美國前代理司法部長耶茨
In a corner of a small, farm-to-table restaurant in Atlanta’s old meatpacking district, Sally Yates, the former acting US attorney-general, who was fired for her audacity in defying Donald Trump, is piling vegetables on to my side plate with a dollop of Southern charm.
在亞特蘭大老舊的肉類加工區，一家農場直接供貨的小餐廳的一個角落，美國前代理司法部長薩麗?耶茨(Sally Yates)正往我的邊盤裏盛蔬菜和一勺極具南部特色的蘸醬。她因爲公然挑戰唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)的行政令而被解職。“Let’s get you a?.?.?.?get a fork in. Let’s just put some on a plate. Let’s do a mini veggie plate for you, is that OK?”
“把我的撥給你一些。給你的盤子裏盛一點。做成一個小素菜盤吧，行嗎？She has already picked up my fork and is scooping portions of corn succotash, fried okra and green spring vegetables from her plate on to mine. “You came to my hometown and I need to make sure you have a good meal,” she says, over my protestations that she save some food for herself.
她已經拿起我的叉子，從她的盤子裏給我分了一些玉米粒、油炸秋葵和綠葉菜。“你來到我的老家，我怎麼也得讓你好好享用一頓美食，”她說。在我的堅持下，她也給自己留了一些。
Yates, who was Barack Obama’s deputy attorney general, took over as acting head of the Department of Justice on January 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration. She served for just 10 days before she lost her job for refusing to defend his controversial travel ban — an executive order temporarily halting entrance to the US from seven mainly Muslim countries. The White House described her actions as a betrayal.
耶茨是巴拉克?奧巴馬(Barack Obama)總統執政時期的司法部副部長。今年1月20日，即特朗普就職當天，她出任司法部代理部長。然而，她在這個位子上只坐了10天就被解職，因爲她拒絕爲特朗普倍受爭議的旅行禁令——一項短時間內禁止七個以穆斯林爲主國家的公民入境美國的行政令——辯護。白宮將她的行爲稱之爲背叛。Yates was flying to Atlanta for a charity benefit on Friday January 27 when she learnt about the travel order, which had been issued without any warning to her or national security officials. Over the weekend, she agonised over what to do. On Monday, she told DoJ employees not to defend the order because she was not convinced it was “lawful”.
耶茨是在1月27日星期五飛往亞特蘭大參加一個慈善義賣活動時聽說這項旅行禁令的。總統發佈禁令之前，並沒有知會她或負責國家安全的官員。那個週末，她一直在痛苦地思考自己該這麼做。星期一，她告訴司法部人員不要爲總統的行政令辯護，因爲她不確信這項命令是“合法的”。At about 9pm, Yates was still in her office when she heard a knock at the door — and a telling pause. “If it were just [my assistant] he would have knocked and opened at the same time but there was a knock without opening. That’s different. So I had a feeling.” She was handed a letter from the president notifying her that she had been fired.
當天晚上大約9點左右，耶茨還在辦公室工作。她聽到有人敲門——然後停頓了一下。 “如果是[我的助手]，他會在敲門的同時直接推門進來，但這一次只是敲門，沒人進來。這和往常不太一樣。所以我有一種異樣的感覺。”來人遞給她一封總統的信，通知她，她被解職了。Overnight, Yates was catapulted into the limelight. Liberals see her as a heroine. Letters flooded into her home from young women, immigrants and others expressing their gratitude. Now, comfortably more than 600 miles from Washington, she has returned to her home in Atlanta, the place where she began her 27-year career at the DoJ.
一夜之間，耶茨就成了聚光燈下的人物。自由派人士將她視爲英雄。來自年輕女性、移民和其他人士的信件像雪片般飛到她的家中，向她表達感激之情。現在，耶茨已經回到了距華盛頓超過600英里的亞特蘭大老家，這裏是她27年司法部職業生涯起步的地方。Yates breezes into Miller Union at 12:29 and seems disappointed I am already seated at a corner table. Although she is one minute early, she says she doesn’t like to be late because it sends the message her time is more important than someone else’s. Dressed in a sleeveless black blouse and mustard trousers, her face is relaxed and slightly pink from an earlier run.
