In this episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss delves into a spectrum of compelling topics starting with the evolving diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran. As the negotiations progress, special envoys are dispatched to garner peace and stability in the region. Explore how these political moves might reshape international relations and influence geopolitical strategies.
SPEAKER 19 :
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. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 02 :
The president has decided to dispatch Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner back to Islamabad. The Iranians want to talk. They want to talk in person. And so the president is, as I have said many, many times to all of you, always willing to give diplomacy a chance. So, Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out. We hope progress will be made, and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting. And we will see.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, that was White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt earlier this afternoon giving an update on the negotiations between the United States and Iran. Welcome to this Friday, April 24th edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, your Friday host. Thank you so much for joining us. All right, coming up, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has long been accused of targeting conservatives and Christians, well, they have been indicted. And now the House Judiciary Committee is demanding some documents tied to its alleged coordination with the Biden administration. So is this perhaps the start of some real accountability in Washington? Well, Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs will join us in just a few moments to break it all down. Plus, Molly Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, she’ll be joining us for a preview of her new book on the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito. All that and much more coming your way straight ahead. America Reads the Bible. Well, that continued today in Washington, where Christian leaders from across the board this week have been publicly reading Scripture aloud in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. And joining us now to discuss today’s readings is Washington Watch reporter Mary Stackhouse. Mary, tell us about what took place today at America Reads the Bible.
SPEAKER 12 :
So Jody, the Bible readings are continuing today at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. A lot of scripture has been read this week from Genesis all the way to Revelation. So those who read earlier today included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The readings will continue tonight until 9 p.m. Eastern. And tomorrow is the final day of America Reads the Bible. The scripture readings will take place from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Among tonight’s participants that’s reading scripture is Franklin Graham. He’s scheduled to read tonight between 6 and 7 p.m. Eastern. Jody?
SPEAKER 03 :
What an amazing thing. And I’m just so thrilled this is taking place and an incredible honor to have participated in it myself. Mary, and as well as some others, Tony was there and Travis Weber, both from FRC. It’s been an incredible event. Mary, I would like to get your thoughts on some international news. As we just heard, the U.S. is having potentially some more talks with Iran. That’s set to take place here the next couple of days. But at the same time, the U.S. is strengthening the military presence in the Strait of Hormuz. What’s the latest that you’re hearing on all of that?
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s right, Jody. Iran’s foreign minister has arrived in Pakistan, and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are headed there, where direct negotiations with Iran will continue tomorrow. Earlier today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth held a press briefing where he said our naval blockade is growing and another aircraft carrier is now on its way to the Middle East. He said that the U.S. has been forcing any Iranian-linked ships that try to pass through the Strait of Hormuz to turn around and not let them through. During the press briefing, Secretary Hegseth also welcomed help from our European allies in this conflict.
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We would welcome a serious European effort to do something about this strait and this passage, considering it’s their energy capabilities that are most at stake. I think it’s a wake-up call. It’s a wake-up call for countries around the world. Either you have capabilities or you don’t. Otherwise, you’re at the behest of a country like Iran.
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Secretary Hegseth said that the U.S. is prepared for the blockade to be in place as long as it takes. Meanwhile, the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was extended for three weeks after a high level meeting at the White House. Here’s President Trump yesterday.
SPEAKER 17 :
We had a great meeting with the very high officials of Lebanon and very high officials of Israel, and we think that the president of Lebanon and the prime minister of Israel over the next couple of weeks will be coming here. They’ve agreed to an additional three weeks of, I guess, no firing, ceasefire, no more firing. Let’s see. We hope that happens. It’s not going to happen between them, but they do have Hezbollah to think about.
SPEAKER 12 :
President Trump hosted Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yaqul Leiter, and Lebanese ambassador to the U.S., Nada Hamadei Mouad, in the Oval Office for a second round of U.S.-facilitated talks. This comes a day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people, including a journalist. President Trump added that he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Alwin in the near future. Jody?
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, Mary, thank you so much as always for these updates. We appreciate it a great deal. All right, I want to bring in now a member of Congress to discuss some of the latest developments on Capitol Hill. And joining me now is Congressman Andy Biggs. He’s a member of the House Judiciary Committee as well as chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance. He represents the 5th Congressional District of the Great State of Arizona. Congressman Biggs, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you and have you on the show with us.
