华盛顿 —— 民主党参议员埃莉萨·斯洛特金的律师正在警告司法部长托德·布兰切，不要屈从于唐纳德·特朗普总统要求对她的政治言论展开刑事调查的要求。周末，特朗普在其社交媒体平台上发帖称，他要求司法部调查这位密歇根州参议员最近的言论，她在言论中谈到民主党对特朗普政府的调查可能向考虑在政府最后两年加入政府的年轻人发出“威慑信息”。
WASHINGTON — An attorney for Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin is warning Attorney General Todd Blanche not to bow to President Donald Trump’s demand for a criminal investigation into her political speech. Over the weekend, Trump posted on his social media platform that he was demanding the Justice Department look into the Michigan senator’s recent comments about how Democratic investigations into the Trump administration could send a “deterrence message” to young people thinking about joining the administration in its final two years.
“特此声明副本，我命令司法部立即调查这一犯罪行为！”特朗普写道。前纽约南区联邦检察官普里特·巴拉拉在周一公开的一封致布兰切的信中写道，“应该不难明确表明，我们并不生活在一个威权政权中，仅仅批评权势人物就可能让任何人陷入法律危险，甚至入狱。”“这要求司法部发表明确且公开的声明，确认不会对斯洛特金参议员展开这项调查，”他写道。
“By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!”Trump wrote. In a letter to Blanche made public Monday, Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, wrote that it “should not be hard to make clear that we do not live in an authoritarian regime where mere criticism of the powerful can land anyone in legal peril and possibly prison.”“That requires a clear and public statement confirming that the Department will not pursue this investigation against Senator Slotkin,” he wrote.
司法部未对特朗普的帖子置评。司法部长由总统任命，是其内阁成员，但白宫公开要求调查仍属极不寻常。司法部长期以来一直寻求将政治与法律分开。但在布兰切领导下，这位特朗普的前私人律师，该部门已调查了许多总统眼中的政治敌人。斯洛特金曾任中央情报局和国防部官员，今年早些时候，她也是特朗普政府试图但未能起诉的一群议员之一，起因是一段社交媒体视频。
The Justice Department didn’t comment on Trump’s post. The attorney general is appointed by the president and is a member of his Cabinet, but it’s still highly unusual for the White House to publicly demand an investigation. The Justice Department has long sought to separate politics from the law. But under Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, the department has investigated many of the president’s perceived political enemies. Slotkin, a former CIA and Defense Department official, was also one of a group of lawmakers the Trump administration tried and failed to indict earlier this year over a social media video.
在中期选举前几周，共和党遭遇惨重失利，她在芝加哥大学发表演讲，主张民主党应将调查重点放在那些助长特朗普的人身上。
A few weeks before the midterm elections, where the GOP saw massive losses, she spoke at the University of Chicago, arguing that Democrats should focus investigative efforts on those who enable Trump.
她表示，希望阻止刚毕业的年轻人加入政府。“我希望他们会想：‘天哪，这可能会给我带来一大堆我不想要的麻烦，所以还是别参与了，’”斯洛特金说。“我希望传递出这种威慑信息。”特朗普在周末发布在“真相社交”上的帖子中指责斯洛特金“将要针对所有相信共和党价值观、哪怕只有一点点想当共和党倾向的年轻人”。
She said she hoped to deter young people coming out of school from joining the administration. “I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, and so let me avoid participating in that,’” Slotkin said. “I want that deterrence message sent.”In his post on Truth Social over the weekend, Trump accused Slotkin of “going to go after all young people that believe in Republican Values, and that give even the slightest inclination to be a Republican.”
特朗普的要求是在特朗普盟友迈克·戴维斯请求哈米特·迪隆——她此后已辞去民权司负责人职务——对斯洛特金展开调查几周后提出的。巴拉拉写道，斯洛特金的言论“完全合法”，受第一修正案以及宪法“言辞辩论”条款保护，该条款保护国会议员。“没有任何可想象的依据去调查这位参议员，只因她提醒协助总统违法的行政部门成员，他们的行为将被追责，或者表达希望美国人拒绝在一个领导人可能要求他们违法或滥用纳税人钱款的政府中任职，”巴拉拉写道。
Trump’s demand came weeks after Trump ally Mike Davis requested that Harmeet Dhillon — who has since resigned as head of the Civil Rights Division — launch an investigation of Slotkin. Bharara wrote that Slotkin’s comments were “entirely lawful” and protected by the First Amendment as well as the “speech and debate” clause of the Constitution, which protects members of Congress. “There is no conceivable basis to investigate the Senator for reminding members of the executive branch who aid the President’s law breaking that there will be accountability for their actions, or expressing the hope that Americans decline to serve in an administration where leaders may ask them to violate the law or misuse taxpayer dollars,” Bharara wrote.
“事实上，这位参议员的声明强化了法治。”巴拉拉要求布兰奇公开拒绝执行特朗普的命令。“司法部应停止威胁我们的宪法自由，并明确表示不会再以纳税人钱财为代价发起另一场琐碎的调查，”他写道。司法部未立即回应置评请求。巴拉拉的信中指出，距离政府未能以一段社交媒体视频为由起诉斯洛特金和其他五名国会议员还不到一年，该视频提醒军方和情报界成员，他们有责任不服从非法命令。
“Indeed, the Senator’s statement reinforces the rule of law.”Bharara asked Blanche to publicly decline to follow Trump’s command. “The Department should stop threatening our constitutional freedoms and make clear that you will not again launch another frivolous investigation at the taxpayers’ expense,” he wrote. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bharara’s letter noted that it had been less than a year since the administration failed to indict Slotkin and five other members of Congress over a social media video that reminded members of the military and intelligence communities of their duties not to follow unlawful orders.
“谢天谢地，华盛顿特区的匿名公民“大陪审团一致驳回了该部门试图惩罚一名被视为政治对手的行为，理由是其言论合法——实际上受宪法特权保护，”巴拉拉写道。
“Thankfully, the anonymous citizens of a Washington D.C. grand jury unanimously rejected the Department’s attempt to punish a perceived political adversary for her lawful — indeed, constitutionally privileged — speech,” Bharara wrote.