Brenna Bird GOP for Attorney General

Joining us now live on the news line is the Attorney General of the State of Iowa, the Honorable Brenna Byrd.

Now she joins us on a monthly basis in her capacity as Attorney General.

Today she joins us as a candidate Republican for re-election, ByrdforIowa.com, B-I-R-D-F-O-R-I-O-W-A.com, Madam Attorney General, good morning, thanks for the time.

Yeah, good morning.

So you have been on the campaign trail.

We see the photos on social media nonstop here just a few days before election day.

Oh, yeah, working hard getting the vote out reminding people to vote early.

They can even vote Saturday at their auditor's office or Monday or go in in person to the polls on election day.

So trying to get the vote out.

So that's such an important thing because again with this election I've said it in a variety of other contexts But it's not like folks are going into the ballot box if they know about the races and saying it's a coin flip They're about the same you and your opponent diametrically opposed on some key issues I'll give you the chance to make the distinction

Yeah, I'd say completely different on some really important issues.

My background is as county attorney as a prosecutor.

He's never prosecuted a criminal case ever, not even a misdemeanor.

So big difference there because a lot of the job is.

working with law enforcement across the state, prosecutors, helping crime victims, just making sure that we're doing a good job of keeping Iowa safe.

And then, you know, on some other things, we've got some big differences too.

I support voter ID because I think election integrity is important.

We should know that the people voting are the ones that are supposed to vote and that they're just voting once and he's against it.

He voted against it when he was in the legislature.

So.

big differences that way.

And then also, I believe in keeping kids safe.

That's something I've really focused on as a prosecutor.

He voted against mandatory monitoring of sex offenders when they're released from prison.

So big differences between the two of us.

Probably that might even explain why he's refused to debate me, which, you know, can't believe that you think lawyers.

That's all they do sometimes is debate, but he has refused to have a debate where people could hear where we stand on the issues and people could make up their own mind.

Well, it is interesting because usually it's a challenger who is clamoring for the chance to be on the same stage with the incumbent You actually made the call to debate.

I sure did and that is unusual But I think it's important because you know when people are headed to the polls there's a lot of important races on the ballot This is a close election where every single vote counts and you know, Iowans need to see the differences in the candidates.

They think

you know why he doesn't want to debate who knows but i think it has to do with his liberal record because he would be the most liberal lawyer to ever run for attorney general in iowa history and i think that's why he doesn't want to talk about where he stands on the issues

brena bird is our guest she is the incumbent attorney general general republican on the ballot tuesday bird for iowa dot com she joins us live on news talk fifteen forty kxl

I mentioned that you and all the other candidates are out and about.

Just give us a sense of what today is like in terms of the campaign.

You mentioned before we went on the air that you had safely pulled over so we could have the conversation.

But how many different stops and door knocking events, et cetera, do you do in a given day this time of the campaign?

you.

Well, we're going everywhere.

So I got up at four a.m.

in Dexter.

Um and my husband gave me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because I eat half for breakfast and half for lunch.

So, uh, just to keep my strength up, which is nice of him to do that.

Nice of Bob.

Then we headed up to Cherokee Hospital, Cherokee Regional Medical Center, uh, to talk about what they've been doing to fight opioids there.

They were the first hospital to take on a very important program for pain

the number of opioids and opioid addiction.

It was amazing.

It's now being rolled out in 10 states.

So I was there to celebrate that with them.

We give out opioid grants to groups like that.

And so it went great, great day.

We're headed to Lamar's to see Ashley Henson and to get the vote out in that part of the state.

We'll be in Carroll later today with another rally.

And I think Ted Cruz might be joining us at that one.

Doing a bunch of different interviews

as we're going through communities just so we can get the word out.

And then I think the last thought might be in Panora, I got a double check.

Last thought in Panora as we make our way back to the farm in Dexter.

So a busy day today, but probably pretty typical.

Brenna Byrd is our guest Republican for reelection for Attorney General ByrdforIowa.com.

