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In a thought-provoking segment, Congresswoman Erin Houchin discusses the upcoming legislative priorities for the GOP as they set the stage for a Trump administration transition. The episode also touches upon the enduring political tension marked by the anniversary of January 6, with poignant commentary from prominent leaders. Highlighting conflicting worldviews within the political sphere, the recent Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to George Soros is placed under scrutiny. With insights from Tyler O’Neill, this topic serves as a launching point to critique the evolving dynamics of democratic processes. Furthermore, Tony Perkins and other participants illuminate the spiritual state of
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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The state of the vote for the President of the United States as delivered to the President of the Senate is as follows. The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for President of the United States is 538. Within that whole number, the majority is 270. The votes for President of the United States are as follows. Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes.
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That was Vice President Kamala Harris reading the final electoral vote total earlier today in the House chamber. Thanks for tuning in to Washington Watch on what is a cold Monday for most of America. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Well, as the 119th Congress tackled the certification of the 2024 election, what’s next on the agenda as they prepare for the incoming Trump administration that takes the reins of government on January the 20th? We’re going to talk with Congresswoman Erin Houchen of Indiana, the House Republican conference secretary. She’s the second highest ranking Republican woman in the House. Also, today marks the fourth anniversary of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Well, earlier today, a group of January 6 defendants and a federal watchdog group held a press conference in Washington. Participants called on President-elect Trump to issue pardons for the nearly 1,600 Americans who have been charged for their involvement in that protest. Senate Majority Leader, or Minority Leader, I should say, Chuck Schumer, responded to the anniversary with this comment.
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It is shamefully, utterly outrageous that the President is considering pardons for these rioters who broke the law, attacked our police officers on January 6th. Pardoning the criminals who assaulted police officers and tried to halt the democratic process would be a dangerous endorsement of political violence.
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Yes, Mr. Schumer has always been a champion of law and order. Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith will join us to discuss. For four years, President Joe Biden has claimed that those who were at the Capitol on January the 6th and those they represent were a threat to democracy. You remember him saying that over and over? Well, this weekend, President Joe Biden’s actions suggested his rhetoric about democracy was empty, totally empty. The president awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, to 19 people. Among them, billionaire and leftist mega-donor George Soros, who has done more to undermine conservative democratic governments around the world than any single human being. We’re going to talk with Tyler O’Neill, managing editor of The Daily Signal. And yesterday, thousands of Christians from across the country joined for a special broadcast, Pray for the Nation, in wake of the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans. I’ll share what Pastor Jack Hibbs had to say a little bit later. I encourage you to visit the website, TonyPerkins.com. and also download the Stand Firm app. You can find it in the App Store, and you’ll have access to Washington Watch, Stand on the Word, and the Washington Stand, our news and commentary right there in your pocket. So go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. Well, undeterred by the snowstorm that hit Washington overnight, members of Congress convened today for a joint session to count and certify the electoral vote for the 2024 election. Now, that is the final step in the election process that cements the victory of President-elect Donald Trump and paves the way for the transition of power that will take place on January the 20th. Now, Republicans are looking forward to that day, but they won’t be sitting on their hands until Inauguration Day. What’s on their agenda? Well, here to discuss what we might expect to see over the next two weeks is Congresswoman Erin Houchin. She is the House Republican Secretary for the 119th Congress. She represents the 9th Congressional District of Indiana. Congresswoman Houchin, thanks so much for joining us. Welcome to Washington Watch and Happy New Year.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you for having me, Tony. Great to be with you.
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So take just a moment and share with us your insights on what took place today in the joint session of Congress as the election final step took place as it was certified.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, it’s amazing to be in the chamber today for the historic moment when Kamala Harris died. stood and declared Donald J. Trump as the next president of the United States. Really, really exciting, arousing standing ovation for J.D. Vance, our new vice president. And honestly, Tony, January 20th can’t come soon enough. We’ve already seen Joe Biden issuing additional executive orders on his way out of the office. We are excited to hit the ground running to get to work as soon as possible. Republicans worked over the weekend on our agenda, and we’re ready to go.
