Skip to content 1/30/25 Weaponized Government Agencies, Super Bowl Halftime, and Reagan National Tragedy Jan 30 · 59 min ...more
1/30/25 Weaponized Government Agencies, Super Bowl Halftime, and Reagan National Tragedy
January 30, 2025 · 59 min
Looking into the weaponization of federal agencies and the tragic air collision in DC last night. There's good news following up on last Monday's Superbowl halftime story.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video January 30, 2025 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
Looking into the weaponization of federal agencies and the tragic air collision in DC last night. There's good news following up on last Monday's Superbowl halftime story. ...more Show the full description Show less Looking into the weaponization of federal agencies and the tragic air collision in DC last night. There's good news following up on last Monday's Superbowl halftime story.
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In this video 0:00 Tragedy in the Skies2:27 Legislative Actions and Executive Orders4:38 Washington Watch and Government Weaponization18:46 International Concerns and Domestic Developments37:09 Faith, Family, and Freedom
Tragedy in the Skies 0:06 Good afternoon. I'm Victoria Marshall, and welcome to the Washington Watch news desk. An American Airlines passenger jet with 64 people on board collided with a US Army0:18 Blackhawk helicopter last night, sending both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River. There were 3 soldiers on board the helicopter. The tragic incident took place last night near Reagan0:30 National Airport outside Washington DC. Authorities say there are no survivors from the crash.0:37 We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident, and we have recovered0:49 27, people from the plane that went from the helicopter. The district office of the medical examiner has leaned on reuniting these bodies and these1:01 people, with their loved ones, and we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them, and reunite them with their loved ones.1:10 That was DC fire chief John Donnelly at a press conference earlier this morning. Also this morning, president Donald Trump spoke with reporters about the incident.1:21 This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history and a tragedy of terrible proportions. As 1 nation, we grieve for every1:33 precious soul that has been taken from us, so suddenly. And, we are a country of really, we are in mourning.
1:43 Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, whose first day on the job was yesterday, also spoke.
1:49 My condolences, to the families of the loved ones. We commit to them that we are going to get to the bottom of this investigation, not in 3 years, not in 4 years, but as quickly
2:01 as possible with the NTSB who is here today as well as the FAA. What happened yesterday shouldn't have happened. It should not have happened. And when Americans take off in
2:13 airplanes, they should expect to land at at their destination. That didn't happen yesterday. That's unacceptable.
2:20 Both Duffy and Trump said they will find out how the crash occurred and ensure nothing like it will ever happen again. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an investigation
Legislative Actions and Executive Orders
2:32 into the incident. And in other domestic news, a president Trump signed the first bill of his second term yesterday. The Lake and Riley Act requires the detention of illegal immigrants who are accused of
2:43 theft and similar crimes. He was named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed by an illegal migrant. The migrant had previously been arrested and then released on parole. Trump
2:55 also announced he would be signing an executive order related to the bill.
2:59 Today, I'm also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30000 person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay. Most people don't
3:11 even know about it. We have, 30000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. Some of them are so bad we don't even
3:23 trust the countries to hold them because we don't want them coming back. So we're gonna send them out to Guantanamo.
3:29 Trump's executive order sending illegal migrants to Guantanamo is quite a reversal from the previous administrations. The Biden White House sought to shut down the prison. And in other executive order
3:41 news yesterday, President Trump signed an order that ends a racial indoctrination in schools. The order prohibits federal funding of K through 12 schools that promote critical race theory or radical gender
3:53 ideology. The order states that imprinting anti American subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our nation's children not only violates longstanding anti discrimination
4:05 civil rights law in many cases, but usurps basic parental authority. My administration will enforce the law to ensure that recipients of federal funds providing K through 12 education
4:17 comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in various contexts and protecting parental rights. The order also gives the secretary of education 90 days to come up with the strategy
4:29 on how to end CRT and gender ideology lessons in schools. And those are today's headlines. I'm Victoria Marshall. Up next is Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.
Washington Watch and Government Weaponization
4:42 We'll see you tomorrow with us.
4:52 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 and
5:03 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
5:11 We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think we'll probably state those opinions now. Because over the years, I've watched as things like this
5:23 happen and they say, well, we're always investigating. And then the investigation 3 years later, they announce it. We think we have some pretty good ideas, but we'll find out how this disaster occurred and we'll ensure
5:36 that nothing like this ever happens again.
5:39 How was president Donald Trump earlier today responding to last night's tragic collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and the US Army Blackhawk helicopter at Washington Reagan's National Airport?
5:51 Welcome to Washington Watch, and thank you for joining us. Well, this morning, the rescue effort at the crash site shifted to a rest a recovery mission after it was confirmed there were no survivors.
6:03 Now the big question is, how did this happen?
6:06 We are gonna wait for all the information to come in from from this vantage point, but, to to back up what the president said, what I've seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.
