By Sydney Byerly
The Indiana Citizen
November 7, 2025
A former senior adviser to Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith says she witnessed what she calls a “frat-house” environment inside Indiana’s second-highest office — one now under the scrutiny of a Marion County grand jury.
Erin Sheridan, who served as Beckwith’s senior adviser before being fired in July 2025, says the office prioritized ideology and loyalty over professionalism. What began, she says, as a chance to “help an untested administration grow up” quickly became an exercise in dysfunction.
Sheridan sat for nearly six hours of interviews with The Indiana Citizen over three days to detail her experiences in her six months on Beckwith’s staff.
“I’ve got nothing to gain here. I’m not running for office,” Sheridan said. “I just think people deserve to know what’s happening behind the scenes.”
Beckwith’s office did not respond to The Indiana Citizen’s request for comment on Sheridan’s description of the workplace.
According to Sheridan, the lieutenant governor’s top staff communicated through an informal “executive group chat” that mixed official government business with memes, artificial intelligence-generated images, and off-color humor.
“They’d make Micah look like Superman or the Dark Knight,” Sheridan said. “It was constant memes, jokes and prayers. They didn’t shy away from it. It was all very casual.”
Sheridan said the chat, which included Beckwith’s chief of staff Sherry Ellis, deputy chief of staff, Gregg Puls, and legal adviser Devin Norrick, blurred lines between political messaging and official duties. Staff allegedly discussed campaign-related topics alongside state policy issues — which Sheridan said was a potential violation of ethics rules separating political and government work.
“I kept reminding them that if we’re talking state business, it’s subject to public record,” Sheridan said. “They didn’t care. They just laughed.”
Ellis, Puls, and Norrick did not respond to The Indiana Citizen’s requests for comment.
Sheridan is no political novice. With more than two decades in Indiana state government, she has served under multiple Republican administrations. She began her career under State Auditor Connie Nass and went on to work for Auditors Tim Berry and Dwayne Sawyer. In late 2013, then-Gov. Mike Pence appointed her interim auditor of state, a role she held from December 2013 to January 2014. When Suzanne Crouch succeeded her in the position, Sheridan stayed on to assist with the transition and later served as Crouch’s chief of staff from 2017 to 2021 after Crouch was elected lieutenant governor.
Sheridan said her path to Beckwith’s staff began through Rob Kendall, a former colleague who once worked for her in the auditor’s office and now co-hosts The Kendall & Casey Show on WIBC. Kendall, an early and outspoken supporter of Beckwith’s campaign for lieutenant governor, said on air that he “highly recommended” Sheridan for the position, arguing Beckwith needed experienced hands around him after his surprise victory at the 2024 Republican state convention.
Their introduction led to discussions about how Sheridan could help Beckwith “get acclimated” once he took office — conversations that ultimately brought her into his inner circle as a senior adviser.
Sheridan says the incident that ultimately defined her time in the lieutenant governor’s office occurred in April 2025, when Beckwith left the Statehouse to see the now-late conservative activist Charlie Kirk speak at Purdue University.
“Micah had gone to meet Charlie Kirk that day,” Sheridan recalled. “When I heard the guys in the back laughing. They said, ‘You’ve got to see this.’ They handed me the phone, and that’s when I saw it.”
On the screen, she said, was a digitally altered topless video of the wife of Rep. Craig Haggard, R–Mooresville, singing at Hoosier Idol, the Mental Health America of Indiana annual talent show and dinner event for mental health advocacy and awareness.
“It wasn’t real, but it was taken from something real that I’d seen,” Sheridan said. “It was her singing, and it was her topless, singing.”
Sheridan says deputy chief of staff and the office’s appointed ethics officer, Gregg Puls, and contracted outside legal counsel, Devin Norrick, were the two individuals she remembers interacting with and watching the video.
Sheridan said she immediately told the men the behavior was “reckless and dangerous.”
“The attorney, Devin Norrick, told me to lighten up,” she said. “He said ‘Even Micah thought it was funny.’”
Sheridan said she warned them that what they were doing could damage everyone involved.
“I told them, ‘This is the kind of stuff that’s gonna take all of us down — this kind of sloppiness. You guys need to grow up.’”
She said she immediately went to Chief of Staff Sherry Ellis, telling her that “the guys back there are acting like frat boys and they’ve got a topless video of a representative’s wife.” Sheridan said Ellis “laughed it off.”
A second source, who asked not to be named citing fear of retaliation, said they overheard this conversation but would not elaborate further.
Her employment formally ended the last week in July. In the days following, news of the alleged video broke.
Beckwith has repeatedly denied that any AI-generated explicit video was ever viewed or circulated inside his office, calling the claims politically motivated and “a witch hunt.”
At an Aug. 4 town hall in Vigo County, the lieutenant governor publicly addressed the allegations for the first time, saying he learned of them only after the initial news reports and that his office had conducted an internal review.
“No, I’ve never seen the video — the alleged video,” Beckwith said. “It all goes back to one person’s account that this happened. So we investigated. The allegations were that somebody in our office was looking at a deepfake, pornographic video back in April. [The] first I ever heard about it was this weekend. We looked into it — there’s no evidence in any way, shape, or form that it actually ever happened.”
He told attendees his team had “checked email records” and searched for any trace of the alleged clip.
