Skip to content 7/24/2025 Tony Perkins and His Guests Decipher Facts from Fiction and Call the Nation to Seek God’s Direction Jul 24 · 54 min ...more
7/24/2025 Tony Perkins and His Guests Decipher Facts from Fiction and Call the Nation to Seek God’s Direction
July 24, 2025 · 54 min
Epstein files stall legislation, one man’s journey from pulpit to state leader, America reads the bible, state and federal legislative measures important to Christians, and America’s AI Action Plan.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
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July 24, 2025 · 54 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Audio
Epstein files stall legislation, one man’s journey from pulpit to state leader, America reads the bible, state and federal legislative measures important to Christians, and America’s AI Action Plan. ...more Show the full description Show less Epstein files stall legislation, one man’s journey from pulpit to state leader, America reads the bible, state and federal legislative measures important to Christians, and America’s AI Action Plan.
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In this video 0:00 The Call for Transparency and Justice10:28 International Challenges and Faithful Leadership24:47 Empowering the Church and Engaging Culture33:54 America Reads the Bible Initiative48:24 Christian Lawmakers and Policy Impact
The Call for Transparency and Justice 0:01 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and0:12 newsmakers, all from a biblical world view. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.0:19 Numerous members of this committee and this subcommittee have called for answers and transparency, so let's do something about it. We need the actual Epstein files to get the full truth. So I hope my Republican0:30 colleagues will join me in supporting a motion to subpoena the Department of Justice to release the Epstein fouls.0:37 That was congresswoman Summer Lee. Her motion passed after 3 Republican members of the subcommittee joined Democrats in calling for the Department of Justice to release all of the Epstein documents. Welcome0:49 to this July 20 fourth edition of Washington Watch broadcasting live once again from Indianapolis, Indiana, site of SoConCon 20 25. I'm Tony Bergens, your host. Thanks for tuning1:00 in. Coming up, Pennsylvania congressman Scott Perry, 1 of the Republicans who voted to subpoena the DOJ for the Epstein files, joins us in just a moment. Also today, the White House is rolling out1:12 new initiatives on artificial intelligence.1:15
1:27 not allow any foreign nation to beat us. Our children will not live on a planet controlled by the algorithms of the adversaries advancing values and interests
1:39 contrary to our own.
1:43 That was, president Donald Trump. So what does this mean for the American family? We'll get reaction from FRC's Travis Weber a little bit later on Washington Watch. The SoConCon is an
1:54 annual gathering of the Family Policy Alliance, which operates in about 40 states nationwide. And 1 of their key priorities is equipping and encouraging pastors and churches to engage in public life. Well,
2:06 Indiana lieutenant governor Mica Beckwith, who answered that call as he was a pastor, is with us today to share his journey to the lieutenant governor's office. And Bunny Pounds with Christians
2:18 Engaged and the Family Policy Alliance will join us to preview an upcoming event FRC is proud to partner in, and you'll wanna take part in it as well. And former Arkansas state
2:30 senator Jason Rapert, founder and president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, will stop by with a look at the positive legislative momentum happening in the states. All of that and
2:42 more coming up on this edition of Washington Watch. Well, just hours before the house was set to adjourn early for its month long recess to avoid tackling the Epstein file issue,
2:54 a subcommittee of the house oversight committee passed a motion to subpoena the Department of Justice for the full unredacted release of the files related to the late and infamous Jeffrey Epstein. The motion
3:06 was introduced during a hearing on unaccompanied immigrant children by the ranking member of the federal law enforcement subcommittee of the Oversight Committee, Democrat congresswoman Summer Lee of Pennsylvania. It
3:18 passed on a vote of 8 to 2 with 3 Republicans joining the Democrats. So what impact might this have on all of the dramas surrounding the Epstein files? With me
3:29 now to talk about this and more is congressman Scott Perry, a member of the oversight committee, also a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. He represents
3:40 the tenth congressional district of Pennsylvania. Congressman Perry, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for, joining us today.
3:48 It's great to it's great to be with you, Tony. And, I would just say, look. When when president Biden was the president, they weren't interested. My friends on the other side of the aisle was they weren't
3:59 interested in this. At that time, many Republicans, including myself, were calling for the release so that the American people could understand what happened with Jeffrey Epstein. Mayor Garland wasn't interested.