Give us a sense because people have heard you speak to me on the radio.

I think every month without fail since you took office, but they know you in that role.

Give us a broader sense of your biography and background that led you to that big win four years ago.

Yeah, well, I'd say probably a key part about who I am is kind of where I come from.

So I was born and raised on a farm near Dexter.

That's about 40 miles west of Des Moines.

And today I still live in the country in the house that my grandpa built on his old farm.

I appreciate the chance to do that.

I have a 10 year old with my husband, Bob and I. And that keeps us pretty busy too, which is good.

Tends a fun, fun age.

Nothing like a fourth grader trick or treating and having fun.

So we enjoy that.

And I gotta say, he plays a brutal game of sorry.

So I feel sorry for anybody who agrees to play that board game with him.

He's a pretty tough operator that way.

But even against his mom, believe it or not.

So he's encouraged to do that.

And my professional background, of course, is as a lawyer.

And I ended up going to law school, even though nobody else in my family was a lawyer, because I love the Constitution.

I love our American history, who we are as a country.

And I saw that lawyers were able to help people in some significant ways.

So that's why I ended up going to law school, became a prosecutor with Duthrie County attorney before I got elected as attorney general four years ago.

And I bring all of that that I learned on the farm and as a prosecutor into the AG's office to try to make a real difference in people's lives.

Like with our cold case unit, looking at the murders that are unsolved in Iowa where we still need answers and

going after scammers and taking on corporate crooks when they try to take advantage of people.

So all of that that I have learned has been really helpful.

Probably number one is growing up on the farm because you learn how to work hard and get the job done.

And you were used to getting up at 4 a.m.

like you did today.

Yes, I think I, yeah, because the thing at our house was always as a kid, I still remember my mom and dad saying, you don't eat till the animals eat and you check their water, you know, make, we had automatic water, but you have to make sure in the winter that it doesn't freeze and that they always have good access to water all the time, even when it's dark and cold and especially then.

Brenna Bird is our guest.

She is the Republican running for reelection as attorney general, bird4iowa.com is the website.

We got a news release today regarding another arrest in a Black Hawk County cold case and that unit that you established and now there's some additional grant funding to assist with DNA.

I mean that really has been a signature if I may say of your first term.

Well it was something I campaigned on that we needed to have a dedicated cold case unit in my office.

I have

I have investigators that all they do is work on cold cases, and it takes that dedication, that fresh set of eyes going over a cold case, looking for any opportunities that might be there, things that we can look into, things that we can, evidence that we can get, people that can be interviewed, and working, most importantly, with our police departments around the state, sheriff's offices, state law enforcement, and federal law enforcement.

Now we have five cold cases that have been solved as a result of the unit's work.

So we are very thankful for that cold case unit.

We know nobody should get away with murder, and I want to make sure that families and communities that have been impacted know how much we all care about it and how we never give up on justice.

So once again, that was a...

the signature project that you campaigned on as you look ahead the job not being finished as long as there's crime there will be the necessity for a strong attorney general's office and crime includes the fraudsters that

lead good Iowans to have to report to your consumer protection division.

But as you outline the next four years, for example, what would you like to see in terms of enhancement of current programs?

What are some new things that you would lay out?

What's the agenda for the next term if you are reelected on Tuesday?

Well, we want to continue the work we're doing to uphold the law and keep Iowa safe.

And that includes continuing with the cold case unit, continuing our work to fight scammers and robocallers, making sure that we are holding corporate crooks accountable, including big tech when they do things they're not supposed to do, like our lawsuit against open AI and chat GPT for what they're doing to our kids.

And then we're also putting together a special victims unit within our office that will focus

on the crimes that target the most vulnerable, including children, whether it's human trafficking, which is absolutely vile and has no place in our state.

But we know, we know that it happens and also sexual exploitation, sexual abuse of children, crimes that are very, very important, that we prosecute, that we help the victims and that we keep Iowa safe from them.