“We went through all this — it was like forensic computer evidence, you know, we checked,” Beckwith said. “We said, ‘Okay, is there a video around? Can we find the video?’ Nobody knew where the video was.”
In later interviews with FOX59 and WIBC, Beckwith repeated that the story stemmed from “one person’s account” and said an internal review found no evidence or corroborating witnesses. He called the controversy a “political hit job,” noting it broke just days after Sheridan’s dismissal.
“It came out three days after we had to let her go,” he told WIBC on Sept. 9.
While Beckwith initially described the inquiry as involving “forensic computer evidence,” he later told FOX59 his office did not bring in outside cybersecurity experts or use forensic auditing software to review staff devices.
“We didn’t bring in a third party to come in and do an investigation, and here’s why,” he said. “I’m not going to let one allegation from one person dictate what we do in the office or spend taxpayer resources on a baseless claim.”
He has continued to insist that his office found “no video, no proof, no witnesses” — and maintains the allegations remain “baseless.”
According to reports from FOX59 and IndyStar, a Marion County grand jury is investigating not only the alleged deepfake video but also “ghost employment” within Beckwith’s office — meaning staff who may have been paid for work not performed, or who worked on political projects while drawing a state paycheck.
The investigation, led by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, has reportedly included subpoenas for staff communications, including the executive group chat Sheridan described. Investigators are said to be examining whether the alleged conduct could violate Indiana statutes on non-consensual pornography, computer tampering or official misconduct.
Sheridan confirmed that she has been contacted by investigators and has provided a statement.
“I’ve cooperated fully,” she said. “I’m not trying to hurt anyone, but there has to be accountability.”
Beckwith has publicly acknowledged the existence of a grand-jury probe. During a November appearance on Fort Wayne’s Morning News on WOWO Radio, he recounted what he said a former staffer told him about their own grand-jury testimony.
“I got wind from somebody that they did interview, that’s connected to our office,” Beckwith told WOWO. “And this person came back and told me that they said, ‘I just want to tell you kind of what was asked.’ They went in thinking they were going to talk about the AI video — and not one time did the AI video come up.”
Instead, Beckwith said, the staffer was questioned about office time cards.
“They were just fishing so hard to find something that they could pin us to the wall with,” he said, comparing the probe to the Soviet Union’s notion of “show me the man, and I will show you the crime.”
Beckwith insisted his office operates “very, very transparently” and that investigators are “trying to find any little thing that somebody in my office just didn’t do right.” He called the investigation “completely inappropriate for any type of prosecutor to do.”
He also suggested that news of the grand jury had been leaked for political reasons.
“You’re not supposed to know that there’s a grand-jury investigation going on,” Beckwith said, claiming it surfaced “right before we go into the redistricting fight.” Nearly two weeks ago, Gov. Mike Braun called for a special session on redistricting and tax compliance to begin Nov. 3, though lawmakers aren’t scheduled to meet until Dec. 1.
Under Indiana law, grand jury witnesses may discuss their own testimony, but prosecutors, jurors, and court staff are bound to secrecy.
Beckwith’s comments appeared to confirm that the grand jury’s inquiry extends beyond the alleged AI video to potential payroll and resource-use issues — matters he dismissed as politically motivated “fishing.”
As of early November 2025, no criminal charges have been filed, and the grand jury proceedings remain confidential under Indiana law.
The Marion County grand jury represents the most serious in a growing series of controversies surrounding Beckwith’s leadership since taking office in January.
State officials have already faced questions over the purchase of an $87,672 Chevrolet Tahoe High Country for Beckwith’s personal and official use, as well as a pattern of blurred lines between church activity, campaigning and state functions.
The grand jury inquiry follows months of smaller scandals and public missteps that have drawn national attention. In April 2025, Beckwith sparked outrage after posting a video defending the Three-Fifths Compromise, calling it “a great move by the North to make sure slavery would be eradicated.” His comments were quickly condemned by historians, civil rights leaders, and even Gov. Mike Braun, who said he “didn’t like” Beckwith’s characterization of the clause. The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus and the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis issued formal statements denouncing his remarks, calling them “racially insensitive and historically inaccurate.”
Weeks later, Beckwith again made headlines again claiming that the Marion County Democratic Party was paying Black pastors “thousands of dollars” to turn out voters. Faith leaders called the comments “totally false” and demanded a public apology.
Beckwith has also continued to serve as pastor at Life Church in Noblesville, where he has hosted politically charged events, including appearances by conservative activist Charlie Kirk and Turning Point Faith gatherings that merge religious themes with partisan messaging. His dual role as both pastor and lieutenant governor has drawn criticism from ethics advocates who say it further blurs the line between ministry, campaigning, and official state duties.
The Indiana Citizen also recently reported that Beckwith received a written reprimand from Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, in February after lawmakers complained about his tweets and conduct while presiding over the Senate.
Beckwith has dismissed the criticism — and the grand jury probe — as partisan attacks intended to undermine him.
Sheridan, however, insists her account is not political — but personal.
“I’ve worked for five administrations. … This was different,” she said. “They didn’t come to govern. They came to disrupt.”
Sydney Byerly is a political reporter who grew up in New Albany, Indiana. Before joining The Citizen, Sydney reported news for TheStatehouseFile.com and most recently managed and edited The Corydon Democrat & Clarion News in southern Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s in journalism at Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism (‘Sco Griz!).
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
