00:00Thanks to all the witnesses for being here.
00:02Ms. Cook, I want to say thank you especially to you.
00:05Thank you for being here.
00:06Thank you for telling your story.
00:08And I'm sorry for what you and your family have had to endure.
00:11And it's powerful to have you here today.
00:13Thank you very much.
00:14I want to talk about some of these policies that have gotten to where we are today.
00:17Mr. Jackson, if I could just start with you.
00:20You were deputy director in the Biden White House for gun violence and a special assistant to the president.
00:26Is that correct?
00:27Yes, sir.
00:27And you're also affiliated with the Community Justice Action Fund.
00:31Is that correct?
00:32Yes.
00:33I'm also a survivor of gun violence.
00:34You were their executive director.
00:36When was that?
00:37The Community Justice Action Fund.
00:392021 to 2023.
00:40And you're affiliated with them now?
00:42Yes, as executive advisor.
00:44Okay.
00:45The Community Justice Action Fund is, do you disclose your donors?
00:49Yes.
00:50All of the donors are public?
00:52Yes.
00:53You're funded by the Tides Advocacy Group, among others?
00:55They're a fiscal sponsor.
00:56This is, right.
00:57They handle our HR.
00:59Yeah.
00:59Uh-huh.
00:59This is a George Soros funded group?
01:02No.
01:02He's one of the donors?
01:04No.
01:04He's a donor to the Tides Advocacy Group.
01:07Yeah, that's our fiscal sponsor.
01:08So they handle our HR, our back office, our operations.
01:12Great.
01:12Okay.
01:13Great.
01:13So in other words, I mean, that's...
01:14We're one of 300 organizations.
01:16Right.
01:16That they run.
01:18You are a subset of them.
01:19Pay them to be a fiscal sponsor.
01:20Well, you are a subset of that organization, which he helps to fund, right?
01:24Okay.
01:25All right.
01:26Just wanted to get a level set here.
01:27So let's just...
01:28I want to ask you about some of the policies that you've advocated, because they're exactly
01:31what we see implemented in these blue cities, like defunding the police.
01:34No.
01:35Oh, indeed.
01:36Let me just point to you.
01:37Wait, wait, wait, I haven't asked a question yet.
01:39We'll get to the...
01:39I've got a lot of questions, believe me.
01:40I'll give you time.
01:42So let's talk about this report that you issued when you were executive director, a policymaker's
01:46playbook.
01:48And I'll ask you to enter it into the record, Mr. Chairman.
01:50Great.
01:51Without objection.
01:54In this report, you advocate, and I quote now, defunding the police because the long-term
01:59goal is fundamentally to reimagine how the state serves its citizens in the project
02:04of public safety.
02:05You go on to say police departments traumatize residents through a destructive cycle of racist
02:10over-policing, and the answer is not to add any more money to police budgets.
02:18Talk to me about...
02:19I mean, why is it that denying policing to the most vulnerable communities is a solution?
02:24I know that's what the blue cities are doing, but why is that a good idea?
02:27Well, look, I in no way stand with defunding law enforcement.
02:31I mean, my...
02:32That's what your report says.
02:33Sheriff Mike Sheridan, who taught me how to drive when I was 16 years old.
02:36Wait, wait, wait.
02:37Your report, when your executive director said you wanted to defund the police, do you
02:41renounce this report?
02:42Mr. Jackson, do you renounce the report that you authored as executive director?
02:46Here it is.
02:47You're the second senator to bring up an op-ed for...
02:49This is an op-ed.
02:50This is your report.
02:51You are a policymaker's playbook to reduce gun violence without policing communities.
02:57Okay.
02:57Community Justice Action Fund, copyright 2023, when you were executive director.
03:01Now you say you don't know anything about it.
03:03Now you say that you haven't heard of it.
03:05Just like the Democrats, who all of a sudden say, oh, we're all for the police.
03:09They've been advocating defunding them for years.
03:11Okay.
03:11Well, look, you can look at documents, or you can look at results.
03:14The question is, do you renounce this report now?
03:16You say you no longer read this.
03:18And my answer is that I led the efforts to invest $42 billion in law enforcement.
03:23You've advocated defunding the police as executive director of an organization that you still
03:29lead and are affiliated with.
03:31You've never seen me advocate for that directly.
03:33What you've seen me advocate for is a comprehensive approach to reducing violence.
03:37The comprehensive approach is defunding the police, which is what this says.
03:40The entire time.
03:41This is so typical of what the Democrats do now.
03:44After your policies have transparently failed and led to the deaths of millions of Americans,
03:49now you say you've never heard of defunding the police.
03:51Your own report recommends it on page after page after page.
03:55Let me ask about something else you say.
03:57Here's what you say we ought to invest in.
03:59Instead of funding the police, here's what we ought to invest in.
04:02We need to invest in programs that acknowledge the need for safe space initiatives led by lesbian,
04:09gay, bisexual, two-spirit, trans, and gender non-conforming people.
04:15What's two-spirit?
04:17Well, look, I don't know exactly.
04:19You guys are pulling some interesting quotes here.
04:21This is from your report.
04:22If you look at the report, the focus is on investing in violence intervention, outreach workers, victim services.
04:28You say that you shouldn't invest in the police, but we ought to invest in two-spirit community programs
04:34that acknowledge two-spirit.
04:36Look, we are not going to discriminate against any non-profit.
04:39What is a two-spirit?
04:41What is a two-spirit?
04:42You say don't fund the police, but do fund programs that create safe spaces for two-spirit people.
04:47What is it?
04:48I just want to know.
04:49I don't know what that is.
04:49I have no idea what that is.
04:51Well, honestly, I'm not completely aware of the language or the spirit of how that was written.
04:57But what I'm telling you is that what we advocate for.
04:58What is a two-spirit individual?
05:00I mean, really, this is your policymaker's playbook.
05:05You are the witness called by the Democrats on this committee, so I assume you reflect their views.
05:09You don't want to fund the police.
05:11You want to fund safe spaces for two-spirit individuals.
05:14What is a two-spirit person?
05:16I feel like I'm looking at a two-faced individual because you talk about reducing violence.
05:19Oh, no, sir.
05:20You're looking at somebody who's reading you your own words, and I'd like to hear an answer.
05:24Here's the answer.
05:24The answer is you don't have any solutions.
05:27You want to invest in gobbledygook and take away money from police officers who actually keep our communities safe.
05:32And when you're called on the record, you deny it.
05:34It's all there in black and white.
05:36And your record is there in black and white, and it's a disgrace.
05:38We reduce homicides by 31%.
05:40And as someone who's been shot and nearly killed, I take offense that you would think that the last 13 years were not focused on reducing violence.
05:47I take offense that you don't answer my questions, that you deny your own words, and that you are leading this committee astray.
05:50And frankly, sir, your policies are absurd.
05:53They're absurd.
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