Wednesday, November 4, 2026 Today, Americans head to the polls for the final day of voting in the midterm elections; the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the DOJ to threaten state election officials with prosecution; the Justice Department sent out approximately 20 target letters to Democratic officials in their bogus Alaska election investigation; Trump has promised preemptive pardons to Elon Musk and DOGE employees; Google threatens to shut off searches for schools that reject the use of artificial intelligence; anger at Trump is driving a surge in Black voter turnout across the South; Governor Mikie Sherrill warns New Jersey ports to reject Russian fuel shipments; the Trump administration says it will roll back protections for pregnant people in the workplace; plus Allison and Dana delivers your Good News.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Today, Americans head to the polls for the final day of voting in the midterm elections; the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the DOJ to threaten state election officials with prosecution; the Justice Department sent out approximately 20 target letters to Democratic officials in their bogus Alaska election investigation; Trump has promised preemptive pardons to Elon Musk and DOGE employees; Google threatens to shut off searches for schools that reject the use of artificial intelligence; anger at Trump is driving a surge in Black voter turnout across the South; Governor Mikie Sherrill warns New Jersey ports to reject Russian fuel shipments; the Trump administration says it will roll back protections for pregnant people in the workplace; plus Allison and Dana delivers your Good News.
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msw media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Today, Americans are headed to the polls for the final day of voting in the midter election cycle. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the DOJ to threaten state election officials with prosecution. The Justice Department sent out approximately 20 target letters to Democratic officials in their bogus Alaska election investigation. Trump has promised preemptive pardons to Elon Musk and Doge employees. Google has threatened to shut off searches for schools that reject the use of artificial intelligence. Anger at Trump is driving a surge in black voter turnout across the South. Governor Mikey Sherrill has warned new Jers ports to reject Russian fuel shipments. And the Trump administration says it will roll back protections for pregnant people in the workplace. I'm Allison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Oh, my gosh. The day is here. It is here. We've been working for so long.
We have been. I hope you all have been keeping yourself busy. And, you know, none of the polls have closed yet, but some of them are about to.
Yeah, I think maybe we got some Indiana and Kentucky polls closing very, very, very early returns. But just to, you know, remind everyone we're recording this the night before the show comes out to the public. So, like Dana said, as we are at right this second, I think polls in Indiana and Kentucky have just closed and that's it. And so we are bringing all of this to you before we know what happens in the elections. But I imagine that, we'll probably know that we flipped the house pretty early on today.
I hope that is true. From your mouth to whoever's listening ears, because, my goodness, we need a win. I mean, I think that we've done everything we can. I think that, our listeners left everything on the field, like the postcards, the door knocking, everything canvassing. Like, at least I know that our community, you and I, we did everything we could, but for this midterm, and at least I know that. And I know the people listening know that. You know what I mean?
Yeah, I do. And I've texted a little bit with our friend Mary Trump, who is sending all of her election day love to everyone who listens to the beans. And of course, you, my friend Dana. I just wanted to reach out to her and be like,
I know
it's here. Now, later in the show, we're going to talk to Adam Klassfeld from All Rise News. We're going to discuss the election docket, particularly the Supreme Court totally rejecting the 20,000 ballot sequestration request demand, rather, from the Department of Justice and the ninth Circuit, whiplash rulings on election interference by the Trump administration, as well as the escalating criminal investigation into ballot stacking in Alaska. They're actually sending out target letters to about 20.
Oh, my God.
Election officials saying you are probably going to be indicted for conspiracy against rights, which is what Donald Trump was charged with for January 6, 2020, by Jack Smith. They're not going to be able to prove that, by the way.
Yeah,
I spoke to Joyce Vance a little bit. I talk more about that with Adam Classfeld later in the show. But with 241 title 18, US code 241, the bar for mens rea, for intent,
for
motive is heightened. Right. And since you're not allowed to question the motives of people who run for Congress or, Senate.
Yeah,
yeah, they don't really have a case. They can't prove Mensuria at all. And so if you can't do that, you don't meet one of the elements of conspiracy against rights. So we'll keep an eye on all of that and all of the election docket stuff, like I said with Adam Klassfeld a bit later in the show. So we have a lot of news to get to while we await election results rolling in. So let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, everybody. First up from the New York Times. The Justice Department is intensifying its investigation into the recruitment of an opponent with the same last name as a Republican senator in Alaska, sending letters, as I said, to about 20 Democrats informing them they might be targets. And that's according to two people with knowledge now, sending such a notification at the decisive moment in a close race between the incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan, and his Democratic opponent, Mary Paltola, is, quote, highly unusual. The New York Times says it's actually against Justice Department policy, but whatever. Democrats have accused the administration of weaponizing the department for purposes and properly. So I might interject, they say recruiting candidates called ballot stacking is a common tactic in campaigns and not illegal under state law. Yeah, it's. It's got a name. That's how common it is. It's got a name. The intended recipients of the letters include Mark Elias, the prominent election lawyer whose Firm has represented Ms. Peltola and other Democratic candidates, and at least one official at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the dscc. Now, the department is investigating possible donor fraud and conspiracy charges. That's the conspiracy against rights charges I just told you about. That's what the person added on the Condition of anonymity. The conspiracy charges, like I said, Title 18, US Code 241, same thing. Jack Smith charged Trump with deprivation of rights, namely the right to vote. But like I said, there's a much higher standard for mens rea for proving intent and motive, and they just aren't going to be able to do it.
