Station:    KNUS, 710 am

Show:       Peter Boyles Show

Guests:    Brauchler

Link:        https://peterboyles.podbean.com/e/is-it-a-double-standard-feb-7-2020-hr-2/

Date:       February 7, 2020

Topics:     Hickenlooper, Independent Ethics Commission, Aurora Police Officer Drunk in Patrol Car, Cory Gardner, Trump Rally, Colorado Springs, 2018 Election, Mike Coffman, Russian Collusion Probe, Impeachment, Super Tuesday, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Mike Bloomberg, Oligarch, Dick Wadhams,

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HOST PETER BOYLES [00:00:00] He truly is one of the best guys I’ve ever known. Say good morning and welcome back to 710KNUS, the DA George Brauchler joins us. And there’s a lot of heat out there this morning about the Aurora police officer. DA, good morning, man! Thanks for coming back on the show beat.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF COLORADO’S EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, GEORGE BRAUCHLER [00:00:14] Pete, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

BOYLES [00:00:16] There’s two things I want to lead with something in politics before we go to this story.

BRAUCHLER [00:00:22] Yeah!

BOYLES [00:00:22] Donald Trump is coming to Colorado Springs and Senator Cory Gardner is going to meet him. Boy, that’s a long way from everybody leaving town when Donald Trump came to the Air Force Academy. What are we watching happen with the Republican Party of Colorado, vis a vis Donald Trump?

BRAUCHLER [00:00:38] I’m not sure the reality is any different, and that is that the president has always enjoyed significant support within the Republican Party at the base level.

BOYLES [00:00:47] Yeah.

BRAUCHLER [00:00:47] But I think now there’s just a recognition that, look, we couldn’t pull this off before without him. I think we have to have him now, to try to do this. I’ve had a bunch of conversations with folks in the aftermath of November 2018 about would it have made a difference if the president had come out here? It certainly could’ve made things worse. So, at least the recognition is we need the president.

BOYLES [00:01:06] Well — yes! That’s true, but with all due respect, the state of Colorado Republican Party ran from him. Mike Coffman took out ads how he would stand up to Donald Trump. I mean, I don’t want to start up again, but you and I were backstage getting — I was getting ready to introduce you and there was all the Walker Stapleton stuff.  I mean, these people wanted nothing to do with Donald Trump. I’ve said this before, but when Coffman made that ad, he said, “I’ll stand up to Donald Trump!”  I said, “Man, you don’t stand up to Barack Obama. Why are you going to stand up to Donald Trump?” And the Republican Party of the state of Colorado was a joke. Still is. But now–.

BRAUCHLER [00:01:49] Yeah, I think you’re I think you’re right that at the candidate level there were some decisions made that weren’t reflective of what you see in the Republican base. I mean, the president has always polled extremely well in the Republican base — even before the election, but certainly since 2016. And I think at this point, it’s just a recognition of the reality that existed that you have got to have the president on your team.

BOYLES [00:02:14] You bet!  My friends that work on the other side of the aisle have said — they always said in this coming campaign they were going to tie Cory Gardner’s tail to Donald Trump. Now — and that was going to get him. And now, looking at Hickenlooper, who has a glass jaw, he’s disappeared. He’s got huge problems. Cory Gardner — for the first time, I believe Cory Gardner can win, if — if he’ll only listen. And big deal, I say that. But Donald Trump is going to come to Colorado Springs. He’s going to go to the Broadmoor on February the 20th. That’s really right around the corner.

BRAUCHLER [00:02:47] It is.

BOYLES [00:02:49] And he will be greeted by Cory Gardner. Now, I think this is all aftermath, after the, you know, the attempts to burn Donald Trump and the rise of Donald Trump, and I think the money boys have woke up. Now, the question is, does Cory Gardner want to win? And that’s the other question. So, — but I’m watching the party, at least at face value, yeah, you’re right! I mean, all the people who call the radio show, all the people that love conservative thought they were — but they were never really, truly big time Colorado Republicans. And maybe they can become that.

BRAUCHLER [00:03:25] We’ll see if this — the combination of things here matter for Colorado because we’re just such in an interesting time, here, for our state. The combination of the surge of Donald Trump, which I think he’s polling better than he ever has, which is so bizarre when you think about what’s been going on, between the Russia collusion probe and the impeachment.  You would think on paper this guy should be crawling around on the ground in barely double digits of support. He’s never enjoyed more support than he does right now. The combination of that plus watching the Democrats try to figure out who they are and how in the heck they’re going to nominate someone to take this guy on. I mean, Iowa was a debacle. But who’s standing after Super Tuesday, which comes through Colorado, by the way? Is it going to be Sanders? Is it Buttigieg? Is it Bloomberg? Because, you know, we haven’t seen anything quite like Bloomberg, other than maybe President Trump. But we haven’t seen anything quite like it. I think the combination of those things bodes well for both the president here and Cory Gardner.

BOYLES [00:04:23] The interesting thing about Michael Bloomberg — our guest, the one and only George Brauchler —  Bloomberg has been dubbed an oligarch, which I think he is. He doesn’t — just does it with money. He doesn’t debate. He doesn’t enter primaries. He just throws his hat in the ring and his money and says, “Here I am!”  On the other hand, what happened to Joe Biden? I mean, Joe Biden has really kind of dropped off the radar. Elizabeth Warren is going with him. Now it’s down to — look, was it — and again, New Hampshire I think is Tuesday. We’ll see again. And then I think it is a sidebar to Nevada, and then you go to South Carolina. But in the meantime, back to the Republican Party, taking on Hickenlooper, Dick Wadhams had a really interesting editorial I don’t know if you saw it.

BRAUCHLER [00:05:03] I did.

BOYLES [00:05:03] Like, maybe the top — the power elite in the Democratic Party jumped too soon to take on Hickenlooper. I thought that was great.

BRAUCHLER [00:05:11] Look, that ethics thing is real!  And interestingly — and I think I’m the only district attorney in the history of the Independent Ethics Commission to actually go to them and seek their review and advisory opinion on some stuff that was offered to me in terms of travel and speaking gigs. And I’ve done it. And my point is, it was relatively easy. I emailed in the invitation. They emailed me a request to be put in touch with the sponsor. They exchanged information about who funds their organization: is it more private dollars than — you know, all this other stuff. And then there was a hearing. And I’ve been to three of them, now. And you don’t have to show up in person, you can do it on the phone. I showed up in person, and there’s a conversation about, “What about this? What about that?” They take a vote and then — boom!– they approved me for each of these things.

BOYLES [00:05:58] Oh, yeah!

BRAUCHLER [00:05:59] The fact that the governor [Hickenlooper] has only done this twice — and that was when he first took office in 2011 — and they slapped him down. And then he tried it again five years later in 2016, and they slapped him down again. And I think he probably just shrugged and thought, why do we keep going back to these people? I don’t want to hear ‘no.’ But, you know, I think Wadham’s point is, this thing has not yet fully been vetted by the public. And when it does, are the Democrats going to look at each other and go, “What have we just done?”