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So let’s talk about that, because last Friday marked the start of the 119th Congress. And we had the election on the first ballot. We saw that Mike Johnson of Louisiana was reelected as House speaker. This process of what we’re looking at now going into the first 100 days, this is something that Republicans have been working on for quite some time in preparation for. So tell us what the next two weeks are going to look like in preparation of January 20th.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, we saw about 12 bills that we prepared to start to pass through our rules package that was passed on January 3rd. Um, Mike Johnson was elected on the first ballot. He’s a principled conservative. Who’s done a really, um, he’s had a tough job and he’s done well and admirable job in, uh, performing as speaker. He had the full and complete endorsement of president Donald Trump to serve as our speaker. He’ll be spearheading along with leaders, Scalise, the rest of our agenda, which includes border security, restoring this economy, uh, unleashing American energy and just getting us back to American prosperity. putting parents back in charge of education, getting rid of some of these woke policies that have unfortunately infiltrated every corner of the United States.
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Talk for just a moment. Explain to our viewers and our listeners, you mentioned the rule package. This was adopted. This sets the rules for the 119th Congress. But there were some bills that went through last time that will be fast tracked this time. They passed the House last time. Now they’ll be fast tracked. You mentioned a couple of those. Explain how that works.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, so ordinarily, in order to bring a bill to the floor under what’s called regular order, it has to go through the Rules Committee. I serve as a member on the Rules Committee. And when we passed the rules package, we included bills that we already passed in the last Congress. And we included those because we don’t want to have to bring those bills on suspension. And we don’t want to have to spend a lot of committee time that’s unnecessary in the rules committee to bring these bills to the floor. So by including these 12 bills in the rules package, we can bring them to the floor in the upcoming weeks. And we don’t have to have a two-thirds majority to pass them. They can pass with a simple majority. We do expect that we’ll begin to pass some of these bills very quickly, which will give a jumpstart to the Trump administration on January 20th.
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We don’t have time to unpack all of what’s going to be in reconciliation because that’s going to be a key part of this first 100 days, and that’s a bit complex. But some of the issues that you’ve already dealt with in the House that are a part of this rules package but will kind of bleed over into the reconciliation is, number one, we’ve got the border issue. But then energy is a big issue, and we had President Biden say, You know, trying to on his way out, he issued another executive order kind of barring exploration and drilling on more land offshore. And so, I mean, that’s meaningless because President Trump can come right back in and basically rip up those executive orders with one of his own.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, that was just a stick in the eye of the American people, Tony, on his way out the door, because we can quickly turn that around. We were energy independent for the first time in 40 years under former president Trump’s former presidency. We will get there again. H.R. one is our Unleash American Energy Act program. And that will get to work very quickly. We want to drill here. We want to take advantage of every resource that we have. You’ll see in the reconciliation package that we may include some NEPA environmental permitting reform. which will help to fast track some of these pipeline projects that have been stalled by the Biden administration. H.R. 2 is part of that package, and that is our Border Security Act. Again, we want to get hit the ground running. We are ready to go. We want to give the president as much of a head start as we can before he takes office on the 20th.
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And this is going to have real-time impact on the American people. When we increase our energy production, that’s what we saw after the Trump administration, the spike in the cost of gasoline. I mean, these are real things that people are going to see at the gas pump. Hopefully, pretty soon, we’re going to see them on the grocery store shelves as the cost of delivering these items to the stores will decrease dramatically. We increase the economy and it’s going to it’s going to affect in a positive way the the family budget.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, it’s one of the quickest ways we can get the economy back on track is to begin producing our own energy that will reduce the cost of goods. It will reduce the cost of transporting goods and products across the country. That is one of the quickest ways we can begin to turn the economy around and generating prosperous revenue for American families. We’ll see that, I think, in the next few weeks. And quickly, I think the American people will see some relief.
