During a Senate Judiciary hearing, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) questioned President Trump's nominee to lead the DEA, Terrance Cole, about reports of his alleged involvement in violent incidents during his time as an agent.
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00:00It was reported from CNN yesterday referencing anonymous sources who suggested you're responsible
00:14for the ambush of Colombian police unit in 2006. Although the CNN report cites anonymous sources
00:22with no first-hand knowledge of the events, numerous DEA officials directly involved came
00:31to your defense on the record and said you did nothing wrong. So I want to give you an
00:36opportunity to explain whatever you want about what actually happened. Senator, thank you
00:43for your question. The incident they referenced in 2006 was an operation that was conducted
00:50by the Colombian National Police. DEA had no involvement. DEA was not on the ground. DEA did
00:57not provide intelligence. The Colombian National Police operate within a system of complete
01:04sovereignty in their country and were following through on information that was developed by
01:10the Colombian National Police to serve a search warrant that was authorized by the Fiscalia
01:17in Colombia, the Colombian prosecutor. Upon arrival, the Colombian National Police were ambushed
01:25by the Colombian military. The Colombian military was being paid by the Norte de Valle Cartel
01:32at the time to ambush this valued group. The trial showed in Colombia that the soldiers that ambushed
01:43the police officers to police officers were responsible for war crimes. And they're still in prison to this
01:49day. So I'd like to state there was no DEA presence on the ground. I was not involved with this case. There was no
01:58DEA intelligence that was passed to Colombia. This was an independent investigation being conducted by the
02:05Colombian National Police.
02:08Further referring to the CNN report, referencing mass killings in Alende by the Trevino brothers, violent leaders of the Zetas cartel,
02:20anonymous critics with no first-hand knowledge of even quoted by CNN suggested that an intelligence leak from Mexican authorities may have led to the killing.
02:32But your supervisor at the time said that you did nothing wrong. I have a few questions and hopefully have a short answer to each one. Was there ever a determination by DEA that the intelligence leak led to the killing?
02:51No, sir.
02:52Did you directly transfer the intelligence to the Mexican authorities?
02:57No, sir. I did not.
03:00Did you follow all DEA policies and get all proper supervisory approvals regarding the handling of the intelligence?
03:12Yes, sir. We did.
03:14Were you ever investigated or even accused of any wrongdoing?
03:18No, sir. I was not.
03:20Is there anything else that you'd like to say bearing in mind that the case involving the Trevino brothers remains ongoing?
03:29Just that this is an act of investigation. And most recently, both Zeta 40 and 42, the Trevino brothers, were extradited from Mexico to the United States based on drug dealing, cartel activity.
03:45And they have been involved with killing hundreds of thousands of Americans through the poison that they distribute into this country, sir.
03:54Thank you. Mr. Serato, as a sitting U.S. Marshal, you're in the best position to know the details about challenging that challenges the agency that you might head.
04:07We're what are the most pressing challenges facing the marshal service and how would you solve those problems?
04:15Thank you, Senator, for your question.
04:18Thank you, Senator, for your question.
04:21I would say the top three priorities for me are judicial security, ensure that we take a top to bottom look at the division to ensure that we have the appropriate resources allocated.
04:36I'd like to look at the technology that we're using as well to make sure that we are maximizing our efforts in the detection of threats.
04:49The second issue that I think the marshal service needs to look into is the sex offender investigations branch as well as the missing child unit.
05:04Those are two missions that are very near and dear to my heart.
05:08I believe that it affects America.
05:12It affects America's children.
05:14And it's something that we need to ensure that we have maximum effort workings in that direction.
05:21And lastly is the Regional Fugitive Task Forces.
05:25Regional Fugitive Task Forces and District Task Forces are the way that the marshals operate missions against the most violent criminals in America.
05:43To ensure that we are doing our part in capturing these individuals, that is something that also needs to be well staffed throughout the districts, the eight RFTFs and all the district task forces.