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10 28 24 US Rep Jason Crow discusses Trump assassination attempt task force report
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The bipartisan house task forcing investigating the first assassination attempt against the former president Donald Trump found that the incident was preventable and clearly showed a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners, the task force noting that the findings are preliminary. Congressman Jason Crowe served as a ranking member of this bipartisan task force and is joining us now on the K-Way common spirit health hotline. Congressman, thank you so much for your time this morning. Good morning. It's always good to be with you. Like we mentioned, this is a preliminary report, however, it is 53 pages of an in-depth report walking through some of the things that have been found so far. What else would you like to add from what we've seen as this clearly shows that there was some lack of planning and coordination when it came to this rally? I think the major takeaway here, and I have to say, we're just a little over halfway through our investigation, which is why we called it a preliminary report, but the larger picture is becoming more and more clear that there were numerous failures that day, but from a broader viewpoint, this is about a leadership failure. You had leadership in the top on down that failed to set the tone, that failed to ensure accountability, and then you had all the resulting failures, everything from not securing lines of sight, to not securing the perimeter, to not coordinating and communicating with local law enforcement that was really fulfilling critical security functions, and they didn't have guidance, they didn't have sufficient training. All of these things, in my view, come down to a lack of command and control and effective leadership. Congressman, have there been changes, excuse me, already implemented and taken effect, even though you're only part way through the report? There was a leadership change, the director of the Secret Service stepped down after the shooting on July 13th, and then in addition to that, they shifted some of the manner in which they resource these rallies, and then the former president was given presidential level security in July, as well as the other candidates, the vice presidential candidate, so security has dramatically increased Department of Defense, has provided some resources to backfill the Secret Service during a time of very high threats, so the threat environment right now is exorbitantly high, so making sure that things are taking care of are really important. Congressman, how long do you believe this investigation will last, as you said, you're about halfway through with it, and could things change if former President Trump is elected president come November 5th? Well, our final report to Congress is due December 13th, so when the House of Representatives voted in July to create our task force, and I have to note we did so unanimously, so every single voting member of the House of Representatives that they, there are 413 who cast a vote, every single member voted to create this task force, which is actually a pretty rare thing these days that everyone votes to create something, so they created the task force, they gave us resources, they gave us the peanut power, and that law that was passed is that on December 13th, we have to finalize our investigation and submit a completed report to Congress, so we are unscheduled to do that, and then regardless of the outcome of the election, you know, our investigation will continue, we will do that work, what we'll provide answers to Americans and to Coloradans, and we'll go forward to push for the security changes that need to be made. You talk about the planning and coordination, obviously that comes down to communication Congressman, who does set that communication, is it the Secret Service, or are the local officials that are on the ground in said rally location, are they the ones that need to have a greater say, because maybe they know the lay of the land better, because that's their community, then say the Secret Service. Now, it's the Secret Service, the Secret Service is the absolute authority and responsibility over protection of, you know, our highest level elected officials in these instances, so that's, you know, the President, that's the Vice President, and the folks around the President and Vice President. And the major nominee from, you know, the opposing party, in this case, the former President and Senator Vance, so it begins and ends with the Secret Service, and that's really fundamental. You know, I learned in the Army, when I was an Army Ranger, one of the most important elements, if not the most important element, is unity of command, right? There has to be one person, one entity in charge, and one person in one entity responsible, and then everything flows out from there. If you just have, you know, multiple lines of communication and multiple people with different authority, it just becomes too confusing and too difficult to actually carry out a really difficult, you know, mission like this. You talked about the changes that have already been made, and the high threats that we're already seeing, especially during this unprecedented time when it comes to the election and the matter of days. So what preparations are being had, or what conversations have you had with constituents when it comes to just the safety and security leading up to election day? Well, one of the things that I try to impress everywhere I go, and I've been out doing town halls and business meetings, and I'm all over the community in Colorado as much as I can. And the thing I always try to impress on everybody is that we all just need to respect each other, that, you know, take a step back, make sure that we have vigorous debate and tough debate about really important issues, but that there's no room for violence, period. There's no room for political violence in America. We will not tolerate it. And whenever it happens, or whenever it's threatened, everybody should just vehemently condemn it. So I think that's a really important point that we have to continue to reiterate. And I think Coloradans, you know, need to join together to join in that effort. Congressman, why we have you, I want to get your thoughts on the issues in Aurora and part of your district and the Venezuelan gangs and the political flashpoint that they've actually become in this election cycle. What is the reality that you know when you're being told by those on the ground there daily in Aurora? Yeah. Well, you know, Aurora, like any city of that, by over 400,000, you know, there are areas of crime, there's, you know, retail crime, property thought crime is a predominant source of crime. I mean, there's some violence crime, violent crime, rather, but that is down overall in Colorado and nationally, violent crime just is down. There are gangs, the gang issue, you know, historically and even at present is not transnational gangs. So there are isolated incidents of transnational gang incidents, and that's being dealt with by the FBI. So the FBI regional office in Denver that has authority over the Western region of the United States and prosecuting and investigating enforcing transnational gangs, I meet regularly with the special agent in charge there, talk with him. He also heads the Metro gang task force, which is a collaboration between federal law enforcement, DEA, ICE, and all the local authorities that the police chiefs, those of the sheriffs, they all work together to address these issues. And those folks tell me that there are isolated incidents that they've been able to deal with pretty effectively over the last couple of years. But largely, you know, when we talk about crime in areas, this is a long running problem in certain neighborhoods, neighborhood gangs, you know, young young folks who are disenchanted and are being involved in criminal behavior. And that's why I continue to push after school programs, you know, these violent interruption programs, I continue to provide resource with the local law enforcement that they can do additional work to try to help these neighborhoods. And that's an ongoing challenge for our community. Congressman, in wrapping up with you aside from the special agent in charge like you mentioned, have any other or city council leaders or any other local lawmakers reached out to you, shared any other concerns different than what you've heard from the special agent in charge? You know, there have been some voices that I think have mischaracterized the issue, I mean, unfortunately, we're in an election cycle and there have been national politicians and a handful of local politicians that have twisted and contorted this issue into something. It's not, you know, talking about, you know, these foreign gangs that have come in and taken over areas of the city, you know, it's just simply not true. You know, so I work with the police chiefs, I work with the mayors, I work with federal law enforcement to get the facts because ultimately it's the facts that should drive our response here in the policy. You know, I've met with neighborhood organizations, I've met with tenants of affected properties, you know, I just seek as much information I can get so that I can actually have an accurate and in full response to this that's grounded in the facts. So that's always my approach with any issue. Colorado Congressman Jason Crowe, thank you. All right, thanks a lot. There's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally, like growing up with a bank you can count on, like being sure what you've earned is safe, secure, and local. There's only one feeling like knowing you're supporting your community. You deserve more from a bank. You deserve an institution that stood strong for generations. Bank of Colorado, there's only one member FDIC. It is Ryan Seacrest here. 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