为REACH的园区部分区域内继续开展节目来做到了这一点。特朗普政府正试图解除法官的这项命令。
A judge in the case has issued a temporary restraining order compelling the center to remain operating while the lawsuit continues, which Kennedy Center officials have done by continuing programming inside a portion of the campus known as the REACH. The Trump administration is seeking to have the judge’s order lifted.
比蒂的律师在周五提交的文件中辩称，她和其他董事从未看到一份承包商的分析报告，该报告反驳了为了关闭该中心两年而不是分阶段进行翻新所依据的理由。律师在该文件附带的新闻稿中表示，相反，特朗普及其管理者似乎向董事会隐瞒了这些信息。
Lawyers for Beatty argued in the Friday filing that she and other trustees never saw an analysis by a contractor that contradicts the case for closing the center for two years over pursuing the renovations in phases. Instead, the lawyers say in a news release accompanying the filing, Trump and his managers appeared to have hidden that information from the board.
据比蒂的律师称，肯尼迪中心主任马特·弗洛卡曾向该场地的董事坚称，如果中心采取分阶段的方法，建设成本将翻倍。他这一评估的依据是一份承包商报告，该报告使用了对成本差异的初步估计。然而，根据该文件，一份在董事会批准关闭大楼之前从未被其看到的修正后估计显示，这笔额外成本更接近4100万美元。
According to Beatty’s attorneys, Kennedy Center Director Matt Floca insisted to the venue’s trustees that construction costs would double if the center took a phased approach. He based that assessment on a contractor’s report that used a preliminary estimate of the cost difference. But a revised estimate that was never seen by the board before it approved the building’s closure put that extra cost closer to $41 million, according to the filing.
律师们在该关于肯尼迪中心官员的文件中表示：“记录现在证实，他们知道那个估计是错误的。”
“The record now confirms that they knew that estimate was wrong,” the attorneys said in the filing about Kennedy Center officials.
比蒂的律师辩称，中心官员还声称国会为中心翻新拨款的2.57亿美元必须在2029财政年度结束前花光，而实际上他们直到2034财政年度才有必要花完这笔钱。
Center officials also contended that $257 million appropriated by Congress for the center’s renovations has to be spent by the end of the 2029 fiscal year, when in reality they have until the 2034 fiscal year to spend the money, Beatty’s attorneys argued.
比蒂在新闻稿中表示：“法院告诉这个董事会去做好它的工作。作为一名董事，我有责任承担问责。然而，特朗普及其一手挑选的管理层未能遵守法律，隐瞒了不符合他们说辞的事实，并且盲目批准了特朗普的愿望。我有责任代表美国人民保护这座献给肯尼迪总统的活着的纪念碑。我将继续战斗以做好我的工作，确保法律得到遵守，并确保特朗普不能为了满足他的自我而拆毁肯尼迪中心。”
“The court told this Board to do its job. As a trustee, I have a duty to be accountable. Yet Trump and his handpicked management failed to follow the law, hid facts that didn’t fit their narrative, and rubberstamped Trump’s wishes,” Beatty said in the news release. “I have a duty to protect this living memorial to President Kennedy on behalf of the American people. I will keep fighting to do my job, make sure the law is followed, and ensure that Trump cannot tear down the Kennedy Center to satisfy his ego.”
CNN此前曾报道称，自特朗普成为董事会主席以来引发的法律风波和一波演员取消演出浪潮，给该机构带来了财务挑战。由于该中心的未来处于悬而未决的状态，这家文化机构将年度肯尼迪中心荣誉奖移至华盛顿特区市中心的第一资本竞技场举行。
CNN previously reported that the legal saga and wave of cancellations from performers that ensued since Trump became board chairman presented financial challenges for the institution. With the center’s future in limbo, the cultural institution moved the annual Kennedy Center Honors to the Capitol One Arena in downtown DC.