2026-08-24T23:54:28.823Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/24/politics/us-airman-charged-trump-criticism-article-88
一名美国空军士兵曾两次被捕，其中一次是在国会大厦台阶上呼吁弹劾总统唐纳德·特朗普，据其律师分享给美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的起诉文件显示，这名士兵周一因言论正式面临刑事指控。
根据该文件，杰森·沃森少校依据《统一军事司法法典》面临以下指控：三项针对特朗普的所谓“轻蔑”言论的第88条罪名，五项涉嫌违抗命令的第92条罪名，以及两项指控其行为有失军官身份的第133条罪名。
这项罕见的第88条指控与这名空军军官6月接受《我们的共和国捍卫者》Substack新闻通讯采访、7月身着军装在美国国会大厦举行抗议活动，以及8月17日接受CNN采访有关。
根据《统一军事司法法典》，身着军装参与任何明显党派活动（如政治抗议），或使用“轻蔑言辞”攻击总统及其他高级文职官员，均属违法。这类规定的许多低级违规行为通常会通过非正式途径解决，但沃森的违规行为却异常引人注目。
沃森首次被捕是在7月于国会大厦身着军装抗议期间，上周他在CNN采访中再次批评特朗普几天后再次被捕。他的律师之一克里斯·穆蒂默告诉CNN，其当事人已被下令“审前监禁”——这一举措类似于民事法庭中拒绝保释——直至针对他的法律程序完结。
“（特朗普）不仅作为总统是个失败者，他还公然违反宪法、违法乱纪、大肆腐败，并且正在杀害美国人，”沃森在采访中告诉CNN的艾琳·伯内特，“这对我来说是不可接受的。”
7月，空军部长特洛伊·梅因克在社交媒体帖子中表示，他期望所有空军人员“遵守所有关于个人行为、政治参与以及军装穿着的法律和政策”。
“美国民众信任我们，”梅因克说，“我们不能也不会辜负国家的信任。”
对沃森的违抗命令指控称，他违反了国防部禁止军人公开支持党派事业的规定；“不当”在国会新闻发布会上身着军装；违反休假规定前往华盛顿特区；以及在CNN采访后的次日拒绝穿军装上班。
空军检察官还指控沃森的国会大厦抗议活动和CNN采访构成“行为有失军官身份”。
7月抗议活动的组织者、“驱逐联盟”的杰西卡·登森当时告诉CNN，沃森清楚自己行为的风险，并通过电子邮件联系了他们。
“我们开始了对话，非常认真地对待他想要站出来的意愿，并思考让他的牺牲更有价值的最佳方式，”登森说。
涉及“蔑视公职人员”指控的军事法庭审判十分罕见——CNN的调查仅发现自1951年现代《统一军事司法法典》颁布以来，仅有两起此类定罪案例。
1965年，一名陆军中尉在德克萨斯州埃尔帕索参与基地外的越南战争抗议活动后被定罪。亨利·豪少尉被判处开除军籍——相当于军官的 dishonorable discharge（ dishonorable discharge一般译为“ dishonorable discharge（不名誉退伍）”，此处统一译为“ dishonorable discharge（ dishonorable discharge）”）——以及在堪萨斯州利文沃思堡军事监狱服刑一年。国防部长罗伯特·麦克纳马拉最终批准了豪的假释，提前结束了他的刑期。
最近一起第88条罪名定罪发生在2021年，前海军陆战队中校斯图尔特·谢勒对蔑视公职人员及其他相关指控认罪，这些指控与他发布的一系列批评拜登政府处理美军从阿富汗撤军问题的社交媒体视频有关。谢勒在审判前曾被关押在海军陆战队监狱，根据认罪协议，他被判处5000美元薪资没收，并退役且未获得退休金。
特朗普政府后来任命谢勒担任国防部人事与战备副部长的高级顾问。
目前尚不清楚沃森的案件是否会被移交审判，以及该审判将被视为特别军事法庭还是普通军事法庭。特别军事法庭大致相当于轻罪审判，普通军事法庭则类似于重罪审判，可判处更严厉的刑罚。
空军方面周一未立即回应置评请求。在8月19日给CNN的一份声明中，一名空军发言人表示沃森“被推定无罪”，并表示如果“他的案件被移交普通军事法庭”，华盛顿空军军区将负责监督其审判。
CNN的卡门·孔特·韦德曼和弗朗西斯卡·朱利亚尼·霍夫曼对本文亦有贡献。
戴维斯·温基在CNN的报道得到了Outrider基金会与新闻资助合作伙伴（JFP）的合作支持。CNN对报道保留完全编辑控制权。
Trump criticism leads to rare criminal charges for Air Force officer who called for impeachment
2026-08-24T23:54:28.823Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/24/politics/us-airman-charged-trump-criticism-article-88
A US airman who was arrested twice, once on the steps of the US Capitol while calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, was officially criminally charged Monday for his comments, according to a charging document his attorney shared with CNN.
