是时候“反击”了：特朗普被定罪后，共和党开始复仇
【中美创新时报2024 年 5 月 31 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）在曼哈顿特朗普封口费审判期间和之后，一系列共和党人物——从知名立法者到有影响力的权威人士——都主张对那些他们认为对前总统被定罪 34 项重罪负责的人进行报复。《波士顿环球报》记者萨姆·布罗迪（Sam Brodey）对此作了下述报道。
去年，在被曼哈顿检察官起诉前不久，唐纳德·特朗普向他的支持者承诺，他将追捕那些轻视或虐待他们的人。
“我是你的正义，”特朗普在 2023 年的保守派政治行动会议上说。“我是你的报应。”
现在这位前总统是一名被定罪的重罪犯，情况似乎恰恰相反：特朗普最忠实的支持者正热情地提出要为他承担复仇的重任。
在曼哈顿特朗普封口费审判期间和之后，一系列共和党人物——从知名立法者到有影响力的权威人士——都主张对那些他们认为对前总统被定罪 34 项重罪负责的人进行报复。
周四晚上，俄亥俄州参议员 J.D. 万斯在福克斯新闻上表示，国会共和党人应该向负责此案的法官胡安·默尚和他的女儿发出传票，后者是一名曾为民主党候选人工作的顾问。
“我们必须愿意反击，”万斯说。“我认为这些人唯一能理解的话是，如果他们这样做，如果他们把美国的司法系统变成香蕉共和国的垃圾，他们将承担后果。”
万斯被认为是特朗普竞选搭档的头号竞争者，此前他曾呼吁对默尚进行刑事调查，指控其涉嫌侵犯特朗普的第一修正案权利。自 3 月以来，特朗普一直受到 Merchan 的封口令的约束，该命令禁止他对涉案的多名人员发表评论；他多次违反该命令。
对于共和党人来说，特朗普表示愿意利用政府手段进行报复，这代表了特朗普法律传奇中的新领域。同样值得注意的是，被针对的不仅是那些直接参与曼哈顿案件的人：还有拜登总统和更广泛的民主党。
犹他州参议员迈克·李 (Mike Lee) 在 X 帖子中表示：“措辞强硬的声明是不够的”，他宣布 10 名支持特朗普的参议员发出新威胁，将因定罪而使参议院业务陷入停顿。“那些把我们的司法系统变成政治棍棒的人必须被追究责任。”
虽然参议院共和党人不控制委员会，但该议院的少数族裔友好规则只允许少数参议员有权显著减缓业务。这一事实使得李承诺阻止参议院事务（在一封由万斯和另一位副总统候选人佛罗里达州参议员马可·卢比奥共同签署的信中）更加有趣，尽管这些参议员到目前为止并没有特别配合民主党的议程。
他们的信中表示，他们不会允许增加任何非国防政府支出，不会投票支持拜登任命的任何人，也不会允许迅速考虑任何民主党立法。
特朗普的封口费案是由当地检察官（而不是联邦检察官）在州法院提起的，这一事实没有被提及，共和党人显然准备惩罚所有民主党人。
在众议院，共和党控制着委员会并拥有传票权，他们可以对特朗普的对手施以传票权，尽管他们这样做的尝试已经没有特别成功。
众议院司法委员会主席、俄亥俄州共和党众议员吉姆·乔丹周五宣布，他将寻求曼哈顿地区检察官阿尔文·布拉格和他的一位高级顾问、前拜登政府官员马修·科朗杰洛的证词。
在致两人的信中，乔丹要求他们于 6 月 13 日到国会山参加听证会，以审查他所谓的“州和地方检察官出于政治动机起诉特朗普的行为”。
然而，此前，特朗普检察官对国会共和党人破坏其案件的努力不屑一顾。 2023 年，佐治亚州富尔顿县地区检察官法尼·威利斯表示，乔丹试图要求提供她 2020 年选举干预案的文件“公然违反宪法”。
2 月，乔丹随后发出传票，要求提供材料。威利斯没有遵守，共和党议员正在权衡是否要以藐视国会罪判她无视国会。
事实上，众议院共和党最引人注目的调查——比如对亨特·拜登商业交易的调查——本身就是对众议院民主党调查和弹劾特朗普的报复。
众议员迈克·柯林斯是一位以煽动性社交媒体评论而闻名的佐治亚州共和党人，他建议共和党检察官应该开始选择目标。
判决公布后，柯林斯在 X 上发帖称：“是时候让红州的司法部长和地方检察官忙起来了。”
右翼有影响力的思想领袖的期望很明显。“我不想听到当选的共和党人抱怨，”右翼评论员马特·沃尔什在 X 上写道。“我唯一想从这些人那里听到的是他们会逮捕哪些民主党人。”
对于一些因特朗普而与共和党决裂的共和党人来说，曼哈顿判决后复仇周期的升级并不令人意外。
“这是一个内部崩溃的政党的自然衰落，”反特朗普共和党战略家兼评论员迈克·马德里说。“这里的目标不是在政治上赢得任何东西，而是摧毁机构。”
除了少数例外，民主党人对特朗普被定罪和共和党愤怒的爆发大多采取了低调的态度。拜登在周五的首次公开评论中表示，那些试图抹黑陪审团裁决的行为是“鲁莽”、“不负责任”和“危险”的。
国会民主党的外部盟友也保持了类似的语气。
“由特朗普的同行组成的陪审团一致认定他 34 项罪名全部成立，”负责审查国会共和党人的民主党组织国会诚信项目的执行主任凯尔·赫里格 (Kyle Herrig) 表示。“‘让美国再次伟大’ (MAGA) 共和党人正在破坏我们的司法系统，以保护被定罪的重罪犯唐纳德·特朗普，无视美国人的实际优先事项。”
