更新于2026年10月9日 / 美国东部时间下午2:04 / 哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻
华盛顿——民主党议员正在施压卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·肯尼迪和环境保护署署长李·泽尔丁，要求他们解释自己可能在特朗普总统的赦免行动中扮演了何种角色。
议员们在周二发出的信件中，要求肯尼迪和泽尔丁在10月20日前答复相关问题，以便国会“更好地了解影响力和人脉在多大程度上凌驾于标准赦免审查程序之上”。信件由康涅狄格州参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔、佛蒙特州参议员彼得·韦尔奇，以及加利福尼亚州众议员戴夫·明和宾夕法尼亚州众议员玛丽·盖伊·斯坎伦联名签署。
民主党议员在少数党地位时，强制对方答复的选择有限，但如果在中期选举中拿下众议院或参议院，他们将获得传票权，对特朗普政府展开大范围调查。这些信件凸显出，若民主党在11月的选举中获胜，有关特朗普赦免行动的相关问题——以及围绕赦免兴起的游说产业链——预计将成为民主党监督工作的重点领域。
今年9月，哥伦比亚广播公司的一则调查报道揭露了新型赦免经济和赦免掮客，其中还包含了游说者提出为换取重刑犯高额酬金而“向总统施压”的视频。
民主党议员的信件聚焦于特朗普对特雷弗·米尔顿和特洛伊·莱克的赦免：米尔顿是一名企业家，2022年因在其电动汽车公司尼古拉的问题上向投资者撒谎被定罪；莱克是科罗拉多州一名柴油机械师，2024年因违反《清洁空气法》被定罪。
根据美国联邦选举委员会的记录，特朗普在2025年3月赦免米尔顿之前，这位企业家及其妻子向一个支持特朗普连任的政治委员会捐赠了近200万美元，还向与肯尼迪“MAHA”（让美国再次健康）议程绑定的“让美国再次健康联盟”政治行动委员会捐赠了75万美元。
致肯尼迪的监督信件援引了路透社6月的一篇报道，该报道称肯尼迪曾向总统求情，请求赦免米尔顿。
一位不愿透露姓名的肯尼迪亲信向哥伦比亚广播公司透露，他们曾听闻这位部长私下表示，不会为任何赦免行动游说。卫生与公众服务部未立即回应置评请求，米尔顿也未置评。
米尔顿在获得赦免后的一份声明中感谢特朗普“赐予我这份神圣的无罪赦免”。哥伦比亚广播公司报道称，他在一封被检察官认为傲慢无礼的邮件中公布了自己获得赦免的消息。
众议院司法委员会 ranking 成员、马里兰州民主党众议员杰米·拉斯金上个月表示，议员们正准备在下一届国会对“每一个靠现金运作的赦免流水线”展开调查。布卢门撒尔是参议院常设调查小组委员会的 ranking 成员，该委员会拥有广泛权限，可以调查“政府中的低效、管理不善和腐败问题”。
致泽尔丁的国会信件聚焦于特朗普对莱克的赦免。这位柴油机械师因违反《清洁空气法》在联邦监狱服刑7个月。他的赦免得到了怀俄明州共和党参议员辛西娅·卢米斯的支持，怀俄明州政治顾问兼说客杰夫·多尔蒂也从中协助。
在信件中，民主党议员援引了莱克妻子的一份声明，该声明似乎将莱克获得赦免归功于泽尔丁介入，将赦免申请提交至白宫。
莱克的盟友和泽尔丁的支持者驳斥了任何不当行为的指控，否认这位环境保护署署长参与了此事。多尔蒂表示：“这是一次规范教科书式的赦免申请。我们遵循了流程，提交了申请，没有任何特殊关照。”
一位要求匿名的环境保护署高级官员（因未获公开发言授权）否认泽尔丁曾为莱克的赦免游说。
“他的家人联系过几次，但泽尔丁并未提出任何推荐或建议，只是在内部通报了案件的相关事实，”这位环境保护署官员说道。
信件要求提供肯尼迪和泽尔丁与米尔顿或莱克之间任何可能存在的关系细节，以及这两位特朗普政府官员是否曾为其他赦免行动游说。
“国会有明确的利益诉求，要确保宪法赋予的赦免权得到公平、透明的行使，”民主党议员在信中写道。
RFK Jr. and Lee Zeldin pressed by Democrats on possible roles in Trump pardons
Updated on October 9, 2026 / 2:04 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — Democratic lawmakers are pressing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to explain what role they may have played in pardons granted by President Trump.
In letters sent Tuesday, the lawmakers asked Kennedy and Zeldin to answer questions by Oct. 20 so Congress can “better understand the extent to which influence and access have overridden the standard pardon review process.” They were signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Peter Welch of Vermont, as well as Reps. Dave Min of California and Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania.
Democratic lawmakers have limited options to compel answers while they are in the minority, but capturing the House or the Senate in the midterm elections would give them subpoena power to pursue a broad range of investigations into the Trump administration. The letters highlight how questions about Mr. Trump’s pardons — and the cottage industry of lobbying that has sprung up around them — are expected to be a top oversight area for Democrats if they win in November.
In September, a CBS News investigation shone a light on the new pardon economy and pardon brokers, and included video of lobbyists offering to “put pressure on the president” in exchange for a hefty fee from a convicted felon.
The Democrats’ letters focus on Mr. Trump’s pardons for Trevor Milton, an entrepreneur convicted in 2022 of lying to investors about his electric truck company Nikola, and Troy Lake, a Colorado diesel mechanic convicted in 2024 for violating the Clean Air Act, a law designed to control air pollution.
Mr. Trump’s pardon for Milton in March 2025 came after the entrepreneur and his wife donated almost $2 million to a political committee aligned with Mr. Trump’s reelection, as well as $750,000 to the Make America Healthy Again Alliance PAC aligned with Kennedy’s “MAHA” agenda, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The oversight letter to Kennedy cited a Reuters report in June that said Kennedy advocated for Milton’s pardon to the president.
A source close to Kennedy, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told CBS News they have heard the secretary privately say that he will not advocate for any pardons. The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Milton.
In a statement after his pardon, Milton thanked Mr. Trump for granting him “this sacred pardon of innocence.” He broke the news of his pardon in an email to prosecutors that they considered cocky, CBS News reported.
Lawmakers are gearing up for investigations next Congress into “everybody along the assembly line of clemency for cash,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said last month. Blumenthal is the ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which has broad authority to probe “inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption in government.”
The congressional letter to Zeldin homed in on Mr. Trump’s pardon for Lake, the diesel mechanic. Lake spent seven months in federal prison over his Clean Air Act violation. His pardon was supported by Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis and helped along by Wyoming political consultant and lobbyist Jeff Daugherty.
In their letter, the Democratic lawmakers cited a statement from Lake’s wife that appeared to credit Zeldin with intervening to get his pardon in front of the White House.
Allies of Lake and Zeldin pushed back on any impropriety or that the EPA chief was involved in the matter. “It was a clean textbook pardon request,” said Daugherty. “We followed the process. We submitted the application and there were no special favors.”
A senior EPA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly, disputed that Zeldin advocated for the Lake pardon.
“His family reached out a few times but Zeldin did not make a recommendation or suggestion, other than just updating people internally on the facts of the case,” the EPA official said.
The letters asked for any details about Kennedy and Zeldin’s possible relationships with either Milton or Lake, and if the Trump administration officials advocated for any other pardons.
“Congress has a compelling interest in ensuring that the constitutional pardon power is exercised with fairness and transparency,” the Democrats wrote.
发表回复