Brenna Bird, Republican Candidate for Iowa Attorney General, October 22, 2026

I'm going to take some time. I'm visiting with Brenda Bird who is the Well the Attorney General and running for reelection and thanks for taking some time to stop by. Yeah, you bet It's good to be here. I know you you've made some other stops in Boone and around and stuff like that Let's talk a little bit campaign wise. We're getting down to the final days here yeah, well, I'm running for reelection as Attorney General and One of the things that I bring to that office is my experience as a prosecutor as a Guthrie County attorney and that's important We've doubled the number of prosecutors in our office. We've improved services for victims across the state But also building that relationship with our law enforcement all across Iowa That's something that's very important to me and I really appreciate their strong support Along with our cold case unit that's working on the over 400 unsolved homicides I started that unit in my office because I knew how important it is to never give up on those cases And that's one of those things too a lot of our department. I mean, I know we have the The DCI and everything else they do a lot of work But a lot of our local departments a lot of times they just hit a wall. Well, they hit a wall They try they sure do these are hard cases. They're not easy not one bit and we've got dedicated Investigators that get a a fresh set of eyes looking at these files working the cases if a lead comes in and then we'll work with your police department Your sheriff's office DCI FBI you name it to help solve these cases the first case that we charged for murder Was 37 years old so it just reminds us never give up never give up and the new technology helps out new things like that New technology helps a lot because there can be some DNA evidence But also there's something that happens to where over time Sometimes a witness will come forward who didn't before and so when an investigator reaches out to them That may have been a long time ago They had dangerous friends or maybe they were living a different life Sure, and now they understand how important it is that they come forward or you know Whether it's a prisoner talking to another prisoner you name it It can be a small lead that comes in but that can be the thread that helps to unravel the case So if anybody listening right now thinks they know something call my office with a cold case tip We've got info on the website or talk to your local police department sheriff's office. It's up to you who you want to talk to Let's talk a little bit about some of the other things that are going to scams always big yeah Can you keep up? Oh? Oh, I'll tell you it keeps me up late at night Because the scammers are really going after Iowans and it's it's not just the elderly anymore It's everybody that they're going after and we found they're targeting widows and widowers too because we know that's a tough time In people's lives when they're going through something like that sometimes their guards are a bit down So I have sued the two big crypto ATM companies in Iowa because they were acting as the getaway driver for the con artist People put money in the machine it go into the crypto wallet of a scammer Sometimes even in a foreign country and Iowans were being ripped off So as a result of the lawsuits one of these companies has declared bankruptcy We're still suing both of them to help Iowans get their money back But I I hate these scammers and con artists we we do education so people have tips But also if somebody's having a problem with that don't hesitate to reach out to my office We'll see what we can do to help you out still the attorney general's office and to me has always been one of those that really is a Customer service. I mean you obviously you've got your parts You have to play as far as Acting on behalf of the state things like that But it is the one where people can go to the office to seek help or direction. That's right. That's right You know, we help people when they're being ripped off or if they're having a problem with a warranty or a business We help people with that I've also been suing some big tech companies lately because they have put making money ahead of keeping people safe So we got a big settlement out of Facebook Instagram for what they were doing to kids And that that and they're also making changes to their platform And then I've also sued open AI a giant company that has chat GPT for what they were doing too Just holding them accountable because each Iowan can't go out and hire a lawyer when they're wrong that way It's important that we stand up as a whole state take them to court often times with other states at our side And that helps it makes a big difference when you're taking on global giant companies I mean these companies have More lawyers than we could possibly have and and of course they certainly have more money But what I look at is the facts and the law are on our side So we go to court and we fight for Iowa and we've been so you've been successful You've had some we've gotten some dollars coming back for 126 million from that one. That's pretty good So and what do we end up doing with that? Yeah So some of that money goes back to the state and then some of it will be used for some very important things So to fund school resource officer programs around the state. I think that's very important We're also funding our special victims unit in our office So that's a unit that focuses on crimes against kids since that's what this lawsuit was about and so whether it's human trafficking Which is vile absolutely terrible or sexual abuse sexual exploitation Having a special focus on those crimes. So we're keeping kids safe and we're locking up people that hurt kids I know I don't talk a lot about of what we do locally at the local level because We have been pretty successful with cases and that's one of the big challenges It's it's still out here and it's not that far away No, it's not that far away and you have good law enforcement good prosecutors here in this county But when you look at something like I'm just going to say human trafficking as an example That operates not only across county lines. It operates across state lines It can even operate internationally and these traffickers are Sophisticated operations. They they can be in a suburb. They can be in a city They can be in a rural area and when they sense that something might be happening They might just pick up and move and so that kind of coordinated response is really really important If we're going to eliminate human trafficking in the United States, that's one of those Don't care who the attorney general is it's that's something that the office needs to keep pursuing Well, it does it does and that's that's why I really rely on my experience as a prosecutor in the times that I've worked with law enforcement And just I know if we don't do it, it's not going to get done. It's very important that we have that kind of a focus There's a there's a big choice this year in the attorney general's election We do have let's talk a little bit about the campaign going forward here. I know you've still got stops You're going to be out here making and that's right. Yeah What kinds of people what are you hearing from the folks when you get out there? Well, I'm hearing A lot of good things from law enforcement. I really appreciate their strong support And then also just hearing from iowans about things on their mind many parents like me that are worried about technology and their kids Because we've sued several Technology platforms tiktok and roblox. We had the big victory with facebook instagram suing open ai people appreciating that we've also taken on some companies that were chinese ties that they hadn't Disclosed and they were making things like baby monitors and wi-fi access systems routers for your home or webcam So we're going after them We don't want china to have a back door into our technology on our house And and i'm also hearing a lot from farmers because I was born and raised on a farm And I know we're trying to get the harvest in and also just some of the challenges that are out there for agriculture That's why i'm glad to fight for year-round e-15 and and stand up for agriculture and our renewable fuels We're out of birds a guest again attorney general seeking reelection here in the state of iowa Again more on your campaign that can go online find out more about it yeah, just bird for iowa.com is our campaign website and uh, yeah, just a Less than two weeks before the election. So we're all working hard getting the vote out there and making every vote count All right. Thanks so much for visiting with us. Thank you