So as you look at this first four years that you've had in office,

Was there something that I'm gonna say surprised you and that can go either way as a positive or a negative but as you reflect back What are some things that?

Either it might have been nice to know going in or turned out to be better than you had expected I suppose is a way to phrase it.

Yeah Well, you know, I'm thinking of a couple things here.

I guess one thing that's a surprise is that

all the scammers that are out there.

I'm just gonna, this is kind of a sad surprise, Jeff, but the scammers that are out there and you can tell how sophisticated they are and how many Iowans end up having money taken from them through a scam.

It's not just the elderly or the people having troubles managing their own affairs.

It is everybody that can be scammed, people in their 20s,

you know, all the way on up.

That's been a big surprise.

I didn't realize how deep that would go.

And then we also see things when we work with the FBI and other organizations where it leads me to think.

these are very sophisticated scammers, transnational criminal organizations that are operating based on nothing else other than cheating people out of their money.

And so we really put an increased emphasis there.

That's why I sued the crypto ATM companies because that has been a way that they separate Iowans from their hard-earned money through a scam.

So that's been a big surprise.

I think on the positive side, I can't say surprise because you just never know what cases are going to get solved with a cold case unit because

The evidence isn't up to us.

We just do the work.

We make sure that we are proving those cases beyond reasonable doubt, and that's a high standard.

But that first cold case being a 37-year-old cold case, the first one that was solved, that reminds me just there's no case too old for us to look at, and we don't give up.

Attorney General Brenna Bird was kind enough to join us for an extended Iowa Talking Points program.

If you'd like to listen to that, go to the podcast section of kxel.com and search for Iowa Talking Points and the name Brenna Bird and you can listen to it.

If you'd like to watch it, just go to iowatalkingpoints.com, all of the programs we did for this fall campaign, including one with the Attorney General.

It's right there, iowatalkingpoints.com.

We have just a couple of minutes.

I'll let you make your closing argument, closing statement to vote.

all

right well I'm asking for your vote and this election is going to be a close one and it is one that it really makes a difference who you vote for you know it matters who your Attorney General is who's working with law enforcement who's keeping you safe who's upholding the Constitution we've seen how that can impact some other states where the Attorney General is liberal and doesn't do a good job Minnesota Illinois their law enforcement aren't respected they're not as safe as we are here in Iowa

And I'm asking for your vote so that I can continue the work that I'm doing to uphold the law, keep people safe, and to do the right thing when it comes to protecting our constitutional rights.

You can vote in person at your auditor's office all the way through Monday and then go to the polls on Tuesday.

Bird4Iowa.com, spell it all out.

Bird4Iowa.com is the website.

Brenna Bird, the incumbent attorney general, Republican running for reelection.

Thank you so much for taking the time, safe travels on the rest of the campaign trail, and good luck on Tuesday.

Well, thank you, hope to see you soon.

All right, take good care now.

Brenna Bird, the attorney general of the state of Iowa, Republican running for reelection.

Bird4Iowa.com, and again, IowaTalkingPoints.com, if you'd like to view the program we did with the attorney general.

Go to the podcast section for the audio podcast section of KXEL.com, search for Iowa Talking Points and Brenna Byrd.

And again, she joined us live from the road on the news line on News Talk 1540, KXEL, where Iowa comes to talk.

And as KXEL Live and Local continues on this Thursday, it's a conversation we recorded late yesterday morning for convenience of schedules.

I'm joined on the news line by Congresswoman Ashley Hinson.

She is the Republican candidate for U.S.

Senate.

And the election, of course, is Tuesday.

AshleyHinson.com is the website.

Congresswoman, thank you for the time.

I appreciate it.

Jeff great to be with you as always and always proud to be on kxl radio

So here we are the last few days.

How do things feel?

What are you hearing from people?

What's it look like?

Just a few days before the election with you running a statewide race

Yes, well, I'm I'm excited.

