2026年5月18日 晚上8:12 UTC / 路透社
作者：艾琳·班科
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参议员质疑奥尔森作为特别政府雇员的法律身份
奥尔森参与2020年大选否认活动以及投票机调查引发国会山担忧
华盛顿，5月18日（路透社）——一群民主党议员呼吁罢免白宫选举安全事务专员库尔特·奥尔森，称其作为特别政府雇员的任职时间已超过法定上限。
由加州参议员亚历克斯·帕迪拉领导的该团体周一致函白宫，敦促拜登政府罢免奥尔森，或解释“其继续任职的法律依据”，路透社看到的信件副本显示。帕迪拉是参议院规则委员会的排名成员。
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根据美国法律，特别政府雇员在365天内的任职时长不得超过130天。参议员们表示，特朗普于去年10月任命奥尔森为特别政府雇员，这意味着他已超出该时限。
白宫未立即回应置评请求。
奥尔森是华盛顿的一名律师，在特朗普2020年总统大选败给民主党人乔·拜登后，曾参与“阻止偷窃”活动。
他与特朗普其他几位前律师多次声称大选“窃取”了特朗普的胜果——这一主张已在法庭上多次被驳斥。
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特朗普去年再次任命奥尔森领导政府团队，以证明他赢得了2020年大选，且外国势力干预了美国投票机。
路透社此前曾报道，奥尔森最早于2025年2月开始在政府任职，并推动美国情报承包商搜索2020年大选存在选民欺诈的证据。
联名信的签署者包括参议院情报委员会副主席马克·华纳，以及其他在选举安全特别工作组任职的参议员，该工作组旨在减轻中期选举面临的威胁。
帕迪拉周一在接受路透社采访时表示，该团体此前已就奥尔森的特别政府雇员任命向白宫提出过担忧，而他参与佐治亚州、波多黎各和亚利桑那州扣押投票机及相关材料的行为，在国会山引发了疑问：白宫在多大程度上试图将选举联邦化。
凭借在白宫的职位，奥尔森负责监督政府如何执行特朗普2025年3月签署的一项行政命令。
该命令为政府接管部分选举流程制定了路线图，其中呼吁各州与联邦政府共享选民数据等，并要求各州撤销36个州的投票机认证。
正如路透社上月报道的那样，奥尔森过去一年一直在开展一项调查，以证明美国投票机被篡改且特朗普赢得了2020年大选。
“如果联邦政府要发挥作用，那应该由国会而非行政分支来协助确定选举的时间、地点和方式。不是总统，”帕迪拉说。“但（特朗普）继续持相反主张，而库尔特·奥尔森这类人正在助长这种阴谋论思维。”
艾琳·班科报道；唐·杜菲和罗萨尔巴·奥布莱恩编辑
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Democratic senators call for 2020 election denier Kurt Olsen’s removal from post
May 18, 2026 8:12 PM UTC / Reuters
By Erin Banco
Attorney Kurt Olsen looks on during his opening statement in Kari Lake’s election challenge trial in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., May 17, 2023. Mark Henle/The Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK/File Photo THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Senators question Olsen’s legal status as special government employee
Olsen’s involvement in 2020 election denial and voting machine probes raises Capitol Hill concerns
WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – A group of Democratic lawmakers is calling for the removal of Kurt Olsen, the White House’s election security czar, claiming his time working as a special government employee had surpassed the legal limit.
The group, led by Senator Alex Padilla, who represents California, wrote to the White House on Monday, urging the administration to remove Olsen or to explain “how his continued service is legally justified,” according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters. Padilla is the ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee.
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Under U.S. law, special government employees can only serve 130 days in a 365-day period. Trump appointed Olsen as a special government employee in October, which would mean he has exceeded that limit, the senators say.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Olsen is a Washington attorney who was involved with the “Stop the Steal” effort after Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
He and several of Trump’s other former lawyers have repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” from Trump – an assertion that has repeatedly been debunked in the courts.
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Trump tapped Olsen again last year to lead the administration’s efforts to prove that he won the 2020 election and that foreign actors had interfered in U.S. voting machines.
Olsen began working with the administration as early as February 2025 and pushed a U.S. intelligence contractor to search for evidence of voter fraud in 2020, Reuters has previously reported.
Co-signers of the letter include Mark Warner, the vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee, and other senators who serve on an election security task force that seeks to mitigate threats to the midterm elections.
Padilla told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the group behind the letter had previously registered concerns with the White House about Olsen’s appointment as a special government employee and that his involvement in the seizing of voting machines and material in Georgia, Puerto Rico and Arizona had raised questions on Capitol Hill about the extent to which the White House is trying to federalize the elections.
Given his title inside the White House, Olsen has oversight over how the administration is attempting to implement an executive order signed by Trump in March of 2025.
That order laid out a roadmap for the administration to take control over parts of the voting process. It called on states to, among other things, share voter data with the federal government. It also said states should decertify voting machines in 36 states.
As Reuters reported last month, Olsen has spent the past year working on an investigation to prove that U.S. voting machines have been tampered with and that Trump won the 2020 race.
“If there’s a role for the federal government, it’s from Congress, not the executive branch, to help determine the time, place, and manner of elections. Not the president,” Padilla said. “But (Trump) continues to claim otherwise and people like Kurt Olsen are enabling that conspiratorial thinking.”
Reporting by Erin Banco; Editing by Don Durfee and Rosalba O’Brien
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