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Congresswoman Houchin, I want to ask you this question to switch gears a little bit. President Biden over the weekend awarded 19 individuals with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Now, this is the nation’s highest civilian honor. former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was one of them. But the one that I take issue with, well, there’s actually quite a few, but one I want to talk about for just a moment, George Soros, who, you know, mega donor to the left, has done more to undermine democracies around the globe with his funding of leftist policies, pro-abortion, radical policies that he pushes. I mean, I can’t think of a stronger contrast between the worldviews of administrations and what President Biden is doing on his way out and hopefully the policies that we’ll see advanced by the Trump administration as they come in.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, that was outrageous, Tony. It’s a slap in the face to crime victims across the country, to conservative Americans to have this award given to George Soros, who has made it his mission to undermine every American city that he can elect a soft on crime prosecutor who will not prosecute the even property crimes, let alone other crimes. And so we’ve seen a destruction in society, in American cities because of George Soros and what he has funded. And victims of crime are are worse off today than they were prior to President Biden, certainly, but predating George Soros, you know, moving around the country and electing these soft on crime prosecutors. That’s not to mention the anti-democratic efforts he’s exhibited around the world. Again, I think it’s a way to poke the American people in the eye on his way out of office. And it’s sad.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, but thanks for pointing that out in terms of what he’s done domestically in supporting these DAs and others who have been soft on crime. And that is even more ironic when you look at even today where Attorney General Mary Garland was bemoaning President Trump and the possibility of him pardoning these political prisoners that were connected to January the 6th. We’re out of time. Can’t unpack that. We will later in the program. But Aaron, I want to thank you for joining us today. Congratulations on your election to a leadership post in the 119th Congress. We look forward to working with you and having you back on the program.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you, Tony. Great to be with you.
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All right. Have a great day. Congresswoman Erin Houchin from Indiana. She’s a member of the House leadership team. All right. When we come back, we’re going to talk more about this Presidential Medal of Freedom to George Soros. I mean, this is it is an insult to the American people, but it also is very revealing of worldview. It really is. We’re going to talk more about that on the other side of the break. So don’t go away. More Washington Watch straight ahead.
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During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 has been another year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, D.C. This fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit. to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with a community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government. Launching in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us for another year of standing for faith, family, and freedom.
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Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Glad you’re with us. Be sure and download the Stand Firm app and you can take us with you wherever you go. All right. President Biden’s decision to award major left wing donor George Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom has sparked intense backlash and criticism. And I’m among them. While Soros was recognized for his so-called contributions to democracy, education, social justice and human rights. Critics like Elon Musk condemned Biden’s decision as a travesty. Soros has faced accusations of funding anti-Semitic movements as well as left-leaning activist networks that undermine conservative values and democratic governments, as we were just talking about in the previous segment with Congresswoman Erin Halchen. He’s the one that’s been funding a lot of these soft-on-crime DAs across the country. Now, the decision to bestow America’s highest civilian honor on Soros has left many outraged and disappointed. But should we be surprised? And what does this reveal regarding the worldview of the left? Joining me now to discuss this further is Tyler O’Neill, managing editor of The Daily Signal and the author of the forthcoming book, Woktopus, The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government. Tyler, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for having me, Tony. All right. In your new book, you highlight how George Soros’ Open Society Foundations has driven left-leaning policies across various sectors, private and public. How do you believe his influence has shaped the federal government’s approach to things like law enforcement, immigration, and education?
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It’s massive. I mean, and it’s interesting to talk about George Soros because President Biden decided to honor George Soros, but it’s very revealing that it wasn’t George Soros receiving that physical medal. It was his son, Alex Soros, who currently is running the Open Society Foundations, which is the vast dark money network that his father created. And so when you have Open Society Foundations running, funding groups like the Human Rights Campaign, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, these organizations that then go to the federal government and push the federal government in a woke direction, sometimes in a very aggressive direction against conservatives, mainstream conservatives like you yourself, And at the Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom, comparing you guys to the Ku Klux Klan and putting you on a hate map with them and then going to the federal bureaucracies, going to the DOJ and the FBI and saying, look, this is hate in America. We need to combat it. This is connected to domestic terrorism. This is the sort of influence we’re talking about. And George Soros, as you mentioned, he funded the rogue prosecutor movement, which is making life unsafe on U.S. cities, including for many of the communities that the left claims they want to help.
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Right. I mean, look, I don’t have a problem if someone disagrees with me and has a different ideology. But what George Soros has been funding, as you pointed out, are organizations that want to silence conservatives using whatever levers they have access to. And so I want to ask you about this, because for four years, We’ve seen Joe Biden has gone around the country in every speech. He’s talking about January 6th and how those people who were there and those that they represent were a threat to democracy. We hear that over and over and over again. In fact, we just heard it from Chuck Schumer today on the Senate floor as he talked about January the 6th. I can’t think of anyone who has done more individually to undermine democracy and freedom and the ability of people to shape their own future than George Soros. And he gets a Medal of Freedom? I mean, what’s this about?
