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September 29, 2019 09:42 AM UTC

Thank God Ken Buck is No Longer a Prosecutor

  • 12 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Colorado GOP chairman Rep. Ken Buck (R).

Surveying the responses from Colorado politicos to the rapidly-deepening impeachment crisis threatening to end Donald Trump’s presidency, we were struck in particular by Rep. Ken Buck of Greeley’s defense of Trump in an interview with the Denver Post’s Justin Wingerter. Buck as readers know was formerly the district attorney of Weld County, and never misses a chance to remind audiences of his steel-trap prosecutorial mind:

“The chief of law enforcement in the United States asked the chief of law enforcement in a foreign country to assist on an ongoing investigation,” Rep. Ken Buck, a Windsor Republican who sees no reason for an impeachment inquiry, told The Post in an interview. “He didn’t suggest what the outcome was. He asked for cooperation from the new government because of election interference in the 2016 election, as well as alleged crimes (involving) the former vice president in the country.”

Buck said Democrats and the press have attacked Trump constantly, fostering cynicism among the public that amplifies otherwise minor revelations, such as those unveiled this week.

“I don’t think this rises to an impeachable offense,” said the congressman, who is chair of the Colorado Republican Party. “I don’t think this is necessarily even wrong. [Pols emphasis] Could it have been handled better? Sure. But it is not something that, I think, is suggesting this president was trying to interfere in an ongoing criminal investigation or trying to affect the outcome of an election in 2020.

In order for Rep. Buck to suggest that this wasn’t “necessarily even wrong,” he has to ignore all of the context of this story in addition to the phone call in question–the freezing of hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid just before the call and un-freezing of the aid in its aftermath, Trump’s private attorney Rudy Giuliani who Trump told the Ukrainian president would “be in touch” along with Attorney General William Barr, the resignation of the special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker on Friday…the list goes on and on. It’s true that Republicans are being asked to swallow a lot here in order to stay loyal, but for Ken Buck apparently no encouragement is needed to put his own credibility on the line in defense of Trump. To the point of absurdity:

“Vice President Biden is not going to be the Democratic nominee,” Buck added. [Pols emphasis] “I think that is more than just conventional wisdom at this point. And what the president was doing involved a matter within the scope of the executive branch.”

Whether or not Democratic primary voters ultimately agree, it’s widely known that Trump considers Joe Biden to be his most dangerous potential Democratic adversary. Biden may be in a tight three-way race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but to assert flat-out that Biden is “not going to be the nominee” is a ridiculous attempt at clairvoyance. It’s a useful thing to say if the goal is to minimize Trump’s actions, but as a prediction it simply it has no factual basis.

In recent months Ken Buck’s reputation has been under heavy assault, as his early support for recalling Colorado Democrats collapsed in a heap along with those efforts and his absentee management of the Colorado Republican Party has allowed the conservative backlash coming out of the 2019 legislative session to dissipate in confusion. But it should be noted that Buck’s questionable judgment goes back to his days as a deputy U.S. Attorney where he was reprimanded for damaging the case against a politically-connected gun dealer and then as Weld County DA, when a sexual assault case Buck dismissed as “buyer’s remorse” helped seal his narrow defeat in the 2010 U.S. Senate race.

As rumors of Buck’s retirement continue to swirl, nobody’s quite sure what his next move will be.

But we sincerely hope he’ll never be asked to prosecute another case.

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12 thoughts on “Thank God Ken Buck is No Longer a Prosecutor”

  1. Perhaps Rep. Buck is better informed and has thought through the nuances or had someone do more extensive historical research on Presidential actions than he includes in the interview.

    I am certain there have been requests for information on individuals from those involved in law enforcement or intelligence work.  And I know of Presidents requesting other nations to let our citizens be deported back to the US without additional investigation or prosecution.  Presidents have called for broad reforms in other nations' legal structures or personnel.  But I cannot recall a previous President asking for a US citizen or two to be investigated. Anyone know of a precedent with a former President requesting information on a specific people?   Or urging cooperation with the Attorney General rather than an Ambassador or other personnel with the State Department?

      1. Ken Buck learned early that Presidents are above the law when they interfere in foreign governments. As a 27 year old staffer, Buck helped then-Congressman Dick Cheney to churn out an “investigation” report of the Iran -Contra affair. President Reagan arranged for private funds (from weapons sales to Iranians) to pay the “contras”, who were overturning the elected government of Nicaragua. Cheney’s report miraculously found no evidence of actual weapons sales or wrongdoing, although he faulted Reagan’s ( and Chief of Staff Regan’s) judgement. 

