特朗普以公謀私的潛在風(fēng)險(xiǎn)

On November 3, the US agency charged with safeguarding workers’ rights ruled that the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas had violated federal law by refusing to hold contract talks with a union representing housekeepers and other staff.

11月3日，美國(guó)負(fù)責(zé)維護(hù)勞動(dòng)者權(quán)利的機(jī)構(gòu)裁定，位于拉斯維加斯的特朗普國(guó)際酒店(Trump International Hotel)拒絕與代表保潔員及其他員工的工會(huì)舉行合同談判的行為，違反了聯(lián)邦法律。

Five days later, the lodging’s co-owner — Donald Trump — was elected president of the US, putting him in a position to appoint a Republican majority at the regulator, the National Labor Relations Board, that could overturn the decision.

5天后，該酒店的共同所有人——唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)——當(dāng)選美國(guó)總統(tǒng)，使他可以任命一個(gè)共和黨人占多數(shù)的國(guó)家勞資關(guān)系委員會(huì)(National Labor Relations Board)，該委員會(huì)可能會(huì)推翻之前的裁定。

The possibility points to one of the central ethical dilemmas facing a Trump administration. There has never been a president-elect with more potential conflicts between his financial interests and his official duties. But with his inauguration set for January 20, Mr Trump has yet to present a formal proposal to insulate himself from criticism that he is putting aside the general welfare in favour of his own.

這種可能性直指特朗普政府面臨的核心倫理困境之一。從沒(méi)有哪位當(dāng)選總統(tǒng)面對(duì)的個(gè)人經(jīng)濟(jì)利益與公職責(zé)任之間的潛在沖突，比特朗普更多。但是就職典禮即將于1月20日舉行，特朗普卻尚未提出正式方案來(lái)反駁指責(zé)他將個(gè)人利益置于大眾福祉之上的批評(píng)。

During the campaign, Mr Trump suggested he might transfer his holdings into a “blind trust” — in the manner of many of his predecessors — managed by his oldest children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric. But critics say the trust would be neither blind, because its assets are so well-known, nor independent. They note the three Trump scions have already been named as members of their father’s transition team.

在競(jìng)選期間，特朗普曾暗示他可能會(huì)效仿之前許多位當(dāng)選總統(tǒng)，把資產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)入“保密信托”，由他三個(gè)最年長(zhǎng)的孩子小唐納德(Donald Jr)、伊萬(wàn)卡(Ivanka)和埃里克(Eric)管理。但是批評(píng)人士稱(chēng)，該信托將是既不保密(因?yàn)槠滟Y產(chǎn)是眾所周知的)又不獨(dú)立的。他們指出，特朗普家的這三個(gè)孩子已經(jīng)被任命為父親過(guò)渡小組的成員了。

“Just turning management over to the kids doesn’t solve the problem — he would still retain ownership,” said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer in the administration of George W Bush. “He hasn’t given us any plan that will remove those conflicts of interest.”

“只是把管理權(quán)交給孩子并不能解決問(wèn)題——他仍然會(huì)保留所有權(quán)，”曾在小布什(George W Bush)政府擔(dān)任白宮倫理律師的理查德•佩因特(Richard Painter)稱(chēng)，“他還沒(méi)有給出任何可以消除這些利益沖突的計(jì)劃。”

Norman Eisen, a former legal ethics adviser for President Barack Obama, said “the best thing” for Mr Trump would be to liquidate his business holdings and invest the proceeds in a real blind trust run by an independent trustee. But he adds that Mr Trump has no legal obligation to do so, nor any seeming inclination, either.

曾任總統(tǒng)巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)法律倫理顧問(wèn)的諾曼•艾森(Norman Eisen)稱(chēng)，特朗普“最好”能出售其商業(yè)資產(chǎn)并把所得收入投入由獨(dú)立受托人管理的真正的保密信托中。但是他補(bǔ)充稱(chēng)，特朗普沒(méi)有這么做的法律義務(wù)，也沒(méi)有表現(xiàn)出任何類(lèi)似意向。

“We have never confronted a situation like this one before and it poses some very serious challenges and risks,” Mr Eisen says. “As the shock of the result wears off, the president-elect and his team — and all of us — need to address those risks.”

“我們之前從沒(méi)有遇到過(guò)類(lèi)似局面，這帶來(lái)了一些非常嚴(yán)峻的挑戰(zhàn)和風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，”艾森稱(chēng)，“隨著人們對(duì)選舉結(jié)果的震驚慢慢平息，當(dāng)選總統(tǒng)及其團(tuán)隊(duì)——以及我們所有人——都需要應(yīng)對(duì)這些風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。“

Mr Painter said he sees two big potential conflicts for Mr Trump. The first involves his hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and the perception that his borrowings could influence regulation in his administration.