SPEAKER 21 :
Thank you, Jody. Great to be with you as always.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Well, throughout the week here, we certainly have been discussing the SPLC and the criminal charges that they’re facing. And I know this has been a group that you also have been pushing back against for quite some time. What’s your take on what has come out with them this past week?
SPEAKER 21 :
My take is that this is worse than we ever could have imagined. I mean, we knew that they had a bias, Jody, that they were biased against pro-life, pro-family, conservative, traditional value organizations. But I think in our wildest thoughts, we never would have dreamed that they were actually using donor money to go out and hire people to foment violent actions and then use those violent actions as a mailer or an advertising campaign to raise more money. It’s like the ultimate grift. And we’re looking forward to finding out more about this thing because this is really, really cynical and it’s dastardly and it’s horrific. And you guys, FRC, You guys have been on the receiving end of their bias and lies and slander as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, we certainly have, and I can’t tell you how thrilled we are to see this thing moving forward. I know yesterday, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to the SBLC Interim CEO, Brian Fair, but basically demanding documents and demanding some communication. Of course, you’re on that committee. conducting oversight. Specifically, I’m interested in the role of the SPLC and the Biden administration. It seems like there potentially was some pretty close communication there. What’s the latest looking like in that regard?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, that’s what we’re trying to find out. We’re trying to get… things like emails, text records, toll records, and find out who they were talking to in the Biden administration. And just like what we found with some of the data dumps that have come out of DOJ and other issues, We think that there was some kind of coordination there. I mean, look, you got Joe Biden saying that he was basing his entire campaign for president on the Charlottesville riot. Well, what happened? SPLC hires some people in Charlottesville to participate, maybe even foment. We’ll find that out. Those are the allegations anyway. And And then that’s what and first of all, then a lady was killed there. And that’s what the mainstream or left stream media was focusing on that allowed Joe Biden to become president of the United States. So how big and how deep does this run? We need to find that out because Americans don’t trust their government anymore. And it’s stuff like this that tends to make them very, very wary of anything their government says.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it really does. And again, I’m just really not just us here at FRC, but this is something long overdue. So thrilled to see you guys on top of it. If I can, Congressman Biggs, hit on another topic with you that I know you’ve been working hard on for a long time is FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. you’ve been leading on this. You’ve been a leading voice for probably your entire time in Congress. And yesterday, I know Republicans released a new proposal that would extend Section 702 of FISA for three years. Kind of break this down for us. What’s going on with all the discussions that are taking place? And where do you think all of this is headed?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, so the new proposal from the Republicans includes a couple of things that are interesting, like you have GAO, Government Accountability Office, that’s looking at receiving reports. You have the Director of National Intelligence receiving reports on whether there’s civil rights violations happening. ostensibly being self-reported. I mean, this is part of the issue. And it’s always been part of the issue. Then they have a section that the original title of it, believe it or not, was reiteration of procedures and standards. In other words, it would keep all the the the queries and searches of u.s persons exactly like it is now and they would just set it forth in the statute to me it’s just uh falling way short of this and and we’ve known you know what we found out recently uh in the last three weeks or so is that uh Federal Bureau of Investigation and others, without any predicate at all, actually investigated additional members of Congress, including myself. And that’s what people, American people are like, well, how do you stop this? And so they keep doing like they did two years ago. And you’re familiar with this. They take us into a skiff and give us information so we can’t really tell the American people because then we get prosecuted. But the bottom line is this. I’ve reintroduced my amendment that would protect Americans with a warrant requirement before you could have that search of Americans’ information.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, we don’t have much time, but I know you have introduced that legislation to reform FISA. How tricky is this to find a balance between protecting America and protecting American citizens?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, it doesn’t need to be tricky at all because we basically say if you’re going to conduct your inquiry or search against American citizens, you need a warrant. But there are exceptions, just like there is in all of the Fourth Amendment or search and seizure jurisprudence. And that’s if there’s a national security threat, an imminent national security threat, a threat to an imminent body or state, edifice or buildings, et cetera, then you can go and act and get that information. In other words, they will say, oh, it takes us a long time to get a warrant. Well, guess what? It doesn’t take a long time to get a warrant. But if you’re building a case, then you have time to get a warrant. If it is an exigent circumstance, then there’s an exception. So you can go ahead and actually get the information you need to protect life and body and buildings and America.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it’s an extremely critical issue, and I know there are a number of members of Congress, as well as I’m sure probably a host of other people that have been involved in all of this, and some of them probably not even aware of it yet. So this is one of those issues that desperately needs to be guarded and protected while protecting our country at the same time. Thank you so much, Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs. Always great to have you on the program with us. Thanks, Jody. Thanks for having me. You bet. All right, friends, don’t go anywhere. Coming up, we’ll discuss marijuana and the warning signs that states like Colorado have shown us. When the government gets involved, there’s issues. Stay with us. We’ll be back.