Maj. Jason Watson faces the following charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to the document: three violations of Article 88 for alleged “contemptuous” remarks about Trump, five violations of Article 92 for allegedly disobeying orders and two violations of Article 133 for alleged conduct unbecoming an officer.
The rare Article 88 charges are connected to the Air Force officer’s June interview with the Defenders of our Republic Substack newsletter, his July 1 protest in uniform at the US Capitol, and an August 17 CNN interview.
It can be considered a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice to participate in uniform in any overtly partisan activity, such as a political protest, or to use “contemptuous words” against the president and other high-ranking civilian officials. Many low-level offenses of these rules are resolved informally, but Watson’s violations were unusually high-profile.
Watson was first arrested in July while protesting in uniform at the US Capitol, and he was then arrested again last week just days after criticizing Trump again during a CNN interview. One of his attorneys, Chris Mutimer, told CNN that his client was ordered to remain in “pre-trial confinement” — an action analogous to a denial of bond in civilian court — pending legal action against him.
“Not only is (Trump) a failure as president, he is flagrantly violating the Constitution, breaking the law, engaged in rampant corruption, and is killing Americans,” Watson told CNN’s Erin Burnett during the interview. “And that is unacceptable to me.”
In July, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said in a social media post that he expected all airmen to “comply with all laws and policies government personal conduct, political participation, and the wear of the uniform.”
“Americans place their trust in us,” Meink said. “We cannot, and will not, compromise the trust of the nation.”
The disobeying orders charges against Watson allege that he violated Defense Department regulations barring troops from speaking out in favor of partisan causes; “wrongfully” wore his uniform at a Capitol press conference; broke leave regulations by traveling to Washington, DC; and refused to wear his uniform to work the morning after his CNN interview.
Air Force prosecutors also alleged that Watson’s Capitol protest and CNN interview constituted “conduct unbecoming an officer.”
The founder of the organization that organized the protest in July, Jessica Denson of the Removal Coalition, told CNN at the time that Watson was aware of the risks of what he was doing and had reached out to them via email.
“We started having conversations and took this desire that he had to come out very seriously and thought about the best way to make his sacrifice worth it,” Denson said.
Military courts-martial leading to “contempt of officials” charges are rare — a CNN review only identified two such convictions that have occurred since the modern Uniform Code of Military Justice was enacted in 1951.
In 1965, an Army lieutenant was convicted of the charge after he participated in an off-base protest against the Vietnam War in El Paso, Texas. Lt. Henry Howe was sentenced to a dismissal from the service — the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for an officer — and a year in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara ultimately granted parole to Howe, ending his sentence early.
The most recent Article 88 conviction came in 2021, when former Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller pleaded guilty to contempt of officials and other charges linked to a series of social media videos he published criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Scheller, who was confined to the brig for a period of time before his trial, was sentenced to a $5,000 pay forfeiture and resigned from the Marine Corps sans-pension as part of a plea agreement.
The Trump administration has since appointed Scheller to serve as a senior adviser to the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
It remains to be seen whether Watson’s case will be referred to trial, and whether that trial will be considered a special or general court-martial. Special courts-martial are roughly equivalent to misdemeanor trials, and general courts-martial are analogous to felony trials and can hand down more severe sentences.
The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent on Monday. In an August 19 statement to CNN, an Air Force spokesperson said that Watson “is presumed innocent” and said that that Air Force District of Washington will oversee his trial “if (his) case is referred to a General Court-Martial.”
CNN’s Carmen Conte Widman and Francesca Giuliani Hoffman contributed to this report.
Davis Winkie’s work at CNN is supported by a partnership between Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). CNN retains full editorial control of the reporting.
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