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s because of his far-left ideology. As you noted, he’s undermining religious freedom. He’s actually part of the group that’s supporting Demos, which is a far-left group that worked with the Biden administration trying to turn federal agencies into efforts to register voters, likely Democratic voters. And that’s another chapter in my book where I talk about this effort to change the way that we vote And it’s essentially weaponizing the federal government to make the voting system more palatable, more likely to get Democrats elected. And so you have somebody like George Soros, and you’re exactly right. The main problem that we have is Biden has this false veneer of himself as a moderate, as the adult in the room, when in reality, he is… I mean, he is the most radical president we’ve ever had if you look at his policies. And one of the main reasons is because of the woke bureaucrats that George Soros is helping to fund and staff the federal government with.
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Tyler, let me ask you this. Is it that we have different definitions for the words that we use? When we talk about democracy, of course, we talk about our country as a republic because that’s what it is. It’s a constitutional republic. But when we talk about the concepts of democracy, that’s people being able to freely engage in the process. We can’t be talking about the same thing if we’re going to—if the left is going to honor with the Medal of Freedom a guy like George Soros, who is anything but— enabling people to determine their own future and their own destiny.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, we’ve seen, I mean, I don’t know if you’ve seen these, I’ve seen these super cuts where you have all these democratic figures saying that our democracy is under threat. And it’s every single time they say democracy, somebody has edited the video to say bureaucracy. And I think that is extremely revealing because one of the main points of my book is that the system of government that the left favors is a woke system. bureaucracy by those they consider to be experts pushing their agenda on climate, on sexuality, on every woke issue in the book. When they’re talking about democracy under threat, they’re really talking about their bureaucracy under threat. President Trump does pose a threat to their bureaucracy and to the deep state. My book explains exactly how nefarious this deep state effort is. and what he needs to do to combat it.
SPEAKER 09 :
That is a very good differentiation, because I think you’re absolutely right. That’s what it is, because it’s the bureaucracy that gives them the power. Because the bureaucracy is unaccountable to the people, the people can’t get at it. And when it’s attacked by elected representatives or dismantled, that drives them crazy because they lose their power. We just have a minute left, Tyler. How can folks get prepared to get a copy of your book?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, you can go on to Amazon.com, search Woktopus, and it’ll be the first result. You can pre-order it today. I’m also going to be speaking at the Leadership Institute this week, sharing it. So if anybody is in D.C., you can come to the Leadership Institute on Wednesday morning, and I’ll have copies there before they go on sale on Amazon.
SPEAKER 09 :
When does it come out very quickly?
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The day after the inauguration, so January 21st.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, well, we’ll get you back on to talk about when it comes out. Tyler O’Neill, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thanks again for having me, Tony.
SPEAKER 09 :
Absolutely. After the break, I’ll share an excerpt from last night’s Pray for the Nation event that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and I put together in response to the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans. So stick around.
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So if you like to think and you like to pray, FRC is the place for you.
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I think it is the best program out there.
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Yeah, I absolutely love my experience interning at FRC.
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They really are making waves out in the political world and doing it from the light of the Lord. It’s really humbling for me as a college student who has been involved in the life movement for only a couple of years to be able to witness it alongside of some of the people who have spent their entire lives fighting. A huge thing that sets FRC’s internship apart from others is they are looking for what they can pour into you instead of what they can get out of you.
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I have talked to so many of my friends who have interned other places and they’re responding to emails or taking phone calls and doing things like that. But here we get real hands-on experience and get to talk to important people and do important things that we get to see the impact of.
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The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it’s never gonna be on the ballot. He’s the King of Kings, and He’s the Lord of Lords, and nothing’s gonna change that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we’re to advance the concerns of the kingdom of God here on earth.
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America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the 20th. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10-week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January 20th, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of Congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, in prayer. Text the word SHIELD to 67742 to join us. You’ll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls. Text SHIELD to 67742. Unite with us and pray for our nation. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Well, last night, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and I brought together some Christian leaders for a one-hour virtual prayer event in response to the New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans. You can find it at the FRC Stand Firm app as well as on YouTube. But I’d like to share an excerpt of what went into what we talked about last night with Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. Here’s a clip of last night’s event. You have obviously seen a lot of challenges in California over your years in the ministry. But these challenges, these tragic events seem to be intensifying, whether natural disasters or man-made disasters. And there’s a vulnerability in our nation. And I believe it’s reflective of the spiritual condition of our nation.
