前FBI副局长安德鲁•麦凯布(Andrew McCabe) (Source: Wikipedia)
周五晚被司法部长塞申斯高调宣布解雇后，前任美国联邦调查局(FBI)副局长安德鲁•麦凯布(Andrew McCabe)随即发表声明，指责司法部如此对待他完全有失公平，解雇他是白宫与联邦调查局政治斗争的一部分。
几个月来，特朗普总统频频指名道姓攻击麦凯布，总统如此攻击一个政府部门的非政治任命的中层官员并公开主张应该解雇他，不仅罕见，且不正常。总统无权解雇非政治任命的政府官员是我们制度中防止政治腐败的一个及其重要的因素（见“从FBI副局长被解雇谈选择性执法”一文????）。麦凯布已经在联邦调查局服务超过20年，他只需工作到3月18日他50岁生日那天退休，就能领到政府的养老金，但塞申斯恰恰在3月16日晚，麦凯布能正常退休的26个小时前解雇了他，如此又狠又绝也是史无前例的。
据《华盛顿邮报》最新报道，为了让麦凯布免遭失去大部分养老金的损失，威斯康星州民主党众议员马克·波肯（Mark Pocan）已经向麦凯布提供了一份在他办公室负责选举安全的临时工作，以便他能够达到领取政府养老金所需的服务年限。目前尚不能确认此方案是否可行。
事态还在继续发酵中。 据报特别检察官穆勒的调查小组已经与麦凯布面谈，并获得了麦凯布手中的备忘录，其中涉及科米被解雇前后的事件，科米告知麦凯布他与特朗普互动的一些细节，以及麦凯布本人与特朗普之间的谈话内容等。先于麦凯布被解雇的前任联邦调查局局长科米也公布他即将出书，让美国人民知道真相。
特朗普当然不会示弱， 周六晚至周日凌晨连连发推，指责科米和麦凯布的备忘录都是假的，并第一次将矛头直指穆勒：
穆勒的调查从来就不应该开始，因为没有勾结，也没有犯罪。 这是基于欺诈活动以及由骗子希拉里和民主党总部付钱买来的虚假档案，并错误地被外国情报监察法庭用来监视我的竞选团队。猎巫行动(witch hunt)！
没跟安德鲁•麦凯布见面多长时间， 他跟我见面的时候也从没写过笔记。我不相信他会写备忘录，无非是为了日后他自己的目的。 撒谎的詹姆斯•科米也一样。我们能说那是假的备忘录吗？
然而， 事态的进一步发展恐怕由不得总统大人了，他对穆勒的攻击已经在共和党内部召来训斥声浪。正如共和党资深参议员林赛•格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)所警告的那样：如果特朗普试图解雇穆勒，那他自己的总统任期就要快结束了，因为我们是一个法治国家。
以下为麦凯布针对被解雇所发表的声明的中文翻译：
我担任联邦调查局特别探员已经有21年，其中有一半的时间是作为便衣侦探及主管，在纽约针对俄罗斯有组织的犯罪行为进行调查，另一半的职业生涯则集中在国家安全方面，保障国家免于恐怖主义袭击。我在FBI担任过一些最具有挑战性、要求最高的调查工作和领导角色，在一段艰难时期出任代理局长更是我的荣幸。
过去一年半以来，我和我的家人成为被猛烈攻击的靶子，直指我们的声誉和对于国家的付出。不计其数的文章极尽一切虚假、污蔑和贬低而倾泻在我们身上，总统的推特进一步助长、恶化了这些攻击，他提出解雇我，他提出让我失去服务二十余年后应得的退休金。对这一切，出于维护FBI使命的意愿，我们不希望反复回应那些一而再再而三的谎言而吸引太多注意力，因此一直保持缄默。
然而（现在）必须开口了。
司法部监察办公室（OIG）的调查必须在这种对我的信誉的持续攻击的背景下来看。该调查始自我试图解释在涉及希拉里·克林顿的调查方面，FBI是如何参与的、我是如何监督的。我被媒体一遍又一遍地描绘成有政党倾向，被指责在政治压力下结束调查。FBI被描绘为屈服于压力，为政治目的而不是执法目的作出决定。而真相并非如此。事实上，整个调查都源于我的努力，并根据FBI的规定得到了充分授权，希望能代表调查局理清事实，并且我们排除司法部一些人的反对而坚持继续调查。
监察办公室调查的重点是我选择通过公共事务官员和法律顾问与一位记者分享信息。作为代理局长，我是少数有权这样做的人之一。这不是一个秘密，这是在好几天的时间里发生的事，包括局长在内的其他人都知道与记者的互动。身为代理局长，每周都会监督几次这种与媒体的交流。事实上，在雷伊（Wray）局长领导下，按他的要求，我继续做着同样的工作。随后的调查集中在我和谁交谈了、什么时候谈的，等等。在这些调查过程中，尽管周围情势混乱，我尽可能诚实而准确地回答问题。当我认为我的回答被误解时，我联系了调查员进行纠正。
单独看这件事情，就会一叶障目不见泰山。大环境是当执法机关被政治化之后会发生什么，是公务员被攻击，是我们期待能珍惜和保护这些机构的人反而成为搞破坏的工具。
这就是实情：由于我扮演的角色，我所采取的行动以及我在詹姆斯•科米（Comey）被解雇后所目睹的事件，致使我被单挑出来并以这种方式对待。在我向众议院情报委员会作证、表明将证实科米与总统的谈话情况之后，这份报告加速出笼。监察办公室对于我和这份报告的关注，成为政府前所未有努力的一部分，在总统本人亲自推动下，将我从我的职位上除名，毁坏我的声誉，并可能剥夺我21年来挣得的退休金。报告的加速出笼，以及随后采取的惩罚行动，只有在这样的逻辑下才解释得通。星期四来自白宫的评论只是这方面的最新例子。
如此摧毁我的信誉，不仅是为了诽谤我个人，更是为了把联邦调查局、执法部门和情报专业人员都一概玷污了。这是本届政府针对联邦调查局及特别检查官调查的战争的一部分，而且一直持续到今天。他们在这场战争中的一意孤行恰恰凸显了特别检查官的调查有多么重要。
我一直以秉持尊严和正直效力于我的国家而感到自豪，我一直鼓励身边的人也这样做。不信问问他们。以这种方式结束我的职业生涯，并被指责为缺乏坦率，其令人失望和深感不公的程度实在难以置信，我最差也只是在一片混乱中有些分心。但是，这并不能抹煞我有幸参与的工作的重要性，最终这些工作的结果将大白于天下。
我对FBI的男女同仁深信不疑，我相信他们寻求正义的努力绝不会被吓阻。
附：麦凯布声明的英文原文：
I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time.
For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The President's tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us.
No more.
The investigation by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI's involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau, and to make clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed.
The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact, it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them.
But looking at that in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people.
Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey's accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIG's focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sense only when viewed through this lens. Thursday's comments from the White House are just the latest example of this.
This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to taint the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work.
I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was privileged to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see.
I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred.
作者：图葱
麦凯布声明翻译：图葱
本文首发于“美国华人”公众号(ID: ChineseAmericans)
