2026-08-03T21:08:13.735Z / 美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)
多名知情人士向CNN透露,白宫直接参与了代理司法部长托德·布兰奇正式撤销总统18亿美元“反武器化”资金的命令。
一名官员表示,白宫办公厅主任苏西·怀尔斯和立法事务主任詹姆斯·布雷德“深度参与”其中。布兰奇在整个过程中与白宫保持合作,并向高级官员通报谈判进展和关键分歧点。
该官员称,唐纳德·特朗普总统知晓布兰奇与两名关键持反对立场的参议院共和党人——约翰·科宁和汤姆·蒂利斯——达成的协议,该协议将正式撤销这项有争议的资金,并将此前与美国国税局达成的、涉及对总统及其家庭成员的税务调查的协议限制为仅适用于追溯行动。
不过,特朗普周一明确表示,他并未亲自审阅该协议。他在椭圆形办公室对记者说:“我没看过。”
“我知道已经签了字,但我不知道他们达成了什么协议,”他补充道,称自己的理解是布兰奇“同意再次确认他已经说过的内容”。特朗普表示,他认为这笔资金“是件好事”,但称没有其他计划通过其他途径恢复该资金。
“据我所知没有其他途径了,”总统说。
在达成协议之前,白宫官员和特朗普本人都对参议员们感到沮丧。他们认为参议员们试图施加影响力,尽管一名白宫官员私下表示,这些议员承认布兰奇是该职位的最佳人选。
尽管特朗普本人仍对这笔近18亿美元的资金持肯定态度,但他的高级顾问说服了他,这是确保布兰奇获得司法部长提名推进的唯一途径,该官员说。
“他希望布兰奇得到确认,”这位官员告诉CNN。“他意识到他必须这么做。”
一名高级政府官员表示,白宫——或总统办公厅主任——跟踪提名进程是惯例,但谈判仅在布兰奇与参议员之间进行。该官员称,布雷德并未深度参与该进程。
布兰奇是特朗普的前私人律师,现任代理司法部长,他在白宫内部颇受欢迎,被视为特朗普忠诚的任命官员。多名知情人士表示,布兰奇希望获得参议院确认——尽管他可以继续以代理身份任职,或在特朗普剩余任期内以副司法部长身份领导司法部——而白宫希望帮助他实现这一目标。
蒂利斯和科宁的要求——特别是在限制国税局协议方面——让布兰奇陷入困境,因为将这些要求写入文件可能会激怒总统。因此,数周以来,司法部一直在与科宁的工作人员反复沟通,试图找到折中方案。
随着布兰奇提名的投票临近,科宁的首席法律顾问代表这位得克萨斯州共和党人主导了谈判,科尼恩似乎是最坚定的反对者。据多名知情人士透露,布兰奇的团队向科宁的法律顾问发送了多版备忘录。在每一个版本中,这位律师都指出了需要解决的漏洞。
周日深夜,布兰奇在X平台上发布了两篇帖子,宣布达成协议。第一篇是一份签署的备忘录,表明司法部正式撤销设立反武器化基金的命令;第二篇是一份未签署的声明,澄清了国税局保护条款的内容。蒂利斯和科宁迅速确认他们批准了该协议。
布兰奇在备忘录中表示,该基金“不再具有任何效力”,这份备忘录“毫无疑问地表明,不存在所谓的基金”。他还称赞与参议员们进行了“善意的讨论”。
尽管如此,司法部内部的一些律师仍对布兰奇签署的文件是否具有法律约束力提出质疑。反武器化备忘录由布兰奇签署,但并未包括特朗普现任私人律师的签名,而这些律师原本参与了与政府达成的最初和解协议。
尽管有批评称该命令可能不具有法律约束力,蒂利斯和科宁周一仍为他们与司法部达成的协议进行了辩护。
当被记者问及为何相信布兰奇在获得确认后不会反悔协议时,蒂利斯回答说:“因为我相信他是一个正直的人。”
不过,他表示,总统随时可以创建一个新的基金。“届时他可以向美国民众解释为何没有善意谈判,”这位即将退休的北卡罗来纳州参议员说。
“撤销武器化基金的决定具有法律约束力,这笔钱已经没了,”科宁说。关于税务调查协议,他表示,“除了让总统修改和解协议使其具有法律约束力之外,我们实际上别无他法。”
“我们能够做到,而且确实做到了,就是让托德·布兰奇宣誓作证,然后让司法部正式确认这是他们对这些条款的官方解释,”这位得克萨斯州共和党人说。
蒂利斯表示,他仍对过去一周的程序有疑问,并补充说他将调查“参与其中的人”。
本文已更新补充更多信息。
CNN的埃文·佩雷斯和摩根·里默对本文有报道贡献。
White House directly involved in Blanche order rescinding ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
2026-08-03T21:08:13.735Z / CNN
The White House was directly involved in acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s order to formally rescind the president’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Specifically, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and the director of legislative affairs, James Braid, were “deeply involved,” one official said. Blanche worked with the White House throughout the process, and kept top officials briefed on the negotiations and key sticking points.