中午12點29分，耶茨邁着輕快的步子走進了Miller Union餐館。雖然她早到了一分鐘，但看到我已經坐在角落的一張桌旁，她似乎有些失望。她說她不喜歡遲到，因爲遲到會給人一種自己的時間比別人的時間更重要的感覺。她身穿無袖黑色襯衫和芥末黃的褲子。她神情放鬆，臉色微微泛紅，進門前一定跑來着。I notice eyes from a nearby table following her movements. “It has been strange that after I’m no longer in the position more people seem to recognise me than they did when I was in the job,” she says in a gentle Southern drawl.
我注意到，鄰桌客人的目光在一直跟着她移動。“很奇怪，我被解職之後，認出我的人比我在位時還多，”她用軟軟的、拖着長音的南方調說。“I’ll be in the gym sometimes. I haven’t washed my hair in a few days, no make-up or anything like that and somebody will come up and want to do a selfie and I’m just vain enough to think, ‘God, I hate for this to be out there.’ But I also refuse to start wearing make-up to the gym,” she laughs.
“我有時會去健身房。之前我已經幾天沒洗頭、沒化妝也沒有收拾。有人會走過來，想跟我照個自拍合影。這時候我就會徒勞地想：‘天呀，我討厭這幅邋遢的樣子出門。’但我還是拒絕化妝去健身房，”她笑着說。There have also been more poignant moments — a few weeks earlier, an immigrant family approached Yates at a restaurant to tell her what her actions had meant to them. “When people really look you in the eye and talk to you and thank you?.?.?.?that can’t help but move you,” she says. “I recognise not everybody feels that way but, happily, the other people generally tend not to walk up and say anything to me.”
還有一些更加令人感動的時刻——前一段時間在一家餐館裏，一個移民家庭走到耶茨跟前說，她的行爲對他們有非常重要的意義。 “當人們真的看着你的眼睛，和你說話，感謝你時……你沒法不感動，”她說。“我知道，並不是每個人都這樣想，但是幸運的是，其他人一般不會走過來對我說些什麼。”We turn to the whirlwind of those intense days in late January. The day before the ban was announced, Yates had called a meeting with the White House counsel, Don McGahn, to alert him that Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn might be subject to blackmail by Russia based on a December telephone conversation he had with the Russian ambassador. Flynn was forced to resign soon afterwards.
我們把話題轉向1月底那些高潮跌宕的日子。在特朗普宣佈旅行禁令前一天，耶茨曾召集白宮法律顧問唐?麥甘恩(Don McGahn)開會，提醒他，特朗普的國家安全顧問邁克爾?弗林(Mike Flynn)可能會因去年12月與俄羅斯大使的通話而遭到俄方的脅迫。此後不久，弗林就被迫辭職了。“It was such a blur. That whole 10 days was such a blur,” she says. “We didn’t even eat lunch during this time because we were dealing with all the Mike Flynn stuff. I had been sitting in Don McGahn’s office that Friday afternoon. I was somewhat surprised nobody had told me about the travel ban while I was sitting there in the White House counsel’s office,” she says.
“事情發生得太快了，那十天忙得天昏地暗，”她說。“在那段時間裏，我們甚至都沒吃午餐，因爲我們一直正在忙於應付弗林的事情。那個週五下午，我一直呆在麥甘恩的辦公室。讓我有些意外的是，我坐在白宮法律顧問的辦公室的時候，沒人告訴過我有關旅行禁令的事，”她說。Yates knew her open defiance of the order was risky. “I wasn’t stupid. I recognised there was a good chance” of being fired, she says. Still, “understanding that intellectually and processing that emotionally are two very different things?.?.?.?It’s still sort of a punch in the stomach.” Her eyes glisten as she recalls the moment. “I’m still comfortable with the decision I made, but I didn’t want to be fired. That’s not how I wanted to end 27 years of service?.?.?.?”