4:12 I've called for a a, a briefing from the intelligence committee of which I'm a member of early in the year. I've already called for the Department of Justice to release, the information
4:24 and and appoint a special counsel. I've called for the release of the, grand jury testimony that has been that has been hidden from public view. And, and I've also
4:36 called for the protection of Ghislaine Maxwell. So my my position has never changed on this. I'm exactly where president Trump is. He's ordered his department of justice to not only, get the
4:47 testimony from Ghislaine Maxwell, but to release the file. So this is nothing new. This is, this is theater by the Democrats that wanna make something out of something that they weren't interested in. Not only were they
4:59 not interested in this 1, Joe Biden was the president and Merrick Garland was the attorney general, they also weren't interested in 400 over 400000 unaccompanied minors, many thousands
5:11 of which have been lost by the Biden administration.
5:15 Congressman Perry, there's no question that there is political theater here, and both the Democratic party and I would say the legacy media have seized upon this for political advantage. But I wanna go to your second
5:27 point, and that is the consistency of your position and of many Republicans. I think that is the the issue here is that there is a lack of some consistency among some Republicans
5:38 because there was a promise that this information was going to be released, and all of a sudden, where the public is told there is no additional information. The Department of Justice was not gonna release it. And so I
5:49 think it's it's the issue of the lack of consistency of some that has made this more of an issue than I think would have been if it would have been released.
5:58 I I would tend to agree with you, and I can't speak for other folks. I haven't seen the the files, and I understand that we wanna make sure that we safeguard the names and the personal personally
6:10 identical identifiable information of potential victims and folks like that. I I I certainly get that. But I think the American people are very curious to know if their
6:21 government supported the the, essentially, the kidnapping and raping of underage children for some kind of, extortion against foreign leaders or something like that. They
6:33 wanna know if their government was involved in that, and they wanna know who ordered such a thing and and why. What was so valuable that it was worth safeguarding Jeffrey Epstein from the from the long
6:45 arm of justice in that in that regard. And I think that's completely appropriate. And like I said, my position has never changed on that. And and, you know, to the president's point where he's called for the release of
6:57 this information, I think that the president probably, you know and I can't really even speak for him, but just from what I know, he's watched himself be persecuted by made up information, what he calls
7:09 fake news, over and over again. And I think that there's some realistic concern that, that the Democrats, Merrick Garland, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, attorneys general, many have,
7:20 have placed incorrect or misleading information in the files just to make sure that Donald Trump is, is dirtied up. And I think it's a reasonable concern by the president and the administration.
7:33 To that point, congressman Perry, the the American people was able to filter through that previously. Do you not think that they can handle that information again and and sort fact
7:45 from fiction given that there's a there's a big distrust of the media and what the media puts out. But but here's the here the polling data, and this is across the board with most polling entities, is that only about
7:57 7 16 to 17 percent of the American public agree that the administration is handling this well, and that would that would include the US Congress. I mean, this is an issue of trust in government, which has
8:09 been at an all time low during Joe Biden. And I think a lot of the hope was it was going to be restored, and this is a major setback in my opinion.
8:18 Yeah. I I I hate to agree with you on that that's true, but I think it is true. And like I said, I don't have the files. I can't release them because they don't have them in my possession, which is why my
8:29 position has always been the same. And I think the American people deserve to know what their government was involved in. And, and so regardless of the reason, I don't think I think the
8:41 only way to restore the trust that you're talking about is to be fully transparent regardless of how embarrassing it is to the federal government and to the people involved, especially such, such
8:53 accusations that are so horrific. And, you know, we just need to see the information. The American people are smart. We we can figure it out, and and then move on from there.
9:05 And, you know, this is a case where I think the intelligence community is, is out over its skis, is out of control, and needs to be brought to heel because I suspect they might not want
9:17 this information released. I'm not sure. But, if that's the case, then that goes to the trust issue, and it's right that the American people should have these questions. It is, you know, if the if the information
9:28 belongs to the FBI or the CIA or somebody like that, it's not their information. That information belongs to the the, citizens of America.
