Democrats Have a Plan to Force Trump’s Associates to Cooperate With Investigations

民主党人计划迫使特朗普的同僚配合调查

Smelling a potential victory in the midterms, House Democrats are starting to think about oversight investigations next year and how to wield the power of the purse to make the Trump administration comply. In short, Trump’s West Wing renovations and DC arch could be on the chopping block, sources tell Inner Loop.

随着中期选举胜算在望，众议院民主党人开始筹划明年的监督调查，并思考如何利用“钱袋子”权力迫使特朗普政府配合。据“Inner Loop”消息来源称，简而言之，特朗普的白宫西翼翻修工程和华盛顿特区的拱门项目可能面临被削减预算的风险。

The nature of any investigations, and where Democrats will try to wrestle back power from the executive, are still to be determined, in part because taking back the House majority is not a foregone conclusion.

任何调查的性质，以及民主党人将从行政部门夺回哪些权力，目前尚未确定，部分原因是夺回众议院多数席位并非板上钉钉。

But House Democrats have a slew of investigations planned if they do end up controlling the chamber come November. Congressional committee aides have already been exploring how to force recalcitrant officials and family in Trump’s orbit to answer subpoenas.

但如果民主党人在11月最终控制了众议院，他们已经计划了一系列调查。国会委员会的助手们已经在探索如何迫使特朗普核心圈内那些不配合的官员及其家人回应传票。

With Trump uniquely focused on personal vanity projects this term, among the ideas is to more aggressively wield the power of congressional appropriations and threaten funding for Trump’s construction projects.

鉴于特朗普本届任期内特别热衷于个人的“虚荣工程”，民主党人的构想之一是更积极地行使国会拨款权，并威胁要切断特朗普建筑项目的资金。

If Trump tries to block an investigation or ignores Congress and renames more buildings, House Democrats might cut off funding for any of Trump’s future West Wing renovations or perhaps block money for Trump’s triumphal arch.

如果特朗普试图阻挠调查，或无视国会并继续为更多建筑更名，众议院民主党人可能会切断特朗普未来任何白宫西翼翻修工程的资金，甚至可能封杀其“凯旋门”项目的拨款。

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin, also suggested this week that cutting off funding could be used to rein in projects Trump has already started.

众议院司法委员会民主党领袖杰米·拉斯金（Jamie Raskin）本周也表示，切断资金可以用来约束特朗普已经启动的项目。

“We have the power of the purse, and we will make sure Donald Trump doesn’t destroy any other federal buildings or landmarks,” Raskin told reporters when asked what recourse Democrats have after a sharply divided Supreme Court permitted Trump to keep building his宴会厅。

当被问及在最高法院以微弱多数票允许特朗普继续建造其宴会厅后，民主党人还有什么补救措施时，拉斯金告诉记者：“我们拥有钱袋子权力，我们将确保唐纳德·特朗普不会破坏任何其他联邦建筑或地标。”

“Congress established the appropriation for the White House, and it’s up to Congress to decide, and it’s not up to the president to decide to bulldoze half of the White House because he wakes up that day thinking it’s a good thing to do,” says Raskin.

拉斯金说：“国会为白宫设立了拨款，决定权在国会手中，而不是由总统说了算——不能因为他某天醒来觉得是个好主意，就决定推平半个白宫。”

Traditional enforcement of subpoenas through the courts can take years, as a case makes its way through the federal district court in Washington and then any inevitable appeals. In his first term, for instance, Trump asserted executive privilege for former White House counsel Don McGahn, who was subpoenaed but never testified while Trump was in office.

通过法院强制执行传票的传统方式可能需要数年时间，因为案件必须经过华盛顿联邦地区法院，随后还要经历不可避免的上诉程序。例如，在特朗普的第一任期内，他曾为前白宫法律顾问唐·麦克加恩（Don McGahn）主张行政特权，导致后者虽被传唤，但在特朗普任内从未作证。

Democratic aides have also been weighing other ideas to make subpoena noncompliance unattractive, like adding cumulative monetary fines through an inherent contempt provision in the House rules, sources tell Inner Loop.

据“Inner Loop”消息来源称，民主党助手们也在权衡其他方案，以增加不配合传票的代价，例如通过众议院规则中的“固有藐视法庭”条款，增加累积性的金钱罚款。

But legal experts have long believed the only way to give subpoenas teeth is for Congress to pass legislation that fast-tracks judicial review for contested subpoenas so they get resolved while the president is still in office.

但法律专家长期以来认为，让传票具有威慑力的唯一途径是国会通过立法，对有争议的传票进行司法审查快速通道处理，以便在总统任期内解决问题。

The most viable idea kicked around in recent years has been a bill that sends a subpoena dispute to a federal district court panel, with an appeal that goes straight to the Supreme Court. Still, it is no panacea, given that the Justice Department prosecutes subpoena noncompliance, and it would never prosecute its own officials.

近年来讨论最可行的方案是一项法案，即将传票纠纷提交给联邦地区法院小组，并允许直接上诉至最高法院。不过，这并非万灵药，因为司法部负责起诉不遵守传票的行为，而它绝不会起诉自己的官员。

Trump might have to choose—subpoena or arch.

特朗普可能不得不做出选择——是接受传票，还是保住他的拱门。

This is an edition of Hugo Lowell’s Inner Loop newsletter. Read previous newsletters here.

本文摘自雨果·洛厄尔（Hugo Lowell）的“Inner Loop”通讯。点击此处阅读往期通讯。