耶茨明白，公然違抗命令是有風險的。“我不是傻瓜。我意識到被解職的可能性很大，”她說。然而，“從理智上理解這件事，和從情感上接受是完全不同的兩碼事……還是有一種肚子上被猛擊了一拳的感覺。”她回憶起那一刻時，眼睛裏閃着淚光。“我仍然對我做出的決定感到欣慰，但我不想被解職。這不是我所期望的爲從事了27年的職業畫上句號的方式……”她說。Trump’s order was issued under the auspices of national security, but many times during his campaign he had talked about the idea of a “Muslim ban” and Yates found she could not divorce the two sentiments. “I came to the conclusion that it just wasn’t true to say that it has nothing to do with religion,” she said. “Our constitution doesn’t allow us to offer up a pretextual reason for something and then to actually have an unconstitutional reason to discriminate based on race or religion. It’s core founding principle stuff,” she explains.
特朗普的禁令是以保衛國家安全的名義發佈的，但在競選期間，他在很多場合都曾多次談到“穆斯林禁令”的想法。耶茨發現她無法將這兩種情緒分割開來。“我得出的結論是，說禁令與宗教毫無關係是不正確的，”她說。“我們的憲法不允許我們爲某件事找個藉口，但實際上卻出於某種違憲動機而行種族和宗教歧視之實。這是我們立國的核心原則，”她解釋說。Rather than resign, Yates felt she had to publicly fight the order. “If I had just resigned, I would have protected my personal integrity. But it felt like an easy way out because it would not have protected the integrity of the Department of Justice. I felt like I wouldn’t have been doing my job?.?.?.?that felt like the coward’s way to approach this.”
耶茨不但沒有主動辭職，而且她覺得必須公開反對這項命令。“如果僅僅是辭職了事，我可能維護住了我個人的尊嚴，但這樣處理感覺是一種省事的做法，因爲可能無法維護司法部的尊嚴。我會感覺沒有盡到自己的職責……感覺是懦夫所爲。”The waiter is lingering at our table for a second time. We haven’t even glanced at the menu. Yates orders an unsweetened iced tea, that trademark of the South. I follow her lead. My eyes light up at the fried catfish sandwich.
服務員第二次到我們的桌子旁邊轉悠。我們甚至連菜單還沒看。耶茨點了一種不加糖的冰茶，這是美國南部的標誌性飲品，我也照着點了一杯。看到菜單上的炸鮎魚三明治我兩眼放光。“Really?” Yates asks. “That’s bolder than I am. Even I won’t eat catfish.”
“真的嗎？”耶茨問。“你比我膽大。連我都不吃鮎魚 。”She chooses the plate of seasonal vegetables, a delicious mix of classic Southern cuisine. “You ought to try something that’s quintessentially Southern,” she says. So we add the corn and scallion hush puppies, a savoury fried dough dumpling with smoked chilli and lime aioli dipping sauce. “If you’re going catfish you can go hush puppy.”
她點了一道時令蔬菜——一個美味的南方經典菜餚拼盤。她說：“你應該嚐嚐最具南方特色的菜品。”所以我們又點了玉米麪青蔥炸丸子，美味煎餃配薰辣椒及青檸蛋黃醬。“如果你點了鮎魚，你就能吃炸丸子。”With the ordering out of the way, I ask how she came to her decision knowing the outrage it would prompt. “One of the things that informed me is the difference between the DoJ and a law firm,” she says. “I know it sounds trite and self righteous but [at the DoJ] you’re representing the people of the United States and the citizens of our country who are entrusting us to administer justice. Your job is not to win, it’s to do justice.”
點完菜之後，我問她，你明知道這麼做會激怒總統，爲什麼還作出了那樣的決定呢？她說：“促使我做出這一決定的衆多因素之一是，司法部與律師事務所不一樣，”她說，“我知道，這聽起來有點迂腐和僞善，但[在司法部]，你代表的是美國人民，是相信我們會公正司法的美國公民。你的工作不是打贏官司，而是要維護公正。”Yates was born into a family of lawyers. Her grandfather and father were judges. Her grandmother was one of the first women in Georgia to pass the bar exam, but because it was not acceptable at the time for women to practise law she instead ran the family legal practice. “She was smart as a whip, just incredible. I wish she had lived to be able to experience some of this.”
耶茨出生於一個律師家庭。她的祖父和父親都是法官。她的祖母是佐治亞州第一批通過律師資格考試女性之一，但由於當時不允許婦女執業當律師，她只好經營自己家的律師事務所。“她非常聰明，簡直難以置信。我多麼希望她在有生之年能夠有一些這樣的經歷。”When she describes her family background as “boring” lawyers, I note that her sister, a conservative radio host, doesn’t seem to fit the mould. “So you found that?” she laughs. “Obviously we have different points of view.” The two decided long ago not to discuss politics.