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I think all people really need to have this type of education.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I can tell you that it’s been an amazing course, period. I think this course is a reminder that a biblical worldview should really impact everything. It impacts our government from the federal to the state to the local. It should impact what we’re doing with our families and with our work.
SPEAKER 10 :
God and Government is a video-driven, Bible-based training course from Family Research Council that explores the connection between between biblical principles and American government. In this six-session video series, FRC President Tony Perkins equips participants with a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 21 :
I would encourage all people to take it.
SPEAKER 15 :
I almost wish I would have took it earlier that I could have taught my kids this. I wish I had known these things when we were homeschooling because I think children and my adults now would just greatly be influenced by that information.
SPEAKER 16 :
So I’m an attorney, and for me, it gives me some direct practical knowledge of what I can do to try to impact my legal community to make better legislation, to try to encourage legislators to make choices that have a biblical worldview, which is what we really want.
SPEAKER 13 :
Any pastor would benefit from taking this course. Because we are dual citizens, right? We are citizens of the kingdom of God, but we’re also citizens of this great land, and that comes with responsibility.
SPEAKER 04 :
Even as someone who has been involved in these types of issues for a while, you’re learning little bits and pieces of new stuff all the time. But it’s also approachable enough that newer people, younger people, high school, college students, they can really glean something from this. I would encourage everybody to take this course, whether it’s the videos, whether it’s doing it in person, bring your Bible study group through it, bring your homeschool group through it and equip yourself for these challenging days ahead.
SPEAKER 10 :
View the course at frc.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
SPEAKER 08 :
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal That they’re endowed by their Creator. With certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th birthday, America. May God bless America.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Thank you so much for tuning in with us. All right, as we mentioned yesterday, the Department of Justice is reclassifying FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed marijuana from the highest regulated drug classification, which would be Schedule I, to now the lesser regulated Schedule III. and it’s also ordering a new expedited hearing to fully reschedule marijuana. Of course these actions were in response to President Trump’s executive order back in December on increasing medical marijuana and cannabidiol research. So how significant are these latest moves And how dangerous could they potentially be? Well, joining us now to discuss this from a medical perspective is Dr. Kenneth Finn. He’s vice president of the International Academy on the Science and Impact of Cannabis. Dr. Finn has practiced pain medicine in Colorado Springs for some three decades. He also served on the Colorado Governor’s Marijuana Task Force. Dr. Finn, welcome to Washington Watch. An honor to have you with us. Thank you so much for the time. I appreciate it. Okay. Let’s start with you. If you could just share with us how this whole scheduling thing works and specifically the difference between the Schedule 1 and Schedule 3. What does that mean?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, Schedule 1 are substances that have no proven medical value. Schedule 3 products are kind of in the similar realm of testosterone and ketamine and But they’re regulated. We have dosing guidelines. People generally accept them as have medicinal properties. And despite the fact that there may be some medicinal components to the plant, rescheduling raw marijuana, despite the fact the FDA has never approved a single medical condition for the use of raw cannabis, I’m really… not really understanding why they made this kind of rapid move without really following the science. I mean, there’s no dosing guidelines for raw cannabis. There’s no package insert where you can look at the warnings and precautions. There’s no information for providers to understand drug-drug interactions. I think it’s going to spell disaster. And if you run an experiment, you should care about the outcome. So I don’t even call this an experiment. I really call it human experimentation.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow. Those are some powerful, powerful comments and points and enormously significant questions that you bring to the table. And yet in the midst of all that, the announcement that came out yesterday from the DOJ, they said that their moves are going to expand Americans’ access to medical services. which you just questioned, but medical treatment options. And they said that it would ultimately provide patients with better care and that it would provide doctors with more reliable information. Sounds like you have some major question marks in all those regards. How would you respond?