{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://crow.house.gov/media/in-the-news/time-jason-crow-s-road-from-paratrooper-to-democratic-power-player", "TIME: Jason Crow's Road From Paratrooper to Democratic Power Player", "2026-07-27", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Jason Crow", "C001121", "crow.house.gov", "crow", "https://crow.house.gov/news", "scraper", "The death threats arrived almost immediately.\n\nRepresentative Jason Crow, along with five other Democrats in Congress with national-\u00adsecurity backgrounds, had recorded a video last November reminding those working in military and intelligence roles that they did not have to follow illegal orders. A message careful to stick to the letter of the law prompted President Donald Trump to call for its makers to be arrested and charged with treason. \u201cHANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!\u201d read a social media post that Trump publicly shared. A federal grand jury in Washington declined the Justice Department\u2019s effort to indict the lawmakers. That victory hasn\u2019t mitigated Crow\u2019s anger at how he believes the President\u2019s response put his family\u2019s safety at risk.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m really bad at sitting in a foxhole and having people lob grenades at me,\u201d Crow, a former paratrooper and Army Ranger, tells TIME on a June afternoon at Democratic National Committee headquarters. \u201cI\u2019m going to lob them back.\u201d\n\nThe fallout from the viral video placed Crow, 47, in the strongest national spotlight since 2019, when he was a House freshman tapped to be a prosecutor in Trump\u2019s first impeachment trial. In the interim, his stature on Capitol Hill has steadily grown, as Crow emerged as a go-to voice for his party on national security. The midterm elections could further elevate his standing, as he\u2019s helped lead candidate recruitment for House Democrats, prioritizing veterans and others with backgrounds in national security.\n\nIn Crow\u2019s mind, these elections will show voters that Democrats have learned how to run effectively on national-\u00adsecurity issues, while still hammering Republicans on the twin tentpoles of cost and corruption. At the same time, Crow says his party is in need of a hard reset before 2028\u2014though, like many, he is still workshopping ideas for what might work.\n\n\u201cThere is actually an opportunity to build something new\u2014not rebuild, not go back, not try to reconstitute what once was, because Americans don\u2019t want that,\u201d he says.\n\nShould Democrats take the House this fall, Crow is in prime position to be a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee\u2019s \u00admajority. Should a Democrat reclaim the White House in 2028, his name is likely to come up on the short lists for Cabinet positions. He also has his eye on Colorado\u2019s Senate seat, and is not shy about a possible White House run down the line.\n\nFirst, though, Crow has to navigate this tricky political moment, one that has Democrats feeling ascendant but still staring down low approval ratings. It\u2019s not entirely unfamiliar terrain for Crow, who rode an earlier anti-Trump wave while vowing to stand up to party leaders he viewed as failing to meet the moment. Only this time, he\u2019s on the inside.\n\nImpeachment and Iran\n\nEight years ago, Crow was one of House Democrats\u2019 top recruits\u2014a lawyer and veterans\u2019 advocate who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.\n\nEven still, he was far from a sure thing when he challenged Representative Mike Coffman, a fixture in Colorado Republican circles since Crow was in middle school. \u201cThis was an unwinnable race, remember?\u201d Crow recalls with a smirk.\n\nTo show he wasn\u2019t running against just Trump, but Washington writ large, Crow vowed not to vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker if Democrats won a House majority, which they did. When it came time for the vote, Crow defied the most powerful Democrat in Washington by casting his ballot for Tammy Duckworth, a fellow veteran representing Illinois in the Senate.\n\n\u201cI explained that this was not personal. This was part of a larger effort to usher in that next generation,\u201d Crow recalls.\n\nTen months later, when it became clear that the Trump impeachment train was leaving the station for its first go-round, Pelosi rang up her former detractor. It was, Crow said later, \u201clike being called into the principal\u2019s office.\u201d Pelosi needed someone with his skill set and temperament to convey the stakes of Trump\u2019s attempts to pressure Ukraine without coming off as a partisan hack. While the House voted to impeach, the Senate declined to convict.\n\nFor Crow during that period, death threats became routine. He had an armed guard outside his house. A security detail walked his kids to school. Which brings him to last year. The security had to be called back. His \u201cillegal orders\u201d video brought about another round of threats\u2014including some from Trump that Crow\u2019s office referred to the Capitol Police, according to an email obtained by TIME.\n\nCrow\u2019s national-\u00adsecurity background has helped propel his reach in Congress, where he\u2019s a top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee as well as the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee\u2019s spy panel. When House Democrats needed someone to run point on a panel investigating the failed assassination against Trump in Butler, Pa., they tapped Crow. Last week, Crow and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, forced a House vote to halt the war in Iran, with the measure passing 214-208.\n\nRecruiting \"streetfighters\" to Congress\n\nBut it\u2019s his work helping Democrats win back the House that may win him the most chits. As a leader in candidate recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Crow has his hands in just about every contested race in the country, and is making a point of finding people he believes voters will view as \u201cstreet fighters.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe oath of service I took doesn\u2019t expire,\u201d says JoAnna Mendoza, a retired Marine Corps drill sergeant and Crow recruit who is taking on Representative Juan Ciscomani, an Arizona Republican, in one of the top toss-up races in the country.\n\nMendoza has the support of Crow and the DCCC well before her primary. It\u2019s a different story in some House races in other states where the DCCC either professed neutrality or backed a different candidate from whomever Crow endorsed through his political action committee, Service First.\n\nCrow\u2019s theory is that some of his preferred candidates\u2014Marine drill sergeants, federal prosecutors\u2014are more likely to excite those who are down on both parties.\n\nThe DCCC's chair, Rep. Suzan DelBene from Washington state, is hardly trying to curb his instincts.\n\n\u201cJason brings a servant leadership ethos and a soldier\u2019s discipline to the job. He knows that voters want fighters who put their local communities first, not undying loyalty to partisan ideology,\" she tells TIME. \"His tireless work at recruiting, mentoring, and raising money to support candidates has been essential in our path back to the majority.\u201d\n\nIf his instincts prove right, Crow may bring a whole raft of newcomers to Congress who are loyal to a mentor who helped get them there. Whatever Crow\u2019s future ambitions, a cohort of fellow street fighters might come in handy.\n\n\u201cI have an independent streak to me,\u201d he concedes. \u201cBut, you know, when we win, people will be pretty happy about that.\u201d", 1, "2026-08-11T05:54:29Z", "2026-08-11T05:56:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://crow.house.gov/media/in-the-news/time-jason-crow-s-road-from-paratrooper-to-democratic-power-player"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4858960639685392, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}