當她將家庭背景描述爲一羣“無聊”的律師時，我提到她的姐姐，一位保守的電臺主持人，似乎與這個背景不匹配。“你發現了？”她笑着說。“很顯然，我們有不同的觀點。”姐妹兩人早就約定不討論政治。The hush puppies arrive and we break the warm dough apart, releasing a fragrance of onion and corn.
玉米麪青蔥炸丸子上桌了，我們將熱熱的丸子切開，洋蔥和玉米的香味撲鼻而來。Yates grew up in Georgia and attended the state university. After graduating with a degree in journalism, she eventually joined the venerable Atlanta law firm King & Spalding. Her most formative case was her first trial in the 1980s in rural Barrow County, Georgia, in the same courthouse where her father and grandfather had tried cases. She was representing a 93-year-old, African-American woman in a land dispute with a neighbouring developer. Her client was so distrustful of the law that she carried the deed to her land in her dress as she worked the fields. The judge, jury and opposing counsel involved in the trial were all white.
耶茨在佐治亞州長大，並在州立大學獲得新聞學學士學位。畢業後，她最終進入亞特蘭大知名律師事務所King＆Spalding。對她的職業發展影響最大的案件是她的首次庭審。那是在上世紀80年代的佑治亞州農村區縣巴羅縣(Barrow County)，她的祖父和父親都曾經在同一間法庭出席過庭審。她代表的是一名93歲的非洲裔美國婦女，這位婦女與附近的一個地產開發商發生了土地糾紛。她的客戶極其不信任法律，即使下地幹活，也要把地契放在口袋裏隨身攜帶。參與當天庭審的法官、陪審團和對方律師都是白人。“I will never forget the look on my clients’ faces when they saw this all-white jury. [But] they came back and said, ‘This property is yours’,” Yates recalls. “It worked like it was supposed to in a town and a place where you might not have expected it to. I think that’s the most important case I’ll ever have.”
“我永遠不會忘記，當我的客戶看到陪審團成員是清一色的白人時，他們臉上的表情。 [但是]陪審團經過評議做出裁決：“這塊土地是屬於你的，”耶茨回憶說。“這件事情的發生就像是，在一個你沒有料到會發生這種事情的小鎮或地方，法律顯示出其應有的公正性。 我認爲，那將是我一生經辦的最重要的案子。”Yates made a name for herself in Atlanta prosecuting a corrupt former city mayor and bringing charges against Eric Rudolph for bombing Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympic Games. After that, her rise was swift. In 2009, Obama nominated her to be US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Six years later, she was called to Washington to serve as the deputy US attorney-general.
耶茨因起訴亞特蘭大一名腐敗的前市長，和1996年奧運會期間在世紀公園製造爆炸案的埃裏克?魯道夫(Eric Rudolph)而聲名鵲起。之後，她的職業生涯可謂是平步輕雲。2009年，奧巴馬提名她擔任佐治亞州北區聯邦檢察官。6年之後，她被調往華盛頓，擔任美國司法部副部長。Our entrées arrive. The fried catfish is tucked into a bun with tartare sauce next to a handful of french fries. It’s crispy and not at all oily. The vegetable plate is colourful and distinctive. I feel slightly envious, but not for long as Yates begins filling my side plate. “OK, you’ve got to have these. These tomatoes are fantastic,” she says, heaping brown heirloom tomatoes on to my plate. “Are you allowed to eat off somebody else’s plate during this?”
我們的主菜來了。我點的油炸鮎魚夾在餐包中間，上面澆了塔塔醬，旁邊配了一些炸薯條。魚肉酥脆可口，一點兒也不油膩。她點的蔬菜盤色彩斑斕，且獨具特色。我有點想吃她那一份了，但是，這種感覺沒持續多久，耶茨就開始往我的邊盤裏盛蔬菜。“好了，你應該來點兒這個。這些西紅柿太棒了，”她邊說邊給我的盤中盛了一些棕色的傳統西紅柿（沒有經過人工雜交的西紅柿——譯者注）。“你介意在這樣的場合吃別人盤子裏的東西嗎？”We’re meeting on the day that Donald Trump Jr released emails confirming a meeting he attended alongside Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, with a Russian lawyer who purported to have incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. I note a parallel between the delayed revelation of this meeting and Flynn’s obfuscation about his meeting with the Russian ambassador.