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I do have some concerns about this because the products in the medical dispensaries are the same products in the recreational dispensaries. The concerns I have are contamination. I mean, we get recalls in Colorado, a product that has maybe arsenic or mold or fungus on it. And the recalls say, well, Today’s April 24th, so return your product from November to February. But those products have already been consumed, so any damage is already done. So I really think, you know, I’m all 100% behind research. I mean, give me a cannabinoid that’s purified, non-contaminated, goes head-to-head with an opioid, for example, and proven to be effective, and I’ll bite off on that all day. But the fact of the matter is that these products are not well-regulated. They’re not well-tested for contaminants like pesticides. And I think that we really need to do a better job on this before. I mean, we’re building the plane while we’re flying it. And I think we need to do a better job. And any policy really should follow the science, not public interest, not money, et cetera.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, you know, and a lot of folks, I think rightfully so, realize that marijuana use certainly has negative consequences. So why don’t you just kind of lay that out for us? Just how dangerous can marijuana be?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, people are not going to die by stop breathing like an opioid will. And I know President Trump called fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, but he didn’t take it to the next level where we published a paper showing that fentanyl death rates were higher in marijuana states than non-marijuana states. So what is really the weapon of mass destruction? And we can talk for a long time on this issue. If you talk all the way from in utero exposures And what happens to those offspring? You talk about pediatric poisonings that are on the rise all across the country when they go down this road. You talk about adolescent use and addiction, and although the adolescent use rates have remained flat, there’s been information like out of California recently that after legalizations, adolescents were using more. You get into the realm of health care utilization. I mean, sometimes I think our state leaders can’t spell P&L. They talk about money, money, money all the time and how much they’re going to get. But every state that went down this road, marijuana revenue was less than 1% of the state budget. So it’s not a cash cow. And we haven’t done a good job with the legal drugs we already have. I mean, alcohol and tobacco kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. And so why are we just simply adding another addiction for profit industry that we know is creating harm? I mean, we already have a stressed out healthcare system and now people are ending in the emergency room with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, strokes, heart attacks, sudden death. I mean, people don’t realize that and never believe anything that when somebody says marijuana has never killed anybody, that is not true. Marijuana has never caused anybody to overdose from stop breathing, but it does have other harm. I mean, driving related fatalities on the rise in these states that went down this road. Geriatric poisonings are up 1800% in the state of California. When grandma is given a little marijuana cupcake by their grandkids, and ends up catatonic or has a stroke or other event, and she ends up in the emergency department. So I think, in personal opinion, having been speaking and reading about this for so long, the social impacts of marijuana is broader and deeper than the other legal drugs we’ve done a terrible job with.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and I wish we had more time to talk on this. We need to have you back to go further into it, only 30 seconds or so. But this has not been a good experience for Colorado either, has it?
SPEAKER 20 :
Absolutely not. I mean, for example, marijuana is the most prevalent substance found in completed teen suicide now. That never used to be the case. And a lot of states aren’t even looking at that data. The state of Texas, for example, the number one substance found in a child neglect or abuse fatality by the perpetrator, either active or past use, is marijuana, followed by nothing, followed by the usual assessments like opioids or methamphetamine. It’s marijuana by the perpetrator. And a lot of states aren’t looking at this data either. We need to have more time, of course, and I’m more than happy to come back at your convenience and talk about all the… Let’s do that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let’s have you back. Dr. Kenneth Finn, Vice President of the International Academy on the Science and Impacts of Cannabis. Fascinating discussion. Thank you for joining us. All right, friends, stay with us. Much more Washington Watch right after the break.
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For I know that my Redeemer lives. Job 19, 25. God raised Jesus from the dead because it was impossible for death to teach. Hold on Him. Acts 2, 24.
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Join Family Research Council in standing on the Word. Visit frc.org slash Bible for free resources to help your family follow the way. Jesus, the risen Savior of the world.
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One Nation Under God, America’s undeniable foundation of faith.
