Will Hurd: Trump Allegations ‘Disturbing,’ Will Consider 2024 Presidential Run

U.S. Rep. Will Hurd on Thursday said there are "a lot of disturbing allegations" in the whistleblower report against President Donald Trump and addressed the possibility of running for president in 2024.

Hurd, who is the only African American Republican in the House of Representatives, represents Texas' 23rd District. The vast district spans from San Antonio to eastern El Paso County.

He was in Austin on Thursday for an interview at The Texas Tribune Festival with the news organization's CEO Evan Smith.

"There are a lot of elements in there that I think require follow up," Hurd said on the stage of the Paramount in Austin. "I think there are a lot of elements in there that are concerning."

Hurd's appearance at the festival comes about two months after the three-term incumbent, known to cross party-lines, unexpectedly announced he would not seek reelection. It also aligns with one of the biggest stories playing out on Capitol Hill: the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

The Whistleblower complaint

The two discussed the future of Congressional District 23 and his retirement, but not before diving into the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and the whistleblower complaint

"This person is not a spy," Hurd said. "Let me say that very clearly. This is clearly somebody who knew the consequences of what he or she was doing and ... understood that and felt that this information should be shared and they shared it through the right mechanism."

Ahead of his interview in Austin, Hurd commented on Twitter about the whistleblower complaint released Thursday. The complaint alleges Trump used "the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election."

Hurd on Twitter said "there is a lot in the whistleblower complaint that is concerning."

"We need to fully investigate all of the allegations addressed in the letter, and the first step is to talk to the whistleblower," Hurd wrote.

Also on Thursday, Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the House Intelligence Committee, of which Hurd is a member.

Hurd during the festival interview expressed a desire to keep the name of the whistleblower private, though he said the person's identity will be revealed.

"The pressure that that person is going to get is going to be unreal," Hurd said. "This is the reason why I think the whole process should have been handled a little bit more delicately.

I think the report should have been transmitted after the seven days after the DNI had it, but I think the hearings should have been in a classified environment, just the way that the Senate is going forward with their procedures," he continued.

Hurd was asked about Trump's remarks earlier in the day where the president stated "spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now." Hurd said he "wouldn't have said it."

"It shouldn't have been done, and like I said ... the whistleblower is not a spy," Hurd said.

But congressman said it's too soon to have a conversation about impeachment. He stressed the need for investigations and gathering information to understand what really went on.

"Because again, everything in this document were allegations, and we should make sure we're doing everything to confirm those allegations," Hurd said.

'I'm just getting started'

During the more-than-an-hour-long interview, Hurd also addressed his decision not to seek reelection to U.S. Congress. It was a decision that caught many by surprise.

When Hurd announced on Aug. 1 he wouldn't be on the ballot come 2020, he said the exit was to "pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security."

"Everybody keeps saying I'm retiring. I'm 42," Hurd said. "I'm just getting started."

Smith, the Texas Tribune CEO conducting the interview, asked point blank if Hurd was planning a run for president in 2024.

Hurd didn't give a direct answer but also didn't rule out the possibility.

"A lot of these issues that we've just talked about, if they're still not being addressed in a macro way, if I'm the only person that's still talking about these things and I'm put in a position in order to evaluate that, then I will do what I've always done when I've had the opportunity to serve my country: I will think about it," Hurd said.

But had he remained in the race for Congressional District 23, Hurd -- who kept the seat in 2018 by less than 1000 votes -- maintained he would have won.

"This would have been a four-peat," Hurd said.

Hurd insisted that a Republican besides him can keep the seat. When pressed for a name, Hurd said "there's a good candidate in the race" pointing to Tony Gonzales, a cryptologist who is among several Republicans running for the seat.

Hurd said that running in a "50-50 district" he's learned there's more that unites people than divides them. He emphasized the importance of earning people's trust.

"If the Republican party doesn't start looking like America, there will not be a Republican party in America," he said.

Smith noted Hurd's "Trump Score" -- which is how often he voted with the president -- is 81 percent throughout his career. It's at 54 percent during the current in 116th Congress, Smith said.

"I have met literally tens of thousands of people that agree with me," Hurd said. "Just because some other elected officials may not match my voting records, there are a lot of people that I represent and that believe in the things that I have been doing."

Addressing gun legislation, race

Hurd represents a portion of a community shaken by the Aug. 3 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart where 22 people were killed.

Since the attack, there have been pushes for gun legislation on both a state and federal level. Hurd was asked Thursday whether there's a chance of anything happening in Congress on that front.

"If the president were to get behind something, the Senate would move it," Hurd said. "And I think the opportunity is you take the legislation we already passed in the House ... and that is expand the background checks."

Hurd was asked whether he supports several measures often brought up in the gun safety debate.

When asked if he supports a ban on automatic weapons, Hurd said he doesn't think an assault weapon ban would pass in this Congress or the next one.

Hurd said he's concerned "red flag" laws would lead to "pre-crime."

"My concern with 'red flag' laws is where does that go and then how does that get expanded," he said.

When asked if the NRA is a bad actor in the conversation, attendees in the audience chimed in "yes." Smith quipped that he was asking Hurd, not them.

"Look you can be pro Second Amendment and anti-person shooting up a school, a theater, a bodega, a club, right? You can be both of those. And there are a lot of people that are NRA ... members that use weapons and guns legally."

"Sometimes they're out of fashion," he continued.

Discussing race, Hurd pointed to the biblical message of loving thy neighbor as thyself as a way of changing the conversation.

"We have forgotten that," Hurd said. "Words matter, rhetoric matters. ... Immigrants are not rapists. They're not invading."

Smith cut in.

"You're citing words that the president of the United States has said," Smith said. "Are you saying that he's responsible through his words or his actions for the virus being let out of the test tube?"

"I think his language ... needs to be reformed and changed," Hurd said. "If I was advising him, I'd tell him to stop saying all this stuff."

Eleanor Dearman covers the Texas Capitol and politics for the USA TODAY Network Austin Bureau and the El Paso Times. She may be reached at 361-244-0047; edearman@elpasotimes.com; @EllyDearman on Twitter.

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