The Congressional Leadership Fund launched a political attack video ad Aug. 24 against Democrat Jason Crow, who’s challenging incumbent Republican Mike Coffman for the 6th Congressional District seat. Essentially, the ad says that Crow, a veteran himself, is “all talk” about supporting veterans and failed to do so. The ad cites the Sentinel twice, first that Crow sat on a state veterans advisory board. The second citation states that veterans suffered because of VA system mismanagement, and somehow Crow was to blame. The ad ties Crow’s frequent absences from the advisory veterans board to the VA system failures.”Crow failed to do his job and turned his back on Colorado veterans,” a narrator says. “Crow failed.”

Allegation 1: Crow was supposed to help veterans, but he failed

The ad quotes a Sentinel article from July 12, 2017, to make this claim. The article was actually posted July 11, 2017. That story was about Crow saying his family was moving from Denver to Aurora, addressing allegations that he didn’t live in the district he wanted to represent. In talking about his credentials, Crow says he  “also served on the Colorado Board of Veterans Affairs from 2009-2014, where he helped secure funding for the new Veterans Affairs hospital in Aurora.” The board had no control over Congress nor the federal VA system. The story did not directly address the VA health-care scandal, causing veterans to wait long periods for care, or not receive it at all. That problem is separate from the new Aurora VA hospital, which opened this year over budget and years later than planned.

Verdict: False

Here is our article that was cited ow.ly/I6Yp30lDU3s 

Allegation 2: Crow’s action on his committee led to veterans suffering

The ad quotes a Sentinel article from June 12, 2014. The problems of the VA on a systematic, national scale are well documented. Jason Crow, a member of the Colorado Board of Veteran Affairs, would have been limited in his ability to dictate what was happening with the VA hospital construction or planning. The board he sat on was created to be an advisory board to Gov. John Hickenlooper.

The article cited discusses the various struggles for veterans to receive treatment. The story details how the VA was targeted by local, vocal criticism that was not directed toward Crow nor his colleagues but the VA as a system. The claim that the article refers to Crow being responsible for wait times or negligence of care for Colorado’s veterans on behalf of the VA is false.

Verdict: False

Here is our article that was cited: https://tinyurl.com/y97nj3we

Allegation 3: Jason Crow didn’t show up for work while on the Colorado Board of Veteran Affairs

Crow served on the Colorado Board of Veteran Affairs from 2009 through 2014, where he missed 35 percent of  51 board meetings held during that time. Those numbers were calculated in an earlier fact check by Channel 9 News. The Crow campaign provided attendance numbers that show out of 47 meetings he was excused from 14 meetings and absent from three meetings.

Minutes from that time could not be provided to media by the state, but were obtainable through the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Crow campaign.

Channel 9 News additionally points out that another board member missed eight of 41 meetings, another missed five and a third missed three of 42 meetings. One board member missed eight of 41 meetings.

Ralph Bozella, who chaired the board for much of Crow’s tenure, said in a statement that the ad is “politics at its worst” and that Crow was an “indispensable member of the Colorado Board of Veterans Affairs.”

Verdict: Based in fact

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which paid for and produced the ad, is a well-known super PAC in Washington that is known for its support of GOP congressional members and keeping Republicans in the House majority. The PAC is closely aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, and according to opensecrets.gov, has raised more than $100 million for the 2018 campaign cycle.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The “Crow Failed” ad fails itself. The short video makes a leap in logic that isn’t in  any way supported by the facts. While Jason Crow was frequently absent from a state veterans advisory board, it’s wrong to say this board had any power or influence over catastrophic malfeasance of the national Veterans Affairs department and system. If anything, it was Congress that failed veterans through the VA system. What the ad fails to mention is that Crow is himself an Army Ranger veteran, and has a record of supporting issues that benefit all veterans.