【中美创新时报2024 年 11 月 21 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）周四，有消息称盖茨已撤回了对司法部长职位的考虑，引发了新一轮的猜测。人们重新审视他们最初的理论，试图理清刚刚发生的事情。《波士顿环球报》记者詹姆斯·平德尔对此作了下述报道。
让我们踏上时光机，倒回到上周三。那一刻，全世界才知道当选总统唐纳德·特朗普选择了夸夸其谈的佛罗里达州众议员马特·盖茨担任美国司法部长。
他不仅缺乏适合担任这一职位的专业背景（当然，除了对特朗普的忠诚），还被指控吸毒和与未成年人发生性关系，而且众议院道德委员会即将发布的一份报告据称具有爆炸性和高度破坏性。
包括缅因州共和党人苏珊·柯林斯在内的资深参议员都感到震惊。据报道，爱荷华州参议员查克·格拉斯利是历史上任职时间第六长的参议员，也是即将上任的参议院司法委员会主席，当一名记者在国会大厦走廊告诉他这一消息时，他面无表情地站了 30 秒。
人们的反应从怀疑到猜测不一，美国人试图理解这一令人惊讶的选择。各种理论比比皆是，有些看似合理，有些则牵强附会。
然后，周四，有消息称盖茨已撤回了对司法部长职位的考虑，引发了新一轮的猜测。人们重新审视他们最初的理论，试图理清刚刚发生的事情。
过度分析可能毫无意义。盖茨的提名和随后的辞职背后的情况可能像三维国际象棋策略一样复杂，其目的可能是我们永远无法理解的——也可能像特朗普想要他，却发现他缺乏必要的支持一样简单。
“虽然势头强劲，但很明显，我的确认不公平地分散了特朗普/万斯过渡的关键工作的注意力，”盖茨在 X 的一篇帖子中写道。“没有时间浪费在华盛顿无谓的旷日持久的争斗上。因此，我将撤回担任司法部长的提名。特朗普的司法部必须在第一天就到位并做好准备。”
盖茨宣布这一消息的时间让人感到惊讶：据报道，就在 CNN 联系他就一名声称自己与未成年人发生性关系的女性的新指控发表评论的 45 分钟后。新的指控涉及 2017 年派对上盖茨与未成年人的第二次性接触，此前未曾报道，当时还涉及另一名成年女性。
让我们分析一下关于他提名和退出的一些流传的理论——以及为什么它们最终让人不满意。
一种理论认为，特朗普提名盖茨是为了好意。通过选择他，盖茨有一个方便的理由在众议院道德委员会发布其损害报告的两天前辞去国会职务。一些人认为，作为一名普通公民，委员会可能不再觉得有必要公布调查结果。
但这个理论有缺陷。首先，目前还不清楚盖茨是否会在定于 1 月召开的下一届国会任职。尽管他辞职了，但盖茨本月早些时候轻松赢得连任，他的辞职信只是说他“不打算”在下一届任期内任职。此外，佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯尚未安排特别选举来接替他，为可能的复出留下了空间。
这是否会影响道德委员会发布报告的决定仍不确定。
另一种理论认为，盖茨的提名是一种精心策划的转移注意力的手段——一个“闪亮的物体”或牺牲品——旨在掩盖更具争议性的任命，例如福克斯新闻周末主播皮特·赫格塞斯担任国防部长、罗伯特·肯尼迪担任卫生与公众服务部部长以及塔尔西·加巴德担任国家情报总监。
如果这是策略，那它就没用了。由于盖茨如此迅速地退出竞选，人们的注意力现在转向了其他提名人，而且可能受到更严格的审查。盖茨退出竞选是意料之中的事情，因为他缺乏支持，这可能加剧了人们对剩余提名人的关注。
更混乱的是，在盖茨退出竞选 24 小时内，就有报道称警方报告证实了赫格塞斯在加州会议期间实施性侵犯的指控——他否认了这一指控，警方也拒绝对此提出指控。如果计划是为了保护赫格塞斯，那么这场赌博似乎适得其反。
盖茨的提名是美国历史上最麻烦的内阁人选之一。其他提名被搁置的原因要小得多。前参议院多数党领袖汤姆·达施勒因欠税而失去了在巴拉克·奥巴马政府内阁任职的机会。同样，拜登总统的管理和预算办公室人选尼拉·坦登 (Neera Tanden) 也因一些带有政治意味的旧推文而被搁置。
至于有人认为盖茨的提名从一开始就不严肃，只是为了为更糟糕的司法部长人选铺平道路——好吧，找到更糟糕的人选可能很难。你可以自己决定特朗普周四晚上宣布的司法部长继任人选帕姆·邦迪 (Pam Bondi) 是否符合这一要求，以及她是否一直是计划中的人选。
题图：前众议员马特·盖茨（左），当选总统唐纳德·特朗普提名的司法部长，周三与当选副总统 JD Vance 一起抵达国会大厦与参议员会面。凯文·迪茨/盖蒂
附原英文报道：
A breakdown of circulating theories about Gaetz’s nomination and withdrawal — and why they’re ultimately unsatisfying
By James Pindell Globe Staff,Updated November 21, 2024
Former representative Matt Gaetz (left), President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, walked with Vice President-elect JD Vance as they arrived for meetings with Senators at the Capitol on Wednesday.Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Let’s step into the wayback machine and rewind to last Wednesday. That was the moment the world learned that President-elect Donald Trump selected the bombastic Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to serve as US attorney general.
