四名了解相关计划的人士向MS NOW表示，国会民主党人计划利用传票权将矛头对准私营公司和个人，以此绕开他们预计特朗普政府将对他们索取政府官员文件和证词的要求进行的大规模抵制。
Congressional Democrats plan to use their subpoena power to target private companies and individuals as a way of circumventing what they anticipate will be massive resistance by the Trump administration to their demands for documents and testimony from government officials, four people familiar with the planning told MS NOW.
消息人士称，在制定调查计划时，民主党人预计特朗普总统及其任命者将普遍拒绝回应传票。这些消息人士获准匿名讨论内部策略。民主党人称，在特朗普第二个任期内存在猖獗的腐败和违法行为。外界认为，特朗普领导的司法部不太可能因任何人违抗国会传票而对其提起诉讼，而联邦政府可能会支付国会或法院在认定藐视后所能处以的任何罚款。
As they map out their plans to investigate what they say has been rampant corruption and lawbreaking during the second Trump administration, Democrats are counting on a widespread refusal to answer subpoenas by President Donald Trump and his appointees, said sources, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy. It’s seen as unlikely that the Trump Justice Department will prosecute anyone for defying a Congressional subpoena, and the federal government could pay any fines Congress or a court can impose after a contempt finding.
但他们表示，大量相关证据存在于政府之外，散落在律师事务所、企业和前官员的信件档案和电子邮件账户中，而这些人服从传票的可能性要大得多。私营部门也知道即将面临什么。
But a lot of pertinent evidence exists outside of government, in the correspondence files and email accounts of law firms, corporations and former officials, who are far more likely to comply, they said. And the private sector knows what’s coming.
“我们可以预计，传票将针对企业内部通信，以及企业高管与政府官员之间的通信，”丹尼尔·苏莱曼说。他曾是司法部官员，目前在科文顿·柏灵律师事务所工作，在国会调查中代表企业。
“We can expect subpoenas to go after internal corporate communications, as well as communications between corporate executives and administration officials,” said Daniel Suleiman, a former DOJ official at the Covington and Burling law firm who represents companies in congressional investigations.
在致客户的简报中，苏莱曼建议公司主动联系国会委员会工作人员，如果它们认为自己可能成为审查目标。许多公司已经遵循这一建议及类似建议行事。一位资深国会助手告诉 MS NOW：“我刚在过去 72 小时内与企业法律顾问进行了 15 次会面。”在采访中，民主党籍国会工作人员表示，挑战在于从几十个富有成果的领域中确定优先调查哪些议题。
In a bulletin to clients, Suleiman advised companies to reach out proactively to congressional committee staff if they believe they might be targeted for scrutiny. Many are already heeding that and similar advice. A senior congressional aide told MS NOW, “I just have done 15 meetings in the last 72 hours with corporate counsel.” terviews, Democratic congressional staffers said the challenge is prioritizing which topics to dig into among dozens of fruitful areas.
例如，众议院司法委员会民主党人在过去两年里写了 194 封信提出调查要求。众议院委员会工作人员被要求准备百日计划，“每个人交上来的都是 15 年的工作量”，这位资深助手说。
House Judiciary Committee Democrats, for example, have written 194 letters over the last two years making investigative demands. House committee staffers were asked to prepare hundred-day plans, and “everybody turned in 15 years worth of work,” the senior aide said.
结合助手们的采访和民主党议员的公开表态来看，民主党计划将重点放在少数几个主要调查领域，他们认为这些领域会引起选民共鸣——民调显示，政府腐败是选民最关心的问题之一：在大多数这些领域，民主党人表示，他们预计将从文件和证词中获取关键细节，这些文件和证词来自特朗普政府管辖范围之外的公司和个人。
Interviews with aides, coupled with the public comments of Democratic lawmakers, suggest that Democrats plan to focus on a handful of major investigative areas they believe will resonate with voters who told pollsters that government corruption was among their top concerns: In most of these areas, Democrats said they expect to learn crucial details from documents and testimony from companies and individuals outside the purview of the Trump administration.