        The report mostly exonerated President Reagan, and built Cheney’s reputation as a “fixer” for Presidential problems.  As for Buck, Cheney remained an “inspiration” to him, and a mentor in Buck’s political career.

  2. Yoo hoo,

    Oh, Mister Bucklehead . . . 

    President Trump was repeatedly warned by his own staff that the Ukraine conspiracy theory that he and his lawyer were pursuing was “completely debunked” long before the president pressed Ukraine this summer to investigate his Democratic rivals, a former top adviser said on Sunday.

    Thomas P. Bossert, who served as Mr. Trump’s first homeland security adviser, said he told the president there was no basis to the theory that Ukraine, not Russia, intervened in the 2016 election and did so on behalf of the Democrats. Speaking out for the first time, Mr. Bossert said he was “deeply disturbed” that Mr. Trump nonetheless tried to get Ukraine’s president to produce damaging information about Democrats.

    Trump Was Repeatedly Warned That Ukraine Conspiracy Theory Was ‘Completely Debunked’

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/29/us/politics/tom-bossert-trump-ukraine.html

    . . your Detective DMango wasn’t asking about any “ongoing investigation.”

    Who shot J.R.? That was all just a fucking dream, too; remember? Did get some bigly ratings though; I can see why flailing Donnie would wanna’ get involved now . . .

    This crap just ain’t gonna’ fly with anyone outside of Dumphuckistani FOX viewers and the stained-dress Moderati.

    Maybe oughta’ find some better quality ridiculous horseshit to fling Boots-boy? . . .

    1. Closer to home in CD-4….

      I’ve been across a big chunk of CD-4 this past week and witnessing the utter destruction of our rural communities by libural Boulder policies. Start in Sonnenburg’s home county, Logan. Check out the Peetz  wind farm (thank you renewable energy mandates), drive south through Akron and across to Otis and see their wonderful new school facilities (thank you BEST),  drop into Wray and witness the $34mm remodel project on our K-12 schools (BEST) and the $5mm airport expansion project being funded by the socialist federal aviation fund.  Go south to Idalia and check out another BEST new K-12 from the ground up, drive by hundreds of acres of hemp fields and at least three new hemp oil extraction facilities.  

      Cut across to Last Chance, south to Limon and witness a billion dollars in wind farms in Lincoln County (thank you mandate).  Pay special note to the installs: Vestas turbines built by Coloradans from Pueblo to Windsor (thanks Ritter Administration), delivering clean, cheap energy to urban Coloradans.  

      Turn eastbound at Limon (after looking south and west and seeing nothing but wind turbines on the horizon. But first drop into the new Love’s truckstop as you drive by two new hotels being built and a renewed Main Street as I depart eastbound on 70. For the next 25 miles you see nothing but wind turbines, contributing millions in tax revenue to these rural counties.  As you approach Burlington observe the doubling of the Carousel Wind Farm (thank you SB-252).

      North back to Wray. 

      Our policies are clearly destroying enhancing our rural areas. 

      2. Having misspent my youth, and then blown past the on-ramp to Adulthood, just 100 miles north of that, I’m glad.  Energy and agriculture will always be the future.

        But, I’ve got ask,

        rhetorically, neighbor to neighbor, . . . 

        You really want me to think you believe those salts-of-the-earth breakfast-club cake-bakers are even recognizing, forget thanking, Boulder policies for any of that?

        . . . or, are they rather, just happily unaware at finally, finally having their prayers heard and being MAGAed by a really stable-genius some[chosen]one who’ really just like them?

        1. I coulda/shoulda added a final paragraph. Upon return to Wray I opened up this week’s Wray Gazette and on the inside of the front page is a reprint of a Gazette (Colorado Springs) editorial yapping about how liberals are turning everyone into victims and how we need to eat a piece of apple pie and remember us good folk (the ones Prosperity Jesus loves) are just boot strappin’ Americans trying to overcome something something (they kinda lost me midway through the 20+ column inches devoted to the pep talk).

          Moral of the story: apparently we can no longer think for ourselves waaay out east – we need to have an editorial board in CoSprings do it for us. 

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