SPEAKER 08 :
Tony, I cannot agree with you more. I have an overwhelming sense, like I have never had before in my 47 years of being a Christian, a sense of urgency. I mean this with hope, Tony. There is some looming event, good, bad, or ugly. I do not know, but I know this. It’s under the watchful eye of our God. Is it revival, as was prayed about? Is it coming catastrophe? I don’t know. But he knows, and I tell you, Tony, I am just consumed right now in my life of pursuing him and pressing into him like never before.
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This is a moment. We’re seeing many changes politically in our country. And I think there’s some that are maybe thinking, well, we’ve taken care of the problem. We’ll just turn this over to the elected officials. We’ve got conservatives. But this is a spiritual moment. problem. And we’re seeing it internationally. We’re seeing the world is on fire. This is a time that we need to be listening to the Holy Spirit and responding.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, Tony, I’m so blessed by your comment. I won’t show you my notes, but as the participants were praying, I wrote down some things. First thing I wrote down, Tony, was this. This last November on that Tuesday when the election was decided, I wrote down, nothing has been finished. The door has been opened. We’ve got to go through the door as the church did in Revelation. When that election took place, I fear that a lot of believers put their feet up and put their hands behind their back and celebrated a victory. If that’s true, they’ve missed it completely. God gave us mercy. God gave us grace. He opened up a door, Tony, a very small door, very brief door that if we do not see spiritually, not politically, if we seek him spiritually, God’s going to take care of the political things. The book of Deuteronomy chapter 28 is crystal clear on that. But the overwhelming issue, Tony, is that we’ve heard, and I wrote things down, that there’s been this connected thread, harmony, unity, love, justice, wisdom, peace, truth. None of this is possible unless the church seeks the face of God. Politicians do not have the skill sets, nor are they called to bring unity. People are saying we’re divided as a nation. Of course we’re divided, but they’re making a mistake in thinking that it’s due to political issues. It is not. church family, it is due to leaders failing to address the issues from a biblical worldview. We’ve got to pray. 2024 has got to be, 2025 has got to be a year of prayer, intercession for our nation, because it’s clear to me, Tony, that the church is the only hope. It’s not Trump. It’s not Mike. It’s not Congress. It’s not the Senate. God gave us those gentlemen and women to allow us to freely petition God. The hour of this year is upon the church.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hey, can I read that verse you made reference to? Because that’s a verse that the Lord has given me as a theme verse for this year. Revelation chapter 3, verse 7 and 8. And it says, the Lord is speaking to the church at Philadelphia. It’s the… Only one of the seven churches in Revelation that he actually commends. It says to the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, right? These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens. I know your works. see i have set before you an open door that’s the open door you were talking about and no one can shut it and here here’s that really the conditions for you have little strength now some read that as as a criticism it’s not a criticism it’s saying they relied on him they didn’t try to do it in their own strength they did it in the strength of the lord and in their weakness he was made strong And then it says, they have kept my word and have not denied my name. And that’s where I do believe the church has to be. We have to rely on the Lord, not the political structure. We have to be in his word and we have to confess his name.
SPEAKER 08 :
Tony, so good. That is the verse, as you well know, that is the verse that the Lord gave me when COVID struck and Gavin Newsom began to do what he did in California. Tony, that’s the verse to the church at Philadelphia that he gave to me. It was overwhelmingly convincing that I had to have the doors of the church open. And so I believe that verse is going to continue on because you’re also describing the one and only end times church that was faithful. faithful to the word faithful to his name didn’t waver they were not fearful but um this is a time to stand i really believe and this is not a doomsday announcement this is an exciting announcement we’ve got a little bit of time to get this right for the name of jesus and for the glory of god and i do not believe there’s going to be a revival of music there’s not going to be a revival of attendance there’s not going to be a revival of you call it you name it There’s got to be a revival of holiness because when you read the last days, the church, the believer, it’s her righteous acts whereby she has a wedding gown, a garment, clean and white, brilliant. And it says that that gown of white and brilliance is the righteous acts of the saints. So Tony, we’ve got a window. We cannot, we’ve got to press into this year like we have never pressed before.