Not only did he had very little in his professional background that made him a suitable choice for the post — except, of course, his loyalty to Trump — but he was accused of illegal drug use and having sex with a minor, and was the subject of a forthcoming House Ethics Committee report that was rumored to be explosive and highly damaging.
Veteran senators, including Maine Republican Susan Collins, were shocked. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the sixth longest-serving senator in history and incoming Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, reportedly stood stone-faced for 30 seconds when a reporter informed him of the news in a Capitol hallway.
Reactions ranged from disbelief to speculation, as Americans tried to make sense of the surprising choice. Theories abounded, some plausible, others far-fetched.
Then, on Thursday, news broke that Gaetz had withdrawn his name from consideration for the attorney general role, prompting a new wave of speculation. People revisited their initial theories, trying to untangle what had just happened.
It’s possible there’s no point in overanalyzing. The circumstances behind Gaetz’s nomination and subsequent resignation could be as complex as a three-dimensional chess strategy serving goals we may never understand — or as simple as Trump wanting him, only to discover he lacked the necessary support.
“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” Gaetz wrote in a post on X. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle. Thus, I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.”
The timing of Gaetz’s announcement raised eyebrows: It reportedly came 45 minutes after CNN contacted him for comment about new allegations from the woman who said she was a minor when they had sex. The new allegations involved a second, previously unreported, sexual encounter with Gaetz and the minor at a 2017 party that also involved another woman who was an adult.
Let’s breakdown some of the circulating theories about his nomination and withdrawal—and why they’re ultimately unsatisfying.
One theory posits that Trump nominated Gaetz as a favor. By selecting him, Gaetz had a convenient reason to resign from Congress two days before the House Ethics Committee was set to release its damaging report. As a private citizen, some argued, the committee might no longer feel compelled to release the findings.
But this theory has flaws. For one, it’s unclear whether Gaetz could later decide to serve in the next Congress, set to convene in January. Despite his resignation, Gaetz had won reelection handily earlier in the month, and his resignation letter only stated that he “did not intend” to serve in the next term. Furthermore, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had yet to schedule a special election to replace him, leaving the door open for a potential return.
Whether this affects the Ethics Committee’s decision to release its report remains uncertain.
Another theory suggests Gaetz’s nomination was a calculated distraction — a “shiny object” or sacrificial lamb — meant to shield more controversial appointments, such as Fox News weekend anchor Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.
If that was the strategy, it didn’t work. With Gaetz out of the running so quickly, attention is now turning to these other nominees, possibly with even greater scrutiny. Gaetz’s withdrawal, widely expected due to his lack of support, may have amplified focus on the remaining picks.
Adding to the chaos, reports surfaced within 24 hours of Gaetz’s withdrawal involving a police report corroborating allegations that Hegseth had committed sexual assault during a California conference — a charge he denies and for which police declined to press charges. If the plan was to protect Hegseth, the gamble seems to have backfired.
Gaetz’s nomination stands out as one of the most troubled cabinet picks in US history. Other nominations have been derailed for far less. Tom Daschle, a former Senate majority leader, lost his chance at a Cabinet post under Barack Obama over unpaid taxes. Similarly, President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget pick, Neera Tanden, was derailed over old, politically charged tweets.
As for the theory that Gaetz’s nomination was unserious from the start, intended only to pave the way for an even worse pick for attorney general — well, finding someone worse might prove difficult. You can decide for yourself whether or not Trump’s replacement pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, who he announced Thursday night, fits that bill and whether or not she was the plan all along.