President Donald Trump was aware of the deal struck between Blanche and the two key holdout Senate Republicans on his nomination, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, to formally rescind the controversial fund and limit a prior agreement with the IRS regarding tax investigations into the president and his family members to retroactive actions, the official said.
Trump, however, made clear on Monday that he did not personally review the deal, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “I didn’t look at it.”
“I understand there’s been a sign-off, but I don’t know what they agreed,” he said, adding that his understanding was that Blanche “agreed to reconfirm things that he’s already said.” Trump said he viewed the fund “as a positive,” but said there were no other plans to revive it through another mechanism.
“There’s no other avenues that I know of,” the president said.
White House officials and Trump himself had grown frustrated with the senators before a deal was reached. They believed the senators were trying to exert leverage, even though privately, one White House official said, the lawmakers acknowledged that Blanche was the best fit for the position.
While Trump personally continues to believe in the nearly $1.8 billion fund, he was convinced by his top advisers that this was the only way to ensure Blanche’s nomination for attorney general would advance, the official said.
“He wants Blanche confirmed,” the official told CNN. “He realizes he needs to do this.”
A senior administration official said it is typical for the White House — or the president’s chief of staff — to track the process of a nomination, but that negotiations took place only between Blanche and the senators. Braid was not deeply involved in the process, the official said.
Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer who is serving as the acting attorney general, is well-liked within the White House and is viewed as a loyal appointee of Trump. Multiple people familiar with the matter said Blanche wanted to win Senate confirmation — even though he could continue serving in an acting capacity or lead the Justice Department as the deputy attorney general for the remainder of Trump’s term — and the White House wanted to help him.
Tillis and Cornyn’s demands — specifically when it came to limiting the IRS agreement— left Blanche in a difficult place, as putting them in writing could anger the president. So for weeks, the Justice Department went back and forth with Cornyn’s staff to try to find a middle ground.
Cornyn’s chief legal counsel led the negotiations for the Texas Republican, who appeared to be the most serious detractor as the vote approached to advance Blanche’s nomination. Blanche’s staff sent several versions of the memo to Cornyn’s counsel, according to several people familiar with the matter. In each version, the lawyer said she identified loopholes that needed to be addressed.
Late Sunday night, Blanche published two documents in a post on X to announce that a deal had been reached. The first document is a signed memo stating the Justice Department was formally rescinding the order that established anti-weaponization fund, and the second was an unsigned statement clarifying the terms of the IRS protections. Tillis and Cornyn quickly confirmed their approval of the deal.
Blanche said in his memo that the fund “shall have no force or effect” and that the memo “establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.” He also credited “good faith discussions” with the senators.
Still, some attorneys inside the Justice Department have questioned whether the document Blanche signed was legally binding. The anti-weaponization memo is signed by Blanche, but it does not include the signature of Trump’s current personal lawyers, who would have entered into the original settlement with the administration.
Tillis and Cornyn on Monday defended their agreement with the Department of Justice, despite criticism that the order may not be legally binding.
Pressed by reporters on why they trusted that Blanche would not double back on the agreement once confirmed, Tillis replied, “Because I believe he’s an honorable man.”
However, he said, the president could simply always create a new fund. “Then he can answer to the American people for not negotiating in good faith,” the retiring North Carolina senator said.
“The rescission of the weaponization fund is legally binding, so it’s gone,” Cornyn said. Regarding the tax investigations agreement, he said, “There’s literally nothing we could do other than have the president change a settlement agreement to make that legally binding.”
“What we could do, and what we did do, is get Todd Blanche to testify under oath, and then to get the DOJ on the record that this is their official interpretation of those provisions,” the Texas Republican said.
Tillis said he still has questions about how the process played out over the last week, adding he’ll be looking at people “who played a role in it.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Evan Perez and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.
发表回复