SPEAKER 09 :
That was Pastor Jack Hibbs during last night’s Pray for the Nation event. And you’re listening to Washington Watch. You can watch the entire prayer event from last night on the Stand Firm app. Just text app to 67742 if you don’t have the app or go to the app store and get it. All right. More Washington Watch straight ahead. Don’t go away. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But you know, the Bible talks about four institutions of government. You know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this saying separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
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Let’s not be discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let’s stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
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The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don’t defend it, who will?
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Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don’t say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You’re naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
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Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we’ve relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource. and we’ve relied too little on the power of God and God’s ability to open doors that we can’t open and do things that we couldn’t even hope to begin to do.
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This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to have.
SPEAKER 09 :
Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful, and that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen. This is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. The website is TonyPerkins.com. Our word for today comes from Isaiah 51. Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people in whose heart is my law. Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults. You know, standing for God often means standing alone. Yet if we fear the Lord, we need not fear man. To do that, we have to have the right perspective, really an eternal perspective. As in verses 8 through 13, God reminds us that people’s threats fade like moth-eaten clothes, while his righteousness and salvation endures forever. He alone comforts us. Why fear those who die like grass when we worship the eternal maker of heaven and earth? Earthly criticism can be loud, but it’s temporary. God’s favor, it’s everlasting. And His promises span generations. So, do not lose heart when facing disapproval or rejection for standing for the Lord. Remember that the one who stretched out the heavens is your defender. Walk with God even if it feels lonely, trusting His eternal perspective. The approval of man is fleeting, but the Lord’s comfort and salvation lasts forever. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. And I invite you to join us as we begin this new year. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is patting himself on the back for the work that his Department of Justice has done over the past four years with regard to the January 6th riot at the Capitol, an event that he and others on the left continue to claim was an insurrection and an attack on democracy. The left is also throwing a fit over President-elect Trump’s promise to issue pardons for many of those who were accused or convicted of crimes related to what unfolded four years ago. But what does the legacy media But what they failed to tell the American people about the events of January 6th and the weaponized response from this DOJ. Why aren’t they covering that? What have they not told us? Joining me now to discuss this, Congressman Morgan Griffith. He is a member of the House Administration Committee Subcommittee on Oversight, which last month released an interim report on their findings on the events surrounding January the 6th, including the politicization of the January 6th Select Committee. He represents the 9th Congressional District of Virginia. Congressman Griffith, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 06 :
Glad to be with you this evening.
SPEAKER 09 :
So just as we as we begin this, give me your general thoughts on the narrative that we keep hearing. I mean, even as today, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, you know, spending more money, more time and energy going after January 6th protesters. I guess I can throw the backdrop, the attack in New Orleans by a terrorist that the FBI agent who spoke right after the attack said it wasn’t a terrorist attack, maybe because it wasn’t a January 6th.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, they certainly, I think, overdid it. Now, that’s not to say they weren’t bad actors on January 6th. There were some. But the vast majority of folks were there. They were there to protest, but they were planning on a peaceful protest. And then everything broke loose and got out of control. But it is amazing how they don’t want to tell the whole narrative. And what we need to do is tell the whole truth.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
The good, the bad, the ugly on both sides of this thing. But one of the biggest things that has struck me from our investigation is the fact that The president authorized, President Trump authorized the National Guard to come in and said, you know, do whatever. It was the D.C. politicos. It was, you know, Nancy Pelosi and company who, and I can’t say that she made the decision herself, but they didn’t want to have this image of the National Guard coming in. They had bicycle racks. up for a perimeter, knowing that there were going to be tens of thousands, if not more than 100,000 people in Washington that day to protest. Today, for example, and they’ve been putting them up for about a week, we had these huge fences up that kept people from getting anywhere near the Capitol. None of that was done in advance. So if you look at the whole picture, you had a failure to recognize or to give information to the people that needed that information, Chief Sund in particular, to make sure that we were prepared. We were not prepared. Our law enforcement was not prepared. Nobody in D.C. was prepared. And then the people who could have ameliorated this issue were left sitting on the sidelines. The National Guard was told just to sit by and wait for orders. And then even after the military folks gave the orders at the highest level, A general decided he wasn’t going to issue that order right away and held on for another couple of hours before sending in the National Guard. So we need to look at all the totality of the circumstances. And look at each individual case, if we’re really going to make a decision as to whether or not these people had evil in their hearts on that day, I would submit a lot of them did not. And that’s what the Justice Department doesn’t seem to understand or even care about. And yet when we look at New Orleans, as you pointed out, clearly that individual had evil in his heart. And originally, notwithstanding the death of at least 10 when they first were reported, an FBI agent says, oh, this isn’t a terrorist attack, when there was an ISIS flag either on the vehicle or in the vehicle. It’s a no brainer. This was a terrorist attack.