9:38 Final question on this, congresses, Scott Perry. In your opinion, does this issue go away without the release of the information?
9:46 I I don't think it does, go away. I think that, that it it's exactly why I voted the way I did and why I have been consistent on this the whole way through. I I you know,
9:57 we have called for the release of the information, and Republicans are in charge of the house of representatives, the senate, and, and the executive branch. So, it it's on us,
10:09 and I wanna remain consistent for all the right reasons, and I think I've done so.
10:15 Well and I and I wanna commend you for that. That's why you're frequently on this program. You are consistent in your positions, and I I am grateful that you joined with the Democrats even though they were motivated by
10:25 political theater and using this as political leverage. Your consistency, I think, is in in step with where the American people wanna see congress go. We've got about 3 minutes left. Congressman Perio, I wanna shift
International Challenges and Faithful Leadership
10:37 gears to international front. Steve Witkoff, the special envoy for peace mission, said his team of mediators is coming home from Doha because Hamas clearly shows a lack of desire
10:49 to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. I mean, this is something we've been hearing about 50 days. We're gonna get a peace, agreement there. The president pushing hard Israel to move forward. Israel's at the
11:01 table. Hamas is not. Where does that leave Israel and the US as they seek a resolution to the war there in Gaza?
11:09 Unfortunately, Tony, I think that it it leaves Israel, which I I don't think is surprised at this, but certainly people in the United States with the realization that Hamas has never been serious
11:21 about a peace agreement. They've never been serious about relenting on their hatred of Jews and Israel and their their, interest and, guiding principle of destroying and ridding the
11:33 world of Israel, the Jewish state. They're never going to do it, and all they're doing is playing for time. It's why they took the hostages as leverage. They don't plan on giving them up. They don't plan on relenting.
11:45 Unfortunately, that is the reality of who Hamas is and who the Islamists are. And the sooner we understand and recognize and acknowledge and accept that, I think the better off
11:56 we'll be. Where while I would like a different outcome, it's simply not realistic with the ideology of of this barbaric, religious anti
12:09 anti west, anti Israel, anti Christianity, group of people. And that's just who we're dealing with.
12:16 About a minute and a half left, congressman Perry. In his statement, mister Witkoff also said, quote, we will now consider options to bring the hostages home.
12:28 What might that entail? And should this scare Hamas thinking that the United States is gonna weigh in to get these hostages home?
12:38 Well, I hope that Hamas will be, will be convinced that it's the right thing to do if they want to remain, a part of life on this planet at this time. I
12:50 think that that'd be well advised from their viewpoint. I think the United States and Israel, the people of Israel, of course, the family and the loved ones of these hostages are fed up with the game, the the long
13:01 standing, play for power here. And I think the United States is, is kinda at, unfortunately, our last resort. We always wanna re, you know, put diplomacy first
13:13 and trying to work things out, come to some reasonable consensus between 2 differing bodies. Unfortunately, 1 is intractable. They are violent, and they're they they don't respect
13:25 the lives of others. They don't even let's face it. They don't even respect the lives of the people that they represent. They use them as political pawns and sacrifice their very lives. That that's that's who we're
13:37 dealing with. So, yeah, I I and I suspect that the United States is prepared to use means necessary to get the hostages out, and I hope they do.
13:46 Congressman Scott Perry, always great to see you, my friend. Thanks so much for, joining us today.
13:51 Thank thank you. God bless you.
13:53 Alright. Coming up, we're gonna be talking to the lieutenant governor of Indiana, so don't go away.
14:06 The family is the oldest, most tested, tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained, and yet there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure.
14:18 That's why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that could effectively defend and strengthen the family.
14:25 Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation's capital, FRC continues to
14:37 champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
14:44 FRC is 1 of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north. And I shudder to think had they not been here that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
14:54 The Family Research Council is key. It's 1 of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that
15:06 enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
15:12 It's just a wonderful para church organization that doesn't seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully,
15:24 not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the holy scriptures.
15:32 FRC, is not gonna be whooped. You know, we're we're gonna fight. We're gonna take a stand. And, again, we don't retreat.
15:41 You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, DC, a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender, and we will never be
15:53 silent.