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The United States Capitol, an iconic symbol of the American Republic. But few know that this building at the heart of our nation’s government was once something more, the largest church building in America. Since its inception and for decades following, several rooms throughout the Capitol, including the House and Senate chambers, were used to host church services weekly. These services were filled with individuals from all levels of government. The attendance was so pervasive that often it was standing room only. Quote, going to the Capitol on Sundays was then one of the most common things in Washington. Margaret Bayard Smith. This practice was not merely accepted, but encouraged. Quote, I consider it as one of my public duties as a representative of the people to give my attendance every Sunday morning when divine service is performed in the hall. President John Quincy Adams. Housing worship at the center of our Capitol was a living representation of the role that biblical principles played as a cornerstone of our nation’s foundation of faith.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Glad to have you on board with us. All right, we’ve discussed this on the program before, the growing concern and the growing popularity of prediction markets. This is basically platforms where people literally gamble on real-world events. and then they make money or lose money on the outcomes. Like, who will win a certain election? Or what will a certain movie do at the box office? I mean, people even bet on the weather. Well, yesterday, the Department of Justice announced charges against a U.S. soldier who won more than $400,000 on one of these online prediction markets. He had placed a series of bets related to Venezuela, including… when Maduro would be out of power? Well, notably, that particular soldier had participated in the planning and the execution of the U.S. military operation to capture Maduro. So what can we draw from a story like this? And frankly, how should we be thinking about all of this from a biblical perspective? Well, joining us now for our weekly Biblical Worldview discussion is Dr. David Claussen. He’s the director of the Center for Biblical Worldview here at the Family Research Council. Dr. Claussen, as always, thank you for joining me. Happy Friday.
SPEAKER 11 :
Happy Friday. Great to be with you, Jody.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. I know our time is a little bit limited today, so real quickly, first tell us where you are and what you’ve got going today.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, so I’m in Mount Vernon, Ohio. And so my colleague Joseph Backholm and I did a worldview workshop on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Wonderful. I think this is our 18th or 19th worldview workshop that we’ve done around the country. We were there at the invitation of the university. We did another one a few days ago in Maryland. And so we love doing these. You can learn more at frc.org slash worldview. There’s an interest form. If your church would want to bring one of these workshops to your area, we’d love to explore if that would be a good fit.
SPEAKER 03 :
Great. All right. So let’s talk about this soldier. We’ll begin our discussion here using, frankly, classified information for his own financial gain. What’s your thoughts on all of this?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, Jody, what’s being alleged is not just a mere legal violation. This, I think, in moral terms, is a moral failure. The soldier evidently was entrusted with confidential information that he used for personal financial gain. You know, Scripture teaches us that faithfulness in small things is what qualifies us for greater responsibility. And in this case, that trust was clearly abused. I do think this story, though, highlights a broader concern with predictive markets and gambling more generally. Like many vices, I think we can say that gambling is an illegitimate way of trying to meet a legitimate desire. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with taking risk. When you tie risk with responsibility and purpose, it can be virtuous. But the problem with this situation and others is what really passes for risk today is detached from these things. Instead of directing your creativity and capital towards in a productive way. It’s used for a selfish and riskful way. And so again, this is really, you know, Romans 13 tells us government exists to promote good, to restrain evil doing. And so I hope our government takes seriously this evidence breach of trust. But it does remind us that this explosion of predictive markets is a major issue that we as Christians need to think faithfully about because this is happening in our churches as well. I think it’s 50% of young men have a sports betting account. And so this is not taking place in isolation. This is a major concern for Christian pastors and those in ministry.
SPEAKER 03 :
It certainly is, and something that we’ve got to look at from a biblical perspective, and I love the way you describe it there. Our time quickly running away, so let me hit another topic with you if I can, Dr. Clausen. A big focus is for several weeks now, but this week as well on Capitol Hill has been the effort to bring an end to the partial government shutdown. And during the Senate voterama that took place Wednesday night, Republican Senator Josh Hawley tried to extend a ban on the federal funding to Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately, that was rejected. So now Senator Hawley is trying to urge the House to extend the ban. And he noted that Planned Parenthood alone received more than $1.5 billion in funds diverted out of Medicaid and Medicare funds. between 2019 and 21. So there’s a lot going on here. The federal government has to be stewards of taxpayers’ money. What would you say to this whole thing?
SPEAKER 11 :
You’re right, Jody. Government is entrusted with taxpayer resources, and stewardship is a moral responsibility. Our tax dollars represent the labor and sacrifice of millions of Americans. And I think that’s why this debate over Planned Parenthood funding is so important, why Senator Josh Hawley is right to raise these concerns. If you look at the numbers with Planned Parenthood, you and I have discussed these. In the most recent year that we have data, over 430,000 abortions performed That’s 30,000 more over the last year. So we know they’re the largest provider of abortion. A recent research that was published actually today by Concerned Women for America, my friend Macy Charles, actually showed that they are also really in a big way getting involved in gender transition procedures. Macy looked at the regional reports and this transgender so-called affirming care Services are up by 40 percent, over 83,000 incidents of this being performed. And so very, very briefly, I would just say, Jody, from a biblical worldview, we know government should protect life. It should uphold the truth about the human person. It should not be funding these practices that millions of Americans understand as morally wrong, morally impermissible practices. And so, yeah, stewardship matters. A good stewardship means that taxpayer funding does not fund activities that violate the conscience, undermine human dignity and contradict our basic moral responsibilities.