就在我們會面的當天，小唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump Jr)公開了一些電子郵件，證實他與特朗普的前競選經理保羅?馬納福特(Paul Manafort)和總統的女婿兼高級顧問賈裏德?庫什納(Gared Kushner)一起會見了一位俄羅斯律師，後者聲稱掌握有可以將希拉里?克林頓(Hillary Clinton)定罪的信息。我注意到，這次會議的相關郵件推遲披露，與弗林在他與俄羅斯大使會面的問題上遮遮掩掩，這兩件事如出一轍。Yates was called before Congress in May to shed light on Flynn and the travel ban. At the time she told the room that “it wouldn’t hurt to prosecute a few folks” in connection with Russia’s meddling in the election. Comedian Stephen Colbert tweeted: “Wonder Woman is in theaters June 2. But if you want a sneak preview, watch Sally Yates’ performance in front of the Senate.”
5月份，美國國會召集耶茨就弗林和旅行禁令作證。當時她對在場的議員說，“起訴幾個與‘通俄門’有牽連的人沒什麼壞處”。喜劇演員斯蒂芬?科爾伯特(Stephen Colbert)發推特說：“《神奇女俠》將於6月2日上映。但是如果你想在公映之前先睹爲快，那就請看薩麗?耶茨在參議院的表演吧。”“I honestly don’t know any more than what was in the news,” Yates says. “But to me that’s why having Bob Mueller [special counsel for the Russia investigation] on board to do a really thorough investigation is so important. But people do need to recognise though that all Bob is looking at is whether there’s evidence of a crime that was committed for impeachment purposes or prosecution. He doesn’t look more broadly, because that isn’t really the charge of the DoJ. I have great confidence in Bob. He’s obviously got his hands full.”
“老實說，我知道的並不比新聞報道多，”耶茨說。“但是，我認爲，這就是任命羅伯特?穆勒[擔任特別檢察官]，徹底調查通俄門的重大意義所在。不過，人們確實需要認識到，鮑勃進行的一切調查都是爲了找到可以用於彈劾或起訴的犯罪證據。他的調查僅限於此，因爲其他方面的問題不是司法部的管轄範圍。我對鮑勃很有信心。顯然，他已經忙得不可開交了。Yates has kept a low profile since her dismissal. She’s been repairing her garden, which her two young rescue dogs, Scout and Nelly, who she calls “her other children” and “the most destructive dogs of all time” turned into a battlefield while she navigated DC. “They have eaten everything?.?.?.?like rugs, a whole sofa, furniture. We finally had to get metal furniture [on the outside porch] because it was the only thing that they wouldn’t eat,” she says. “I adore them.”
自從被解職以來，耶茨一直保持低調。她花費了大量時間修理花園。她養了兩隻被救助的幼犬斯科特(Scout)和奈利(Nelly)，稱它們是“她的另外兩個孩子”和“史上裏最具破壞性的狗狗”。在她在華府任職期間，兩個小傢伙把花園變成了戰場。“他們什麼都吃…… 地毯、整個沙發和傢俱，無一倖免。最後，我們不得不在[在室外門廊]擺放金屬材質的傢俱，因爲金屬是他們唯一不吃的東西，”她說。“我很愛它們。”I ask her whether she is thinking about a run for elected office. “No, no,” she says. “That’s just not anything that I’ve ever been drawn to. I think there are other ways to be able to hopefully have an impact.” For example, Yates is passionate about reforming the prison system by investing in educational programming for inmates so they have options when they are released.
我問她是否考慮競選公職。“不，不，”她說。“這些東西從來就對我沒有吸引力。我認爲還有其他能夠發揮影響的方法。”例如，耶茨熱衷於通過投資囚犯教育計劃來對監獄系統進行改革，以便他們在獲釋後有多一些選擇。When she was deputy attorney-general, the US began a pilot programme to allow inmates to take courses using specially formatted iPads, but she is doubtful it will continue under current attorney general Jeff Sessions, who has taken steps to reverse Obama-era policies by directing prosecutors to be tougher on crime and to seek the strongest charges for drug offenders.