15:59 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.
16:11 Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the word who dwelt among us. Come with us
16:23 and discover the glory of the word. Read the gospels and witness the life changing story of Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of
16:35 common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new
16:47 year. Find our Bible reading plan and daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at f r c dot org slash bible. Join us and stand on the word.
17:01 Welcome back to Washington Watch as we broadcast live from Indianapolis, Indiana for the SoConCon 20 20 Indianapolis, Indiana for the SoConCon 20 25. Now the SoConCon is a gathering of influential
17:13 conservative policy leaders from all across America, and and everyone brings with them different experiences and perspectives. Well, my next guest is someone who probably never imagined he would find himself
17:25 where God has led him today. He thought he'd go into business with his parents or into the dairy industry. Then he went into the ministry. He was a pastor, and then COVID came, and
17:37 COVID well, it shut a lot of doors. It opened some other doors for him. He's now a lieutenant governor of Indiana, and, that was after serving his 15 years as a worship leader and campus pastor. And so how
17:49 did he get to where he's at today? Well, he's here to tell us a story, lieutenant governor Mica Beckwith. Mica, thanks for joining us.
17:56 Tony, thank you for having me. Thank you for all you're doing. Appreciate it.
17:59 Well, it's it's great to see you. We I guess our paths crossed, a decade or so ago Yeah. When you were working here in the state with the the now equivalent, the Family
18:11 Policy Alliance, representative here Yeah. Working with pastors.
18:16 I was. So working with Indian Indiana Family Institute, I was the director of the Hoosier Leadership Series, and I was really feeling a burden to get the church off of the bench into the game when it comes to,
18:28 biblical citizenship, stewardship of America. And and I was talking to a lot of pastors and they were saying, well, you know, separation of church and state. Oh, well, we don't get political. And I I just remember
18:38 thinking, well, didn't didn't Jesus say in the great commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel? And last time I checked, politics is part of all the world. So I just I could never understand this
18:48 disconnect. And so I started researching it, and I realized America's foundations is rooted in
18:52 the scriptures.
18:54 And if the church doesn't stand up, who will? Right. So that's what kind of led me Well,
18:58 in in in in that lack of standing up led to an erosion of religious freedom, which really became so front and center during the COVID crisis.
19:10 That's right.
19:11 Because we saw, you know, abortion clinics, bars were open, but churches were closed.
19:17 You know, Romans 1 says, you know, he gives them over to their own foolishness. Right? And, you know, like, Isaiah talks about what was once considered, woe to those who say good good is evil and evil is good. Right? And
19:27 I think 20 20 really was the, codification of that in our culture. We we looked around and said, oh my goodness. What is happening? And I think the reason is because the church has been largely silent on these issues for
19:39 the last 50, 60 years, and they we haven't been pushed out. We exited on our own. Right. And so when 20 20 hit as a pastor, I said, listen. My job is to defend liberty. Whether it's in the spiritual or in the
19:51 natural, I'm a shepherd. And so when evil comes, I should stand in the way of evil and and the sheep. And, and so I started writing religious exemptions for people, started pushing back on tyrannical lockdowns. And when
20:02 even our state in Indiana, which is a good state, we were doing things that were unconstitutional. I said, listen. You government, you can't do this. You God hasn't given you that authority. And, and I just started
20:11 speaking out, and my my name, ID, and influence started growing. And I would have never thought in a million years I'd be here today, but God moves and opens doors and
20:19 and So you began moving around the state, challenging the laws that were closing down the churches and silencing the voice of the church at a time when it was needed more than ever. Yeah. You know, as you recall, that
20:30 the same time as George Floyd and the the violence in the streets all across America, and I think a large part of that was because the churches were closed.
20:38 Yeah. A hundred percent. And if the church doesn't do their job, we will lose liberty. Liberty is God's idea. It's not man's idea. And, you know, our our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence mentioned God
20:48 4 times. You know, the creator who has endowed us with these inalienable rights. Well, they use creator with a capital c. They're speaking of God. In the in Genesis 1 1, in the beginning, God created. That word Elohim
21:00 means creator. They're they're making the parallel. They're saying the God of the Bible is the God who gives us our liberty, this Elohim, this creator. And if our politicians don't get this
21:09 Right.