SPEAKER 09 :
Congressman, I agree with you. There were some people who perpetrated crimes on January the 6th. I’m a former police officer. I’m a law and order guy. I think civil disobedience is the very last step. We need to utilize the legitimate process that we have. But part of that is the ability to gather and to have rallies. And for those who are on the outside that did not go into the building— I have a problem with how aggressively the Department of Justice has pursued people, not who were inside the building, but who were outside.
SPEAKER 06 :
I mean, they’re never attacked a police officer. They were just out there shouting, which is part of our system.
SPEAKER 09 :
And so they’ve they’ve prosecuted about 1600. And they’re even saying as late of us as of today that they’re still going to pursue charges on possibly up to 200 more.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it’s hard to believe. Any good prosecutor will tell you you want to go after the bad guys, but you’ve got to have that sense of knowing which ones are the bad guys and which ones were just there. And maybe you need to take some action, but you don’t need to be throwing the book at all of these people. And that’s what they did. They threw the book at everybody they could tag. It was in any video that could be identified.
SPEAKER 09 :
So from your vantage point, Congressman Griffith, as you have looked at all of the facts closer than probably 95 percent of members of Congress, because you’ve had to go through all of this, was this politically motivated by the Department of Justice?
SPEAKER 06 :
Can’t speak to their prosecutions. It certainly appears that way, but I haven’t studied that as much as the failures that took place here on Capitol Hill. And there’s no question that the failure to bring the National Guard in before, the failure to put up proper fencing, was all about creating an image. They were worried about creating an image that looked bad. And for fear of looking bad, they created a really bad day for Americans across the country and took something that could have been a small riot with a handful of people being arrested and turned it into something bigger. And sitting on, I believe for political purposes, this is my opinion, sitting on the National Guard just a few miles away from the Capitol and not letting them show up, not giving them the orders, is just a travesty. It was interesting. We were having a hearing on that, and one of the Democrats said, well, why didn’t the president call up and call the head of the National Guard in D.C. and tell him himself? And I looked at the Democrat, and I said, because then you would say he was bypassing the chain of command. He gave the orders. He gave the authority. He gave somebody the ability to make that decision. They made the decision. And another general didn’t follow those orders and get it to the National Guard in time while the National Guard was sitting there waiting to come help control the crowd. And they weren’t allowed to because of optics.
SPEAKER 09 :
A couple of questions on that, Congressman Griffith. The. Intel leading up to January the 6th. Did they have intelligence or data that would suggest there could be a problem on January the 6th, 2021?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think it’s important you said that there could be a problem. They did not have intelligence that said there would be a problem. But there were certain reports that said there could be a problem. And that information was never relayed to Chief Sund. Some of his own people had it in there. It was buried in some places, sometimes on page 16 of a report. It was not in the summary or in the action sheets. So they… For some reason, they didn’t want to face up to the fact that there could be a problem when you bring 100,000 people or more into DC, many of whom are upset, many of whom are concerned about what happened in the election with number of states violating the laws and changing the rules of the election, sometimes within days before the election. These were all concerns, but the Capitol Police were not given at least not Chief’s son, was not given the information so that he could act. And they didn’t act on the president saying, you can use the National Guard if you want to, do what you need to do. And they didn’t act on that. And as a result of them not acting on that, you saw what happened on January 6th.
SPEAKER 09 :
Congressman, the second question following up to that I want to ask is you said it was politicized. They were concerned that it might create the wrong image. Was there any evidence to suggest that there were some that were in the chain of decision making that they would have preferred the outcome that we had so that it furthered a narrative that would have been helpful to the left?
