2026-06-15T17:37:46.856Z / 路透社
美国华盛顿白宫椭圆形办公室，2025年1月20日就职日当天，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普签署文件并发布行政命令，同时为1月6日事件的涉案者签发赦免。路透社/卡洛斯·巴里亚/档案照片 购买授权链接，将在新标签页打开
华盛顿6月15日电（路透社）——两名民主党国会议员周一敦促特朗普政府保留相关通讯记录，这些记录与向多名赦免对象签发的赦免有关，其中包括一名因诈骗投资者数亿美元罪名成立的电动汽车制造商。
来自佛蒙特州的参议院司法委员会议员彼得·韦尔奇，以及来自加利福尼亚州的众议院监督委员会议员戴夫·明，在致白宫、美国司法部和特勤局的信件中提出上述要求，以查明“包括交换条件或‘利益输送’在内的不当考量，是否影响了赦免程序”。
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该通讯社获取的信件显示，这两名议员援引路透社及其他媒体的报道，称他们一直在调查本届政府的赦免及减刑行动。他们要求为17名特定的赦免对象保留全部相关记录，其中包括特雷弗·米尔顿——这名商人因自己创办的一家主打电动汽车却从未投入运营的初创公司相关案件被定罪。
路透社上周的一项调查发现，特朗普本届任期内96%的赦免对象，包括米尔顿在内，均不符合司法部长期以来的赦免指导方针。在回应路透社的置评请求时，米尔顿的一名发言人批评了对他的定罪，称这是拜登政府时期检察官出于政治动机提起的诉讼。该发言人未回应议员们致信相关的置评请求。
白宫发言人阿比盖尔·杰克逊通过电子邮件发表声明，称这些信件“不过是民主党及其媒体盟友协调发起的可悲的舆论炒作”。
司法部和特勤局未回应韦尔奇和明致信相关的置评请求。路透社上周报道称，部分赦免申请人在当面拜访特朗普总统时，会通过特勤局提交赦免申请，而非走司法部的传统渠道。
白宫和司法部均否认特朗普的赦免行动存在任何不当行为。本届政府为总统的宪法赦免权辩护称其“绝对不受限制”，并表示特朗普任内的赦免程序由相关官员进行彻底且协调的审查。
议员们在信中对上述说法提出质疑。他们写道：“尽管总统的赦免权限范围广泛，但当出现关于程序、渠道或权力滥用的可信疑问时，国会拥有合法的立法监督权。”
路透社对赦免、游说及选举记录的分析发现，本届政府的赦免行动经常无视涉及司法部的长期程序，而是取决于一个非正式且高度个人化的影响力网络，由支持者直接向特朗普本人求情。议员们在信中写道：“此次报道引发了严重疑问，即传统审查渠道是否被绕过，既定审查程序是否遭到忽视、搁置、边缘化或执行不一。”
编辑：保罗·普拉达
我们的准则：汤森路透信托原则，将在新标签页打开
调查记者玛丽莎·泰勒拥有超过20年报道商业、医疗、司法部及国家安全领域的经验。作为驻华盛顿特区记者，她是路透社2024年普利策奖获奖团队成员之一，该团队因一系列关于埃隆·马斯克商业帝国的报道获奖。她还协助披露了“巴拿马文件”，这一另一项普利策奖获奖系列报道揭露了与140多名政客相关的离岸公司。
Exclusive: Democrats press Trump administration over “pay-to-play” pardons
2026-06-15T17:37:46.856Z / Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump signs documents as he issues executive orders and pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) – Two Democratic members of Congress on Monday pressed the administration of President Donald Trump to retain communication records related to pardons granted to recipients including an electric-vehicle manufacturer found guilty of defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Senator Peter Welch, a Judiciary Committee member from Vermont, and Congressman Dave Min, an Oversight Committee member from California, made the request to determine whether “improper considerations, including quid pro quo or ‘pay-to-play’ dynamics, may have affected the clemency process,” they wrote in letters to the White House, Justice Department and U.S. Secret Service.
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The two lawmakers, citing coverage by Reuters and other media, in the letters reviewed by the news agency said they have been looking into the administration’s clemency efforts, which include pardons and commutations of sentences. They requested that all records be retained for 17 specific clemency recipients, including Trevor Milton, a businessman who was convicted in relation to a startup he ran touting electric vehicles that never became operational.
Last week a Reuters investigation found that 96% of Trump’s clemencies this term have gone to candidates, including Milton, who didn’t meet longstanding Justice Department guidelines for pardons. In response to questions from Reuters, a spokesperson for Milton criticized his conviction and said it had been politically motivated by prosecutors during the administration of President Joe Biden. The spokesperson didn’t respond to a question about the letters from the lawmakers.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, in a statement by email, called the letters “nothing more than a sad messaging attempt, coordinated between Democrats and their media allies.”
The Justice Department and Secret Service didn’t respond to requests for comment about the letters from Welch and Min. Reuters last week reported that some clemency seekers, during in-person visits to President Trump, have routed pardon requests through the Secret Service, instead of traditional channels at the Justice Department.
The White House and Justice Department have both denied any impropriety with Trump’s clemency actions. The administration has defended the president’s constitutional power to pardon as “absolute” and said the process under Trump involves thorough and coordinated vetting by appropriate officials.
In their letters, the lawmakers questioned those assertions. “While the president’s pardon authority is broad,” they wrote, “Congress retains a legitimate legislative interest when credible questions arise regarding process, access, or abuse of power.”
Reuters’ analysis of pardon, lobbying, and electoral records found that clemency in the current administration routinely ignores longstanding protocol involving the Justice Department and instead hinges upon an informal and highly personalized network of influencers and advocates appealing to Trump himself. “This reporting,” the lawmakers wrote, “raises serious questions about whether traditional review channels were circumvented and whether established review procedures were followed, bypassed, sidelined, or inconsistently applied.”
Editing by Paulo Prada.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Marisa Taylor, an investigative reporter, has more than two decades of experience covering business, healthcare, the Justice Department, and national security. As a Washington, D.C.-based reporter, she was part of the Reuters’ team that won a Pulitzer in 2024 for a series on Elon Musk’s businesses. She also helped break the Panama Papers, another Pulitzer Prize-winning series which exposed offshore companies linked to more than 140 politicians.
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