21:09 Then we will lose liberty.
21:10 And if the church doesn't speak up about it, the politicians aren't gonna get it. They're not gonna know it. So let's talk, lieutenant governor, about the the the process in here in Indiana, if I'm not mistaken, there's
21:21 a nominating convention that takes place.
21:23 Yeah. So the the Republican Party, every 4 years, we'll have a nominating convention that will nominate the lieutenant governor. But for the history of Indiana, we've never had a a competition. We're always told as
21:34 delegates who to vote for for the lieutenant governor's race.
21:37 And the governor the governor gubernatorial candidate kinda picks who that run will be?
21:41 Exactly. So it's more of a rubber stamp. The delegates come in, rubber stamp whoever the gubernatorial primary winner.
21:47 Didn't happen this time.
21:47 Didn't happen this time. So governor Braun, well, him and I have a great relationship.
21:51 And he's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's frequently on this program when he was in the senate.
21:54 He's doing a great job as governor. We people always ask because it was sort of an arranged marriage, how's it going? And and I can tell you right now, it's going really well. He he's he's a fantastic governor. I'm
22:03 honored to serve alongside of him. But over the last few years, I realized, okay. We've gotta have an independent voice in that lieutenant governor's office so that what we saw during COVID never happens again. And, so I
22:14 started I started getting churches involved. Hey. Do you know what a delegate is? Do you know do you know the process? You know, Hosea 4 6 says, my people perish for lack of knowledge. I said, we we don't have the luxury
22:22 of being ignorant. We need to know. And so we started getting churches involved, and and a lot of Christians came out. So, okay, I'll run for delegate, and I'll be a stake convention. We'll support you, Micah, down at
22:31 the convention. And there are 2 churches primarily that really took a big interest in this, and they they taught people how what the delegate process was. They encouraged their congregants to run. And between those 2
22:41 churches in Indiana, they sent 63 they got 63 delegates elected to go to the convention. Well, wouldn't you know it, when the vote total came back, I won with exactly 63 votes. Wow. So it's 2 churches in Indiana
22:53 that made it made the world of difference.
22:55 I mean, just think about that across this country. In in every system is a little bit different, but the reality is if churches engage Yeah. They can make a difference.
23:04 It was literally just 2 churches. Imagine, we have 300, David Barton and George Barna did a study. We, we have 300000 churches in America. 300000 churches. And and out of those 300000
23:15 churches, only 38 percent of them have a biblical worldview. And out of the 38 percent, less than 3 percent actually engage in what we call politics. And I I don't think anything's political. I think it's all biblical.
23:27 Right.
23:27 And so Especially today, these issues these issues that are moral biblical issues have been turned into political issues, and the church is told to back off.
23:36 Yeah. If the church does their job, America will go on and be the city on the hill, will be a beacon of liberty for the whole world for many more years to come. If the church doesn't do their job, we will lose this very
23:46 quickly.
23:47 Lieutenant governor, we just have about a minute left. As you are now in office, what what do you see as your biggest challenge? You also preside over the senate. So what what is the biggest challenge you see that the
23:57 this state and and by extension the country's facing?
24:00 Yeah. It's strategy. Right? I people ask me, how how can we pray for you, Lieutenant governor? And it's so hard to know what to pray for because you don't even know the challenges you're going to be up against tomorrow.
24:09 So what I've what I've said, we've got to be like Solomon. The church Christians have to be like Solomon. Solomon didn't know the problems he was going to be facing tomorrow, but he knew what to ask. He asked for wisdom
24:18 and knowledge. Yeah. And and if you go yeah. So if you go to I think the Chronicles passage says he he asked for wisdom and knowledge.
24:24 Yeah.
24:25 And the knowledge piece is the strategy piece. And that's what we need. We need wisdom from heaven and God's strategy.
24:30 In that the the in the Hebrew there, it even means the heart. Yeah. A heart to lead, a heart to understand the people and what they were facing. Lieutenant governor Beckwith, thank you so much for joining us today. What
24:41 a what an amazing story. Thank you for your faithfulness and the inspiration. I know you're gonna be to pastors all across this country.Show more
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