在她擔任副司法部長期間，美國開始了一個試點計劃，允許囚犯使用特殊版本的iPad學習一些培訓課程，但她懷疑，在現任司法部長傑夫?塞申斯(Jeff Sessions)的領導下，這個計劃還能否繼續下去。塞申斯已經採取行動推翻奧巴馬時代的政策，指示聯邦檢察官更加嚴厲地對待犯罪，對毒品犯罪採用最重的量刑。The waiter clears our plates and tempts us with dessert — the house specialty is homemade ice cream sandwiches in three flavours, chocolate malt, sweetcorn, and caramel. Yates suggests we split one. I choose the caramel flavour. When it arrives, Yates cuts it in half. While the sandwich looks like a traditional childhood treat, it has a rich and sophisticated flavour. I devour it as Yates takes a few small bites.
服務員收拾了我們的盤子，並問我們要不要點甜點——餐館特色是自制冰淇淋三明治，有巧克力麥芽、甜玉米和焦糖三種口味。耶茨提議我倆點一個分着吃。我選擇了焦糖口味。當甜點上桌時，耶茨將它一分兩半。三明治看起來像傳統的兒時美味，但味道濃郁，口感層次豐富。在我狼吞虎嚥、幾口下肚之後，耶茨才僅僅吃了幾小口。Yates recently signed up for a Twitter account, but she does not expect to turn it into a megaphone. “I’m not going to think out loud on Twitter,” she says. Nevertheless, the letters from immigrants, families and young women stirred an awakening, she says. She keeps by her bed a letter from a family in Oregon with a photo of their two-year-old son at the airport holding a sign, “Immigrants and refugees welcome.”
耶茨最近註冊了一個推特帳戶，但她並不期望把它變成一個發聲的渠道。“我不會在推特上大張旗鼓地發表自己的想法，”她說。不過，來自移民、家庭和年輕婦女的信件讓她覺醒，她說。她在牀邊放了一封來自俄勒岡州的一個家庭的信，信裏附了一張他們兩歲兒子在機場的照片：這個孩子手拿裏拿着一個標語牌，上面寫着“歡迎移民和難民”。“I feel a real responsibility now that I never really anticipated,” she says.
“現在，我有了一種以往從未預料到的真正的責任感，”她說。
How did she respond to letters from young women? “It feels weird to talk about this,” she says. “There was always this delicate balance of wanting to be assertive but not be abrasive because you weren’t really accepted if you were a woman and you were considered too aggressive. I don’t get the sense that younger women today have to worry about that as much as we did when I was coming up. That’s a really good thing.”
她是如何回覆年輕女士的來信的？“談論這個感覺有點怪怪的，”她說。“我一直想在既要自信幹練又不武斷粗暴之間保持微妙的平衡，因爲如果你是個女人，且被認爲過分激進，你就無法真正被接受。我覺得，當今的年輕女性不必像我們的成長過程那樣擔憂那麼多。這真是件好事。”The thought takes her back to the Women’s March protesting the new president in January. She was shopping at a Whole Foods in DC when the store became overwhelmed with protesters.
思緒把她帶回到今年1月份舉行的抗議新總統的“女性向華盛頓進軍”(Women’s March)大遊行。當時，她正在華盛頓特區的全食超市( Whole Foods)購物，超市裏擠滿了抗議者。“I just stood back against the frozen food and just watched these young women carrying signs. They were so comfortable in their own skin, they were so comfortable that they had a view and they were expressing it and they weren’t the least bit sheepish. And I thought, this is great, this is how it’s supposed to be. So maybe we’re in a time when women are finding their voice.”
“我只能背靠冷凍食品櫃站着，看着這些年輕女性手持抗議標語。她們是那樣自信，她們有想法，並且正在表達自己的想法，沒有表現出絲毫的膽怯。我當時想，這太棒了，一切本該如此。也許我們正處在一個女性勇於發聲的時代。”The writer is the FT’s US senior finance correspondent
本文作者爲《金融時報》駐美國資深財經記者