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t know that I can say that. I do think that my personal opinion is that the general who didn’t give the order in a timely manner to the D.C. National Guard may have been trying to curry favor with the incoming Biden administration. But other than that, I don’t think it was an intentional act. I think it was mostly negligence, and they failed to recognize that they needed to do the job. Now, we weren’t anticipating any problems today, and they took the actions today that they should have taken when we knew that there were going to be at least a large number of protesters on Capitol Hill, and they didn’t take the actions necessary to secure the Capitol building or to make sure that we had sufficient backup for our Capitol Police, who are brave men and women who do a great job, and none of that occurred in advance. And I think it was more negligence than overt calculation, but there wasn’t a political undertone in the sense that They didn’t want to have an image that reflected negatively on Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats.
SPEAKER 09 :
I struggle a little bit with that, having lived through COVID and the riots in D.C. And, I mean, we had to board up our building, you know, in the heart of D.C. Buildings were boarded up because you had riots, you had, you know, fronts of businesses smashed in. You know, it was the Lafayette Square across from the White House was, you know, barricaded for months. So I don’t know. I struggle a little bit with that idea that it was all about not wanting that perception.
SPEAKER 06 :
And I’m in the difficult position of I’m trying to act responsibly as a lawmaker looking at the facts that are in front of me and not to jump to conclusions or make conjecture. I think that some of those may be legitimate. But I’m trying to be more cautious.
SPEAKER 09 :
And I appreciate that. I’m just kind of expressing what I think a lot of people see and think. I think a majority of Americans agree with you.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m just trying to be cautious.
SPEAKER 09 :
I want the facts. I want the facts. When you add those facts and these perceptions with what happened post-January 6th with the investigation, the sham investigation that took place by Nancy Pelosi and the January 6th committee, it only fuels that idea that this was politically motivated to advance a narrative.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I don’t think there’s any question the January 6th select committee that Nancy Pelosi put together was politically motivated. I think the evidence is clear on that. From the very beginning, from day one, they wanted to project that this was all Donald Trump’s fault, that he was the big bad guy, and the evidence just didn’t bear that out. Was he disgruntled over some of the states that didn’t follow the law? Yes. Was he concerned that there were fraud in some of the states? Yes, but they wanted to turn it into not only the big legal witch hunt that we’ve seen over the last four years, but they also used the January 6th Select Committee as a tool to promote that political agenda. And they did so without revealing all the facts. I mean, you know, we always talk about the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They gave partial truth, and sometimes maybe even given—I think Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony was clearly in error, if not just falsehoods. And there was all kinds of evidence from witnesses who were there that her testimony was untruthful. Maybe there’s something going on in her head. because I like to give people grace, but that testimony was just flat out wrong and false. And the witnesses who were on the scene that the January 6th committee, select committee had in their position before they issued their report, was not in that report, and they should have given the American people the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They chose not to do so because they had a political agenda. Nancy Pelosi had a political agenda in keeping conservative Republicans off of the commission who could have asked the pointed questions, who could have brought out the information, whether it be Cassidy Hutchinson or the four National Guard officers who testified that the testimony in the J6 committee, those folks knew it wasn’t true, and that one of them who had talked on the promise of being kept anonymous, his identity was leaked. And he was angry about it when he came to testify in front of us. He said, my identity was leaked. I talked to the J6 select committee in confidence because they promised me they wouldn’t reveal my identity. And then somebody leaked it from the J6 select committee. The whole thing was a travesty, and their report is a piece of garbage. And I haven’t even gotten into mentioning yet, sorry, haven’t even gotten into mentioning yet that there was about a terabyte of information that was deleted or attempted to be deleted by the J6 Select Committee that should have gone to the archives of the United States. It’s just gone. Some of that is just gone forever. That is not proper in the United States of America. Again, whether it’s good or bad, All the evidence needs to come in. And you’re a former police officer. I’m a former attorney, and particularly a defense attorney. you know, let all the proper evidence in and let the chips fall where they may. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But you know what? They didn’t do that. They tilted scales of justice for political reasons, and it’s atrocious.
SPEAKER 09 :
And it undermines credibility of the government and the people’s trust in government. Congressman Griffith, thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 10 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins. is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