更广泛地说，共和党高层全面采取了报复姿态，特别是在利用选举制度进行反击方面——再次强调，不是针对布拉格或曼哈顿民主党人，而是针对拜登和民主党。
“不要只是对这场闹剧感到愤怒，”卢比奥在 X 上写道，并附上了特朗普竞选筹款页面的链接。“报复吧！” （特朗普竞选团队周五声称，自周四晚上以来，他们已经筹集了 5280 万美元。）
对于支持特朗普的共和党人来说，愤怒的表达是如此方便，以至于观察人士怀疑，如果审判结果是无罪释放或陪审团无法达成一致，他们的反应会不会是一样的。
“反应会 100% 一样，”马德里说。他说，特朗普的支持者“已经买了票。他们必须坐上这趟车。”
题图：在有罪判决后的第二天，一面旗帜飘扬在特朗普大厦前。STEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY
附原英文报道：
Time to ‘fight back’: GOP out for revenge after Trump conviction
By Sam Brodey Globe Staff,Updated May 31, 2024
WASHINGTON — Not long before he was indicted by Manhattan prosecutors last year, Donald Trump promised his supporters he would go after those who slighted or abused them.
“I am your justice,” Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023. “I am your retribution.”
Now that the former president is a convicted felon, it has seemed more that the reverse will be true: Trump’s most devoted supporters are enthusiastically offering to take up the mantle of revenge on his behalf.
During and after Trump’s hush-money trial in Manhattan, a range of Republican figures — from prominent lawmakers to influential pundits — advocated plans for payback against those they deemed responsible for the former president’s conviction on 34 felony counts.
Speaking on Fox News on Thursday evening, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio said congressional Republicans should issue subpoenas for the judge who oversaw the case, Juan Merchan, and his daughter, a consultant who has done work for Democratic candidates.
“We have to be willing to fight back,” said Vance. “The only language that I think these people are gonna understand is that if they do this, if they turn the American system of justice into banana republic garbage, they’re going to suffer consequences.”
Vance, considered a top contender to be Trump’s running mate, had previously called for a criminal investigation into Merchan for allegedly violating Trump’s First Amendment rights. Since March, Trump has been subject to a gag order imposed by Merchan that prohibits him from commenting on a number of people involved in the case; he has repeatedly violated it.