SPEAKER 03 :
Dr. David Claussen, Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview here at FRC. As always, thank you so much for your tremendous insight. Have a great conference there teaching biblical worldview. All right, coming up, Molly Hemingway from The Federalist will be joining us. So don’t go anywhere. Much, much more coming your way straight ahead.
SPEAKER 09 :
Exodus chapter 9, verse 1 says, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go. that they may serve me.” You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? In Scripture, deliverance and freedom is never an end in itself. It is a liberation unto obedience, to worship, and to a covenantal relationship. God’s demand to Pharaoh was not freedom for freedom’s sake, but freedom so his people could identify with and belong to and serve him. Freedom that is not used to serve God will not endure. One of the founders actually echoed a similar warning. Thomas Jefferson wrote, Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever. See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose. And that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor him and to live as a people under his authority. In this 250th anniversary year, We must ask the question, are we living by that purpose today as a nation? Lord, we thank you for the godly foundation and heritage of our states. Lord, we would return to an understanding of the freedom that you’ve granted to us, that freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. And I pray that our nation would return to that understanding of the purpose of the freedom that you have granted to us. We thank you, Father. By faith, we pray that we would return to that purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER 06 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Thank you so much for tuning in with us today. All right, while sources who are close to the Supreme Court’s two oldest justices have indicated that neither of them are planning to retire this year, certainly the pressure is there. I think in the back of the minds of many people is the decision that was made by late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to not retire under President Obama. And then, of course, she passed away in 2020 during the Trump’s first administration. And that tilted the balance of the Supreme Court in favor of conservatives. So with that in the back of the mind, some are now pointing to that as a warning for conservative justices. And they’re being urged, quite frankly, to retire while there is a Republican president and a Senate that can confirm a successor. But it’s also a reminder, all of this is, just how important one justice can have, not only on the court, but on the entire nation. Well, our next guest has a new book that’s out on one of the current justices, Samuel Alito. And she joins us now to discuss that. With us is Molly Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist and author of Alito, the justice who reshaped the Supreme Court and restored the Constitution. Molly, great to see you again. Welcome to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s so great to be here with you, Jody.
SPEAKER 03 :
Look, I want to get into the book. In fact, that’s going to be the bulk of our conversation. But before I get there, I did want to get your thoughts on the developments this week on the Southern Poverty Law Center. What’s your take on that and what do you hope will be coming out of the investigations?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I’ve been a longtime critic of the Southern Poverty Law Center because for decades now they have done some really horrible work. They have falsely accused people who don’t share their liberal politics of being racists and bigots and hateful. They have caused many problems for people who don’t share their liberal politics. You know, they created a hate map where they put organizations that they didn’t like because they didn’t share their politics. We had people use this information from the Southern Poverty Law Center to commit acts of violence. Famously, a gunman came to the Family Research Council and attempted to commit mass murder, was stopped by a brave security guard. We had Charlie Kirk and Turning Points USA being put on a hate list shortly before he was assassinated. And the people they put on these lists were censored and persecuted. And it turns out, according to an indictment this week, that the Southern Poverty Law Center was funding these groups that it claimed to be opposing by funding some of their leaders. And we’re talking groups including the Ku Klux Klan. And they would then raise money off of saying that they were opposing these groups when really they were funding some of their leaders. The indictment alleges that they were involved in bank fraud and wire fraud. They set up shell companies to hide what they were doing. It’s really shocking and scandalous behavior for an absolutely massive, supposedly nonprofit organization that has nearly a billion-dollar endowment and has been a major arm of the Democrat Party.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it is scandalous, scandalous. I mean, it is unthinkable the allegations that would come out. And, you know, to me, of course, there’s many, but I would share the hope that this would be the beginning of the end of the SPLC. There’s just so much there. I wish we had time to go into it further. But I have you on today because I want to talk about your new book. This is a fascinating book. So let’s start at the very beginning. Why did you choose to write about Justice Alito?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I’d previously written with Kerry Severino a bestseller on Justice Kavanaugh. And at the time that we did that, so many people in the conservative movement, and particularly social conservatives, were saying, there’s this giant on the court that nobody talks about. Conservatives tend to know a lot about Justice Thomas and Justice Scalia, who died in 2016. But they know almost nothing about this guy who’s behind all of the major decisions that a lot of conservatives care about, Justice Alito. And I thought, that is weird that this man who’s so important, considered so significant on the court, people don’t know a lot. So I knew I wanted to write about him. And the reason why people don’t know a lot about him is because he avoids any—he’s very humble. He avoids any attention. He’s the opposite of a celebrity justice. At the same time, he’s one of the most hardworking justices the court has seen. And he has steadily moved the court in a better direction. And, of course, you see this perfectly in his—in how he authored the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, which was a project of the conservative legal movement for nearly 50 years.
