Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., is calling for congressional hearings into the source of funding for riots that have erupted in some cities this year, one day after he pushed for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to intervene with an investigation.
Buck highlighted the recent experience by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who was harassed while with his wife by demonstrators in Washington, D.C., following a speech by President Trump at the Republican National Convention.
“[I would] absolutely work with Rand Paul. He obviously has personal experience with this. A scary personal experience with this and I’d love to work with him, as well as other senators, on making sure that there is a focus on this,” he told Fox News during a phone interview on Monday. “I think they could shine a light on this in committee hearings if they were so inclined and I hope they do.”
His comments come just one day after he called on the DOJ to investigate the source of funding for agitators who were being supplied and fed, after often coming in from out of town to wreak havoc. Buck cited citizen safety as the number one priority and said the funding source should be treated as an entity of organized crime.
“It’s one thing to arrest people that are committing crimes in the streets. It’s another thing to work your way up an organization and find out who’s funding it,” he told Fox. “The Department of Justice has the resources to do that and I think it would make the country a lot safe if we were able to take out the funding mechanism for these organizations.”
The Colorado congressman also echoed his sentiments on air with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on Monday, saying the effort to defund the police coincided with a flood of funding meant to stirup nationwide protests.
KEN BUCK DOUBLES DOWN ON RAND PAUL’S CALL FOR INVESTIGATION INTO FUNDING OF VIOLENT PROTESTS
“I suspect that there is a common source,” he told Cavuto. “I’m not going to speculate on what that common source is, but it’s clear to me — the same time the left was talking about defunding the police, the left is funding in a huge way, these protests. These protesters are coming in from all over the country.”
Buck added, “They’re having transportation costs, housing costs, food costs paid for and perhaps even salaries and other benefits. It’s important to know when you’re dealing with organized crime like this, where the funding is coming from.”
He then accused local Democratic leaders of purposely magnifying the frenzy in an effort to get Trump booted from office in November.
“I think they are supporting anarchy because they want to show, or they hope to show, that the president cannot govern,” he explained. “I think they’re absolutely ending up with the exact opposite — it is the big-city mayors that are unable to govern. The president has acted in a responsible and measured way to deal with this violence.”
“But the folks that are funding this… are going to wake up on November 4th and sadly realize… that these efforts have backfired,” he added. “Americans are sick and tired of this violence.”
In contrast, Democratic nominee Joe Biden said that it’s the Trump administration that is pushing for more violence in U.S. cities.
“He can’t stop the violence – because for years he has fomented it … fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames,” Biden said in a Monday speech condemning the rioting that has sometimes marred what have been largely peaceful protests.
Buck also invited congressional Democrats to work with him on the issue and said the goal of the effort is bipartisan in nature.
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