For Republicans, the stated willingness to use the levers of government to exact retribution represents a new frontier in the Trump legal saga. Just as notable is that it’s not only those directly involved in the Manhattan case who are being targeted: it’s President Biden and the Democratic Party more broadly.
“Strongly worded statements are not enough,” said Senator Mike Lee of Utah, in an X post announcing a new threat from 10 pro-Trump senators to grind Senate business to a halt over the conviction. “Those who turned our judicial system into a political cudgel must be held accountable.”
While Senate Republicans don’t control committees, the chamber’s minority-friendly rules allow just a few senators power to significantly slow down business. That fact makes Lee’s promise to block Senate business — in a letter cosigned by Vance and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, another vice president contender — more interesting, even though those senators have not been especially cooperative with the Democratic agenda so far.
Their letter stated they would not allow any increase to non-defense government spending, vote in favor of any Biden appointees, or allow quick consideration of any Democratic legislation.
The fact that Trump’s hush-money case was brought in state court by local prosecutors — not federal prosecutors — went unmentioned, with Republicans clearly ready to punish all Democrats.
In the House, Republicans control committees and wield subpoena power, which they could unleash on Trump’s foes, though their attempts to do so already have not been especially successful.
Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, announced Friday that he would seek testimony from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and one of his senior counsels, former Biden administration official Matthew Colangelo.
In letters to both, Jordan requested their presence on Capitol Hill on June 13 for a hearing to examine what he called “actions by state and local prosecutors to engage politically motivated prosecutions” of Trump.
Previously, however, Trump prosecutors have brushed off congressional Republicans’ efforts to undermine their cases. In 2023, Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., said Jordan’s attempts to demand documents from her 2020 election interference case were “flagrantly at odds with the Constitution.”
In February, Jordan followed up with a subpoena for material. Willis hasn’t complied and GOP lawmakers are weighing whether to hold her in contempt of Congress.
Indeed, House Republicans’ most high-profile probes — like the one into the business dealings of Hunter Biden — have themselves been launched as payback for House Democrats’ investigations and impeachments of Trump.
Representative Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican known for incendiary social media commentary, suggested that Republican prosecutors should begin selecting targets.
“Time for Red State AGs and DAs to get busy,” Collins posted on X after the verdict became public.
The expectation from influential thought leaders on the right was clear. “I don’t want to hear elected Republicans complaining,” wrote right-wing commentator Matt Walsh on X. “The only thing I want to hear from these people is which Democrats they will have arrested.”
To some Republicans who have broken with the party over Trump, the escalation of the vengeance cycle after the Manhattan verdict isn’t surprising.
“This is the natural devolution of a party that has collapsed inward,” said Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump Republican strategist and commentator. “The objective here isn’t to win anything politically, it’s to tear down institutions.”
With a few exceptions, Democrats have largely taken a subdued tone toward Trump’s conviction and the explosion of GOP outrage. In his first public comments, Biden said Friday that those attempts to discredit the jury verdict are “reckless,” “irresponsible,” and “dangerous.”
Outside allies of congressional Democrats have maintained a similar tone.
“A jury of Trump’s peers unanimously found he was guilty on all 34 counts,” said Kyle Herrig, executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project, a Democratic group that scrutinizes congressional Republicans. “MAGA Republicans are undermining our justice system in order to protect convicted felon Donald Trump and ignoring the actual priorities of Americans.”
More broadly, top Republicans have adopted a payback posture across the board, particularly when it comes to using the electoral system to strike back — again, not at Bragg or Manhattan Democrats, but at Biden and the Democratic Party.
“Don’t just get angry about this travesty,” wrote Rubio on X, with a link to the Trump campaign’s fund-raising page. “Get even!” (The Trump campaign claimed on Friday that it had raised $52.8 million since Thursday evening.)
The shows of rage were so expedient for pro-Trump Republicans that observers wondered if the reaction would have been the same if the trial had resulted in an acquittal or a hung jury.
“The reaction would have been 100 percent the same,” said Madrid. Trump loyalists, he said, “have bought the ticket. They’ve gotta take the ride.”