SPEAKER 03 :
It really is incredible, and I love the way you describe him. I know you know him much better than I do, but my first encounter of meeting him actually was at the White House, and to use the word humble is such an understatement. I was taken aback at that characteristic of him, and it was moving just to see how authentically humble humble. He really is. So from this, Molly, what are some things that you found out as you were looking into Justice Alito, particularly about his past, perhaps? Let’s start there. What did you find that was just interesting?
SPEAKER 01 :
So because nothing, virtually nothing had been written about Justice Alito, part of what I did was just tell his story about how influenced, how deeply influenced he was by his parents. His father was also a lifelong public servant. He was the son of an Italian immigrant father and grandson of Italian immigrant grandparents. He went to elite institutions without ever compromising his beliefs. A lot of people, when they see the trappings of power or elite institutions, they seem to fall away from their faith or from their convictions. That is not Samuel Alito. He also was drafted or he had a low draft number and went into the ROTC. And that makes him the only current Supreme Court justice to have a military background. And it does shape some of the ways he thinks about it. He thinks we are in a conflict between different visions of what America should be. And he wants his clerks to understand that it’s a very serious conflict and to take it and to do everything they can to help restore the republic.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, so no question, the vast, vast, vast majority of our viewers and listeners will never have the opportunity to know Samuel Alito personally or professionally. So how would you describe him to that audience? Just kind of put out there, you’ve given some great starters, but just kind of describe who he is.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, one of the things I loved about researching this book, and to do that, I interviewed nearly 100 people, people who are close to him and have been close to him for a long time. What you don’t realize unless you know him is he has an incredibly wicked and dry sense of humor. He’s incredibly funny. But he’s so quiet about it that you wouldn’t know unless you’re in conversation with him. He cares deeply about his staff and his clerks. He very much accommodates them if they have a need for a day off for a religious holiday or if they have children, issues like that. But I also tried to, in this book, get behind the scenes of the court. And I have some pretty explosive stuff in there about how difficult it was to get that Dobbs decision out. including some internal threats. You know, we all know about the leak and we all know about the attacks on the justices and the threats on their lives. But they also had to face down some pretty remarkable internal threats from the liberal justices who didn’t want Roe v. Wade overturned. And they engaged in some shenanigans to delay the release of that decision, even as the justices’ very lives were being threatened and the lives of their children and families.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow. Yeah, that’s fascinating. So let’s go down that path a little bit further. You mentioned some bumps in the road, we’ll put it that way, with some other members of the court, particularly on the Dobbs decision. But from a more broad perspective, how does Alito’s views differ, let’s say, from other members on the Supreme Court?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, some of the interesting differences are among what are called the originalist justices. These are people who care deeply about the Constitution and interpreting it according to its original meaning. There are five self-declared originalists or constitutionalists on the court right now, but they sometimes differ. And even when they get along really well and work together really well, they differ. People love, and rightly so, Justice Thomas. He’s the type of guy to sort of plant his flag where he thinks everybody should be. He doesn’t really care if he’s standing there alone. He cares that he’s right. And Justice Alito may agree with Justice Thomas about where the court should be, but he thinks a little more pragmatically about how to get other people on the court over to the place where they need to be. This is why he was the author of the Dobbs decision. It was very difficult to get that done, and he needed to keep five justices together and not have one of them peel away, which had happened in previous abortion jurisprudence. But Justice Alito is an originalist. He cares about the original meaning of the Constitution. And he says that’s what he begins with. He also is very pragmatic. He thinks about the facts of a case. And he also thinks about, yeah, he just, he thinks about prudence a lot for a Supreme Court justice. I think this is a model for Americans. We see people so obsessed about principle or so obsessed about winning. And what you see in Justice Alito’s jurisprudence is that those things can work together quite well. You can and should be quite principled. And you should also think about how to be effective. And that’s why he’s become more and more a model for a certain type of conservative attorney in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow. Fascinating. You mentioned a moment ago about kind of looking behind the scenes with the court as a whole. Let me ask you this. What is the collegiality of the court right now? Particularly, I’m thinking in light of the hyper-partisan environment that we live in. And unfortunately, much of that, I think, has entered into the judicial branch as well. But how would you describe that?