例如，据广泛报道，与特朗普有关联的律师已获得数百万美元报酬，为赦免、合同和反垄断豁免进行游说；作出这些付款的公司和个人很可能别无选择，只能向国会解释他们支付了多少钱，以及他们认为得到了什么回报。
For example, it’s been widely reported that Trump-connected lawyers have been paid millions of dollars to lobby for pardons, contracts and antitrust relief; that companies and individuals that made those payments will likely have little choice but to explain to Congress how much they paid and what they believe they got for the money.
国会助手表示，大型律所的律师、学者和其他专家一直在联系他们，主动提出协助调查。
Congressional aides said lawyers at large firms, academics and other experts have been contacting them to offer to help with their investigations.
究竟哪些议题将率先在明年初的国会听证会上得到处理，仍有待观察。
Exactly which of these topics will first be tackled in congressional hearings early next year remains to be seen.
“被强调和标记的问题太多了，他们不可能对所有问题都采取行动，”苏莱曼说。“所以我要看看党团会围绕哪些首要任务达成共识。我们很快就会知道，因为他们会告诉我们。”
“There are so many issues that have been highlighted and flagged and they can’t possibly go after all of them,” Sulieman said. “So I am looking to see what the caucus coalesces around in terms of their top priorities. We will know that soon, because they will tell us.”
特朗普政府官员近日指责民主党人提出不当威胁。司法部长托德·布兰奇周日甚至威胁要起诉国会议员，称他们实施了恐吓。他没有解释认为可能触犯了哪些法律。
Trump officials in recent days have accused Democrats of making improper threats. Attorney General Todd Blanche even threatened to prosecute members of Congress on Sunday over what he said was intimidation. He did not explain what laws he believes could have been violated.
“他们谈论要追究公司、私营公司的责任，这些公司只是恰好在过去几年在这个国家进行了投资。这不是监督。我欢迎监督，”布兰奇周日在CNN上表示。
“They’re talking about going after companies, private companies who happen to have made investments in this country over the past couple years. That is not oversight. I welcome oversight,” Blanche said Sunday on CNN.
布兰奇似乎还提到了密歇根州民主党参议员埃利萨·斯洛特金上个月的言论，她主张民主党应针对纵容不当行为的官员追究选定的问责案件。这位民主党人补充说，她希望大学毕业生自问：“我该不该去特朗普政府工作？”并总结道：“我要传递出这种威慑信息。”她后来表示，她希望求职者不从事非法活动。
Blanche also appeared to refer to comments made last month by Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who argued that Democrats should pursue selected accountability cases involving officials who enabled misconduct. The Democrat added she wanted college graduates to ask, “Should I go work for the Trump administration?” and concluded, “I want that deterrence message sent.”She later said she wanted prospective employees not to engage in illegal activity.
“当威胁变得如此卑鄙、如此危险，以至于你告诉大学里的人，如果他们想在特朗普政府工作，最好小心点，因为会有人来对付他们，到了某个时候你必须划清界限，”布兰奇在CNN上表示。“我并不是说每个案件都一定会被起诉。但如果在这个国家，一个大学里的年轻人受到一位美国参议员的威胁，说如果他们去为特朗普总统工作，就会遭到调查和律师的纠缠，那我们就有真正的问题了。”
“When the threats become so vile and so dangerous that you are telling people in college that they better be careful if they want to work in the Trump administration because somebody will come after them, at some point you have to draw the line,” Blanche said on CNN. “And I’m not saying that necessarily that every case is going to be prosecuted. But we have a real problem if this in this country, if a young person in college is getting threatened by a United States senator that if they go to work for President Trump, they’re going to be subjected to investigations and lawyers.”
加利福尼亚州众议员罗伯特·加西亚是众议院监督委员会即将上任的主席，周日针对布兰奇的言论回应称：“他们想怎么来对付我们就怎么来。我们不会被吓倒。”
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, responded to Blanche’s comments Sunday by saying, “They can come after us however they want. We’re not going to be intimidated.”