6:17 That was newly confirmed transportation secretary Sean Duffy speaking earlier today. We'll get an update from congressman Troy Nehls of Texas. He's the chairman of the House Transportation and
6:29 Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. And for anyone who flies, frequently in and out of Washington, it's obvious there are a lot of military helicopters in the air. But have they made the skies above DC
6:41 too crowded? We'll discuss that with retired Air Force Brigadier General John Tyker later here on Washington Watch. Meanwhile, president Trump's nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, had his
6:53 confirmation hearing before the senate judiciary committee today. The topic of government weaponization took center stage.
7:01 And in many ways, the worst legacy, in my opinion, of the Biden administration was the complete politicization and weaponization of both the Department of Justice and the FBI,
7:13 turning them into tools to attack the perceived enemies of the Biden White House.
7:24 That was Texas senator Ted Cruz. We'll get reaction from congresswoman Harriet Hegeman of Wyoming, a member of the House Subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government. And amid
7:35 ongoing news from the Middle East and the continuing war in Ukraine, there's been less focus on South Korea where impeached president, Eun Saek yeol, faces charges of insurrection. Is South Korea's
7:47 democracy at risk? We'll talk with Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA deputy division chief for Korea. And finally, as I
7:59 mentioned yesterday, there's some encouraging news regarding the content of the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show. Louisiana state senator Valerie Hodges will join us later to share the details. All of that and
8:11 more coming up on this Thursday edition of Washington Watch. Be sure and check out the website tony perkins dot com. Better yet, if you've not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, I encourage you to go to the App Store and
8:22 get the Stand Firm app so you can take Washington Watch with you wherever you go. Well, there was quite a bit of, fireworks today during the confirmation hearing for 3 of president
8:34 Trump's most, I'd say, controversial picks for key roles in his administration. Among the issues that came up during the hearing for Trump's nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, was the weaponization of the federal
8:45 government, which Democrats claim is what president Trump is threatening to do. But as Republicans have rightly pointed out, weaponization is what we saw from the previous administration under Joe Biden, and
8:57 president Trump has made clear that he will not be, continuing a weaponized DOJ. Well, that message doesn't appear to be getting through to Democrats. Here now to discuss the
9:09 issues, congresswoman Harriet Hegeman. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. She represents the at large congressional district of the great state of Wyoming. Congresswoman,
9:21 welcome back to Washington Watch. Always good to see you.
9:24 Wonderful to see you, Tommy.
9:27 Before we get into the confirmation hearing and and the president's executive order on, the weaponization of government, I wanna get your reaction to the tragic crash, that took place in
9:38 DC last night.
9:41 It is absolutely heartbreaking. I flew out of DCA just a couple of hours before that to head home to Wyoming. 1 of the observations I had was looking out the window at the Potomac and thinking how
9:52 absolutely frigid cold it looked with all the ice ice flows in it. And, to hear about that last evening as I was driving from the Denver airport, again, it's just heartbreaking. My heart goes out to
10:04 those families, to the teammates, to everyone who is affected by this terrible, terrible tragedy.
10:10 I I am pretty confident as we've heard from the president, Sean Duffy, former colleague of yours. This is gonna be thoroughly looked at, and I think it will be given the fact that so many fly many members of congress fly
10:21 in and out. And we've seen it. I mean, I I'm flying it out every week, and you see the, the aircraft. It's a very crowded airspace. So I'm imagine I'm imagine that something is going to be, to done,
10:33 to deal with this. Let let's talk about the weaponization. Let's first start. 1 of the first executive orders of president Trump was dealing with the issue of the weaponization of the federal
10:45 government. Talk a little bit about that and how given the position that you had on that weaponization committee, looking at all those issues, Are we gonna get a handle on this quickly?
10:57 I've had a front row seat to see what happens when the federal government is is weaponized as weaponized against political opponents. We saw it play out in a couple different ways under the Biden Harris administration.
11:09 1 of them was the manner in which they charged and prosecuted the j 6 folks, going after people who might have just simply walked through the capital, not even knowing that there were barricades up, and and
11:21 overcharging them dramatically. We know that because the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of many of the people who were charged, where the Biden Harris administration was actually using a statute that was adopted to
11:32 address the Enron situation of of, disposing of and destroying documents and records, and they use that as a way to try to enhance the sentences of the people on January who were involved in anything
11:44 associated with January sixth. Then you contrast that with what happened in Portland, what happened in in in, Minnesota during the the summer of 20 20, what happened in New York City. And the reason that I say you
11:56 have to contrast it is for 1 group of people that were disfavored by the Biden Harris administration, they did everything they could to destroy them. For the people such as Antifa, the people who were involved in chop
12:07 in Seattle and those kinds of things, they not only dropped charges or didn't bring charges in the first place. Many of those people they settled with and paid them tens of thousands of dollars if they were at all,
12:19 inconvenienced at any time while they were burning down cities and causing billions of dollars of damage. If you look at what they did to president Trump, it's so clear in the cases in New York, Florida, and DC
12:30 that the folks aligned with Biden and Harris and the Democrats, again, were using our justice system to go after a political opponent. As an attorney, as a long term advocate for civil rights and civil liberties and
12:42 adhering to our constitution, I was pretty shocked to see how the government was weaponized as quickly as it was. When you look at the Russia, Russia, Russia collusion hoax and what the FBI did
12:54 and their involvement and what the White House knew. In fact, they knew in August of 20 16, before the 20 16 election, that the Steele dossier was a hoax, that it was paid for
13:06 by Hillary Clinton, that there was no validity to it, yet they used the whole of government approach to get FISA warrants against, the Trump team to spy on them, to continue with an
13:18 investigation against president Trump for a year and a half under the auspices of claiming that he was conspiring with or colluding with the country of Russia to undermine America. I mean, all of these things together
13:29 give you an idea of how weaponized the federal government became under the last administration.