I'm out on my fighting for Iowa bus tour So we have been Chris crossing the state more than 25 stops since the middle of the month on our bus getting out there and sharing our common sense conservative message with Iowans and I

i continue to hear from i went to want to be able to achieve the american dream and they want a federal government that is i'm not in their way uh... and making sure we're focused on immediate relief and and acknowledging that there is some long-term work we need to do but that

we can't forget how hard i when they're working for a living and uh... i'm not forgetting that i'm out there hearing from them every single day and i'm excited to uh... be our next u.s senator and hopefully earn those votes on november third so we can get back to work

well here we are close to halloween people wear costumes i hate to say it but your democrat opponent appears to be wearing uh... costume in terms of the positions that i hear him taking now they're very different than what he told me in an interview

Uh, prior to the primary and I'm just wondering, uh, what's a voter to do to try to figure out what the real view is on some of these key issues.

Yeah.

Well, it's a tale of two turrets, Jeff.

And I think that's the key that Iowa voters need to know is that Josh Turrick is lying about his past because.

His record is too liberal for Iowa, but I don't think his life can change his liberal record.

And so if you look at right now, he's running some new ads that he's claiming to oppose boys and girls sports, for example.

But the problem with that is that his record is the complete opposite.

Josh Turrick voted to allow government employees to help kids change their gender at school and keep it secret from their parents.

He supported allowing men and girls bathrooms,

Josh Turrick even voted to allow taxpayer-funded sex change surgeries.

And I look at this as a mom.

It's all sickening to me.

And again, he's lying a lot.

He has had some crazy lies out there.

He's telling about me and my family, which even Politifact, which is no friend to conservatives, has called out their rating to his attack as it's being false.

um... yeah he's running from his record because he he can't run on his record he he hasn't had some policy epiphany jeff and decided all the time that he agrees with these things he just realizes that liberal policies don't sell crazy doesn't sell in iowa

ashley hinson our guest g o p candidate for u s senate ashley hinson dot com joins us on the newsline and news talk fifteen forty k xl

You were with the president at the rally in Sioux City.

Now there's another one coming up in Dubuque.

What kind of sense are you getting among what I call three very distinct voter groups, the traditional Republicans, the Trump Republicans, and then the independents, which actually outnumber Democrats in this state?

I mean, that's a tough needle to thread for you as a candidate, I trust.

Yeah, well, I think Iowans just respect someone who's working hard, who's showing up to work.

Might I add you, my opponent skipped 58% of his votes, and I think Iowans who work really hard, many of them are independent voters, and they understand if you're only showing up to work two out of every five days, you're not getting a promotion, you're getting fired.

But I think about the issues that matter to Iowans.

It's exactly why I've proposed a multi-point affordability plan to tackle the key issues that Iowans are concerned about.

whether it's housing affordability and making sure that the American dream is still achievable.

The average age of a first-time home buyer is over 40 now.

We got to get that number down by helping people save tax deferred by their first home.

Child care.

I've written those child care checks.

It's been a while since my kids were in daycare, but I remember how expensive it was then, and it's still expensive now, minor 15 and 13 now, but

families are you know facing those challenges of affordable and accessible child care and at ours that works for them so is there more we can do to provide that flexibility uh... for after-hours child care uh... tax certainty making sure that we continue to provide that real relief we we passed in the working family tax cuts making that permanent driving down the cost of energy and the cost of feeding and fueling the world uh... and driving down the cost of health care those are my continued priorities and so

I look forward to closing out this campaign strong in the coming days again talking about the issues that matter to iowans and also what we're going to do fix them because i think i would expect results of a rhetoric just

so one of the things that you and i have talked about here before the various amounts of legislation the bills the actions everything that was done by the house and it's sort of just sat there on the doorstep of the senate and in that respect to me it's very much like twenty eighteen

What can you say to the voter about the accomplishment of the House and how things might be different if you're part of the Republican majority in the Senate going forward?