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, conservatives had to deal with being the minority on the court until quite recently. Liberals never had to deal with it, and they don’t seem to be handling it very well, both externally. There are a lot of attacks on the court, but even internally. It used to be that if you had something mean to say about a colleague on the court, you would put it in your written opinion or in your dissent. And there are a lot of funny barbs throughout the years of people poking at each other and kind of going after each other. But then they would all go out for drinks, or they would all go out for dinner, and it was no big deal. Recently, you’ve started to see those attacks on each other or attacks on the court itself, questioning the legitimacy of the court, coming publicly. You’ve had some of the liberal justices go after colleagues or after the court in public comments. It is a huge break of norms for the Supreme Court. And it does affect the collegiality. I think the liberals, I understand that it’s frustrating for them to be in the minority. But the conservatives had to do that for a long time without attacking the integrity of the court publicly. And it would probably behoove them to learn that if they care about the institution going forward.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I think one of the decisions that highlights what you’re talking about is the Dobbs decision, which you mentioned that Justice Alito authored that landmark decision. What do you draw from what he wrote in that decision?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well— Everyone knew from the moment Roe v. Wade came down that it was bad law. Even people on the left said, this is not constitutional. I don’t know what this is. And yet, because it created a so-called right to abortion, people who like abortion were willing to do whatever it took to keep it. That’s why it became so difficult to do anything on the court, you know, any confirmation battle where people thought the justice might overturn Roe, it became very contentious, like with Bork and with Thomas and with Kavanaugh. So Alito needed to have a moral courage in drafting something and getting it across the finish line, but also a physical courage. I tell the whole story about Dobbs. And there are so many interesting characters, including Scott Stewart, the attorney who argued the case on behalf of Mississippi, who is a remarkable figure and showed It also showed a lot of courage. And just being able to tell all the details about how the case got to the court, how they agreed to hear it, what the different justices wanted to make sure was included, and then what the liberal justices did to sabotage the release of Dobbs and how that stuff has never been told before. And it’s really interesting about how the court operates internally as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
And, of course, that decision was leaked, which created all sorts of chaos, not only within the court, but, I mean, just the public in general was kind of stunned by all of that. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER 01 :
Never before in the history of the Supreme Court has an entire draft decision been leaked to the media. Immediately upon it happening, the left had organized protests against the Supreme Court. There was firebombing of churches and pregnancy centers throughout the country. And there were immediate threats to the lives of the justices. They had to be moved to secure locations. They had to wear bulletproof vests. They had to greatly increased their security protocol. And these were real threats. There was a man who traveled from California, he said, to kill three justices. The first one he was aiming for was Brett Kavanaugh. He was arrested in front of Brett Kavanaugh’s house. These were very serious, and yet the Department of Justice under Merrick Garland and Joe Biden did literally nothing to help these justices out. It is against the law to try to pressure a judge, a federal judge or a justice, to change their decision. Everyone knew that’s what these protests were designed to do, and yet nothing was done. It was celebrated by many people in the media. It was celebrated by the spokesperson for the White House, who said she had no problem with what was going on and wanted it to continue, and it was her understanding these things were peaceful. It’s a real dark moment in American history, and it really shows how desperately the left wanted to keep being able to have no restriction on ending the lives of unborn children.
SPEAKER 03 :
Molly Hemingway, I can’t tell you how great it has been to have you join us today on Washington Watch. Author of Alito, the Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution. Molly, how can people get a copy of this book?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, the book is out. It’s already hitting the bestseller list, which I’m thrilled about. When I wrote the book, I knew I wanted to know a lot about Justice Alito, this man we don’t know anything about. But I’m thrilled that so many other people also want to know about him and just learn more about the man who’s achieved so many of these conservative victories for the people of America.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I encourage people to get a copy. Molly, thank you so much for joining us on Washington Watch. Always an honor. God bless you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you, Jody.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, friends, that wraps up this edition and this week of Washington Watch. Have a fantastic weekend. We’ll be with you again next week right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 19 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