13:36 Congresswoman, I think it's it's been a process because I I I think back into the the eighties and nineties where, even early the turn of the century, where RICO statutes, which was they were created
13:48 back in the 19 seventies ago after the mob and racketeering, were used against pro lifers. So I think, you know, those things were allowed to go forward, and I think it's kinda like the the the camel's
13:59 nose under the tent. You if you don't address it, it only gets worse.
14:05 That's why I refer to what president Trump is doing as accountability. People wanna say, well, he's gonna weaponize this against his enemies, and Dick Durbin is saying that now. No. The people who engaged in this contact
14:16 need to be held accountable for the decisions that they made. And so far, no 1 has been held accountable. 1 of the things that we did a lot of work on with the select committee on weaponization of the federal government
14:27 related to the first amendment and the mechanism that was used by Biden and Harris and their cohorts within that administration to stop us, the the conservatives and Republicans, from being able to
14:39 exercise their first amendment rights. We know that from the Twitter files and the testimony of Matt Taibbi and and Michael Shellenberger, what, professor Jonathan Turley has found. All
14:51 of these things, all of these mechanisms by which the government was used to suppress the first amendment rights, not only the freedom of speech, but as you point out, freedom of religion, using the FACE Act and
15:03 literally turning it on its head and taking, you know, 72 year old grandmothers who are praying outside of an abortion clinic and trying to throw them in prison for 5 years, not because that woman was any kind of a
15:14 threat or violating anyone's civil rights, but for the purpose of making her as an example so that no 1 else would dare risk objecting to and fighting back against abortion.
15:26 That that
15:27 is So
15:27 that's what they did.
15:28 Yes. And that's probably the most chilling aspect of this is that it was designed. It was to shock others into silence so that they would not speak or challenge
15:40 these policies. I mean, that's what happened to j 6 folks, what they endured. But here here the the EO, the executive order is great. I mean, you look at it, it addresses this issue, but it's
15:52 an executive order. It can be repealed by the next administration. Congress has to deal with this. Are your colleagues ready to statutorily deal with this so that the government
16:04 cannot be weaponized in the future against the American citizen?
16:08 So a couple of things. In some ways, we already have. So, being on the judiciary committee, part of our jurisdiction was revising section 7 0 2 of the FISA warrants. And so after we
16:20 learned what the FBI was doing in the and in collusion with the Hillary campaign in going after the Trump, campaign during the 2016 cycle. We made fundamental
16:32 changes to section 7 0 2 of FISA that makes it much more difficult for the FBI to be using that process at least to be weaponized against us. So we've already started that
16:43 process. And I agree with you that this is an executive order to the extent that any of these executive orders should be turned into statutes. We are already working through that process so that we can be introducing
16:55 them. But the other thing that I think is going to happen over the next 4 years, Tony, is that we're going to see so much exposed, and I think it happened over the last year and a half. I think that the reason that
17:07 Donald Trump won with the resounding victory that he did was that people were horrified at what had happened with our our legacy institutions, with those institutions that all of us grew up
17:18 revering and thinking, hey, maybe I wanna go and work for the FBI. What has been exposed over the last couple of years and what will continue to be exposed? Number 1, will it help us to draft better legislation and make
17:30 sure it doesn't happen again? But the other thing we need to do is just simply enforce the constitution as written. I have an absolute first amendment right in speech, impressed to peaceably assemble to petition my
17:41 government for redress and to exercise my religion as I see fit. And 1 of the things that I have done is I have introduced a bill called the First Amendment Restoration Act. It is patterned after a similar,
17:53 federal law that applies to states. But, basically, what it says is that any federal employee who, under color of federal law, violate someone's first amendment rights, they can be held liable in damages.
18:05 We can get injunctive relief, and we can also seek attorney's fees. So that's 1 of the bills that I actually worked with Jonathan Turley and some of my cohorts on the on the, judiciary committee that we're going
18:17 directly at these things, that it will be very clear that if you violate the first amendment and you are a federal employee, I can sue you personally. So that's the kind of legislation we're pushing forward with.
18:28 Harry, I wanna help you with that. We we need that. We need accountability. That is a means of accountability. We're we're out of time, but always great to, see you. Thank you so much, for joining us today, and we look
18:40 forward to working with you to protect that first freedom and to get rid of the weaponization of our federal government. Hey, folks. We're gonna look at South Korea next. The crisis there. Don't go away.Show more
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