Well, what I would say, number one, Jeff, is that I am ready to hit the ground running on day one.

I've built good relationships on both sides of the aisle.

And on both sides of the retunda, and I think that that's really, really important.

I know how to work with folks and hopefully advance good policy.

Some policies are, you know, the House does them and then the Senate says, hey, we're not ready to take that up yet.

That's just how the legislative process works sometimes.

It can be very frustrating, but I'm relentless.

I think most of my colleagues know that.

Yes, I'm Iowa nice, but if they think I'm too Iowa nice to do this job, they don't know me well enough.

And I will call and work with anyone who has an idea that's good for Iowa.

And I will be a thorn in the side, Jeff, of people who are wrong for Iowa.

And I think everybody listening knows that based on my record.

Iowa has been

people have said over the past decade, let's say a reliably red state, but we've got kind of a purple streak in us as well.

And there are a lot of folks, I'm thinking back many decades of elections where certain Republicans said, well, we just voters, I'm talking about, well, we just don't like how things are going.

We need to change things up.

And we hear that occasionally now that folks are having tough times and

It crosses their mind to, quote, change things up.

How do you respond to that voter who says, well, you folks, the Republicans have had a chance and we don't necessarily like everything.

So we're open to a conversation about somebody else.

How do you close that door and bring them back home?

Well, I'd say just say, look, two years ago into recent history, Jeff, and where our country was, we had wide open borders with millions upon millions of the illegal immigrants flowing into our country.

My opponent wants those illegal immigrants to get taxpayer-funded benefits, and he doesn't want our law enforcement to be able to work with immigration enforcement to actually enforce the law and get dangerous criminal illegals out of our country.

So two years ago, that's where we were.

We now have a secure border.

We've passed tax relief.

I think there is more to do there.

Again, I understand a lot of Iowans feel like they are being priced out of the American dream.

And there are a lot of folks in Washington DC on both sides of the aisle who have forgotten how hard people are working here in Iowa and around the country.

So I don't play political games in DC.

I don't think we do have more work to do, but I don't think that folks should be focused on like headlines only.

I'm focused on

making life affordable and don't give a rip who gets credit for it.

So I will continue to work on those priorities.

It does take some time to fix and clean up a lot of the messes that we have discovered from the Biden administration.

But just look at what we're uncovering.

Our neighbor to the north in Minnesota, all of the fraud with the Somali crime rings up there.

Out in California with the hospices, those are run by the Russian mob.

Out in New York, the Chinese mafia is running these adult dehab centers in Florida.

It's the Cuban.

So we are uncovering a lot of this waste, fraud, and abuse.

And if you like what you're seeing, that needs to continue.

And you need strong conservative leadership to make sure we're writing the direction of the ship going forward.

All right, so Election Day is Tuesday.

Folks are in the process of voting, if not still making up their mind before going in and getting that eye-voted sticker on Tuesday.

I'll let you make the closing argument.

Well, thank you, Jeff, and thank you everyone for listening and giving me the opportunity to serve you in Congress these past three terms.

I'm ready to be your next United States Senator and I've consistently delivered for taxpayers, making sure we're cutting agencies down to where they should be and delivering that relief back to you.

It's your money, it's not the government's money.

Making sure we're standing up for our farmers and our rural way of life, knowing there is more to do there to lower input costs and make sure we help you to feed and fuel the world.

And then finally, if you want a safe and secure country,

I'm a mom to two teenage boys.

I understand the next generation is absolutely worth protecting and the American dream is worth protecting and so that's what I will continue to deliver as I was next U.S.

Senator and I'm asking for your vote.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for being so generous with your time.

Safe travels the rest of the way on the campaign trail and good luck on Tuesday.

Thanks, Jeff.

Congresswoman Ashley Hinson calling in from the campaign trail

yesterday late morning so you could hear the conversation now on a Thursday on News Talk 1540 KXEL where Iowa comes to talk.