佩因特認(rèn)為特朗普面臨兩大潛在利益沖突。第一個(gè)涉及他數(shù)億美元的債務(wù)以及人們對(duì)他的借貸可能影響其政府制定相關(guān)規(guī)定的看法。

Complicating matters further is the fact that one of Mr Trump’s biggest current lenders is Deutsche Bank, which is now in talks with the US Department of Justice involving its handling of mortgage-backed securities.

使問(wèn)題更為復(fù)雜的是，特朗普目前最大的債權(quán)人之一是德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)。該銀行目前正在就其對(duì)抵押貸款證券的處理與美國(guó)司法部(US Department of Justice)進(jìn)行談判。

Another pitfall involves a section of the US constitution known as the “emoluments clause”. It essentially forbids a president from receiving anything of value from “any king, prince or foreign state” without congressional approval — no small issue for a business executive with holdings from Ireland and Scotland to Panama and the Philippines that could benefit materially from policies in those places.

另外一個(gè)隱患涉及被稱(chēng)為“薪酬條款”的一條美國(guó)憲法條款。該條款從本質(zhì)上禁止美國(guó)總統(tǒng)在未得到國(guó)會(huì)批準(zhǔn)的情況下接受來(lái)自“任何國(guó)王、王子或者外國(guó)”的任何有價(jià)值的東西——對(duì)于一個(gè)在從愛(ài)爾蘭和蘇格蘭、到巴拿馬和菲律賓等國(guó)都擁有資產(chǎn)、可能極大地受益于這些地區(qū)政策的商人來(lái)說(shuō)，此事非同小可。

Other potential difficulties can be found closer to home. The Trump Organization, for example, now operates a hotel in the government-owned Old Post Office Building in Washington. As president, Mr Trump would appoint the head of the federal General Services Administration, which manages the property in the nation’s capital.

其他潛在的困難可能出現(xiàn)在不那么遙遠(yuǎn)的地方。例如，特朗普集團(tuán)(Trump Organization)如今在華盛頓由政府所有的老郵局大樓(Old Post Office Building)里經(jīng)營(yíng)著一家酒店。作為總統(tǒng)，特朗普將任命聯(lián)邦總務(wù)署(General Services Administration)的負(fù)責(zé)人，該機(jī)構(gòu)管理那座位于美國(guó)首府的大樓。

His reputation as a man of the people could be put at risk by his oversight of the National Labor Relations Board. Because of squabbles in recent years between Mr Obama and the Republican-controlled Senate, only three of the five seats on the board have been filled, two by Democrats and one by a Republican.

他對(duì)國(guó)家勞資關(guān)系委員會(huì)的監(jiān)督可能會(huì)將他屬于人民的名聲置于危險(xiǎn)之中。由于最近幾年奧巴馬和由共和黨控制的參議院之間的爭(zhēng)吵，該委員會(huì)的5個(gè)委員席位只填補(bǔ)了3個(gè)，其中兩位委員是民主黨人，還有一位是共和黨人。

Catherine Fisk, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, said she expects Mr Trump will be able to quickly win Senate approval for two new members of the NLRB, giving Republicans control of the agency.

加州大學(xué)歐文分校(University of California,Irvine)的法學(xué)教授凱瑟琳•菲斯克(Catherine Fisk)稱(chēng)，她認(rèn)為特朗普可以很快得到參議院的批準(zhǔn)，任命兩位新的國(guó)家勞資關(guān)系委員會(huì)委員，使得共和黨人控制該委員會(huì)。

Although the NLRB is unlikely to revisit findings of fact, she said “clever lawyers” might be able to come up with a potential challenge to the board’s ruling requiring the Trump International Hotel to negotiate with the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas.

盡管?chē)?guó)家勞資關(guān)系委員會(huì)不太可能重新審核認(rèn)定的事實(shí)，但是她稱(chēng)“聰明的律師”可能會(huì)想出可能挑戰(zhàn)該委員會(huì)這一裁定(要求特朗普國(guó)際酒店與拉斯維加斯餐飲業(yè)工會(huì)(Culinary Workers Union)舉行談判)的辦法。

Meanwhile, the Trump Organisation — which did not respond to requests for comment — has appealed against the ruling to the US Court of Appeals in Washington.

與此同時(shí)，特朗普集團(tuán)已就該判決上訴至位于華盛頓的美國(guó)上訴法院(US Court of Appeals)。該集團(tuán)未回應(yīng)置評(píng)請(qǐng)求。

“Everyone expects that many of the decisions of the past eight years will be reversed,” Ms Fisk said.

“所有人都預(yù)計(jì)過(guò)去八年的很多決定將被推翻，”菲斯克稱(chēng)。

“It certainly raises the risk that the president is going to govern not in the interest of the electorate, but in his own interest.”

“這當(dāng)然會(huì)加大這一風(fēng)險(xiǎn)——這位總統(tǒng)在治理國(guó)家時(shí)不會(huì)以選民的利益為重、而是會(huì)以個(gè)人利益為先。”