Absolutely. We will let you know what happens. All right, this is from Politico. The blacklash has arrived. The first Hint appeared in 2025 elections when Democrats won larger than expected margins in Virginia and New Jersey. Then, beginning early this year, the turnout numbers in primaries were unmistakable. And now the story is blaring in neon as early and absentee boats soar. Their motivation can be traced to President Donald Trump's return to power. And then back to back events. The White House led effort to dilute minority heavy districts to elect more Republicans and the Supreme Court's gutting of the Voting Rights Act. And I quote, trump has tried to neuter them. That's former President Bill Clinton. That's what he told Politico about black voters. He went on to say, you know, he did all that reapportionment, which really infuriated them. And everybody knows that he's turning the Justice Department into a political operation, not a justice operation. As Clinton explained, there's something else at ah play here. An unmistakable and all too familiar whiff in the air. And I quote, historically discriminated against groups have an uncanny feel, detector to them. That's what Bill Clinton said. Now, Politico spoke to the former president who has been working on or running in Southern campaigns for about 60 of his 80 years. Wow. He spoke to them Friday night. By the way, Politico spoke to Clinton Friday night. He had just addressed the capacity crowd at a Tupelo church turned event center that still bears the stained glass of its old tenant, but unlike most churches, was nearly evenly split between black and white supporters. For Clinton's appearance, he was there to stump for Scott Colum. He's a local prosecutor giving a lackluster GOP incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde Smith, who couldn't even say more than nine words at her event, her own event. He was there to give that a stronger than expected challenge. Now, in typical Clinton fashion, he used his speech to joyfully jump on Hyde Smith's comment that instead of confronting high beef prices, voters should consider other proteins. And I quote, I don't believe we need a senator to explain the existence of chicken. That's what Clinton deadpanned, calling her remark a shopping tip. Not a policy I know. Yet the combination of poor or mediocre GOP candidates, better than average Democrats, and most of all, the sour national political environment for Republicans has surprisingly thrust these states into play. The biggest driver for black people and everybody else is, of course, the cost of living. Gas and groceries are the same forbidding price for every voter, not, just the Republicans or the Democrats. Yet the policies making life less affordable can feel targeted at black Americans, especially in working class communities. And this is another. Quote, the current government has attacked almost every income stream that this community has to survive. This is from Eddie Boykin. Eddie's citing health care cuts and the sting of inflation caused by Trump's tariffs and the Iran war. Boykin, an Air Force veteran who pastors a black church in Lancaster, South Carolina, said he sees the strain among his flock. Quote, it's money. They're hurting. There's something deeper going on, though. Politico began to glimpse it when they visited a black church with David Jolley. As we know, that's the Florida Democrat running for governor at the start of this month. And they've seen it in every state since. Angry but energized black voters, many surprisingly young, showing up at these events.
Yeah. So gonna be interesting to see the returns in the south as they start rolling in. And of course, we'll go over all these, return in more detail tomorrow when we have them. Next up from Bloomberg, Trump says he'd be willing to offer pardons to Elon Musk and other close allies if the Democrats win Tuesday's midterm elections. Yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna pardon them no matter what. Yeah. Why
would you have to pardon them if they didn't do anything illegal, you jackass? Other than steal all of our personal information and Social Security numbers.
To make your weird fake voter lists that don't have any actual non citizens on them. The President made the comments during an interview with the New York Post released November 2nd. Trump dismissed a suggestion that Democrats would attempt to nationalize Musk's SpaceX and said he would be willing to offer pardons to any of his allies targeted by investigations. By the way, we really should have nationalized SpaceX when Biden was president. I don't think we had the Congress to do it, but man,
yeah, no kidding.
Quote, if they do it, we'll just have to protect those people. That's what the President told a conservative commentator, Miranda Devine, on her Pod Force One podcast. So that's a. Sounds like a drag queen name to me. The president also confirmed that he'd be willing to issue preemptive pardons if needed, citing former President Joe Biden's protective pardon of his son Hunter and several government officials who he believed would be targeted by the incoming weaponized Trump administration. Several Democrats have floated the idea of launching investigations into Musk and his ties to the administration. Politico reported in October that Democrats are eyeing possible probes into Musk's time leading Doge, the, so called Department of Government Efficiency, the government contracts SpaceX and Tesla have been awarded and his alleged role in restricting SpaceX's networks in Ukraine. Now, according to an analysis posted by Democracy Defenders fund, in the 17 months since Musk has left Doge, his companies have received at least $10 billion in new government contracts and grants. He's also received regulatory relief. At least 11 executive departments and 14 independent agencies have taken actions that benefit his businesses.
I just. We knew it when it was happening. Everyone. We knew it when it was happening.
All
right, this is from the Times. The Trump administration is preparing to scale back workplace accommodations for women related to pregnancy and reproductive health. Seven people with knowledge of discussions of the plan said the moves will limit the impact of a 2022 law that was meant to fill a gap in disability and discrimination protection that employees are guaranteed at workplaces. It was intended to provide accommodations, ah, for pregnant workers such as bathroom and water breaks, reprieves from heavy lifting or time off for prenatal appointments. But the scope of the regulations under the law, known as the Pregnant Workers Fairness act, it's been debated since their drafting conservatives, even some who supported the law, said the rule that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission wrote to apply. The law reached for far beyond pregnancy to cover matters including abortion, fertility treatment and related procedures and conditions it was not meant to protect. Narrowing them would fit with other efforts by Andrea Lucas, the EEOC's chair, to roll back what she has called the liberal excesses of the Biden administration. Whatever.
Oh, like protecting people and their health.
I know, I know. pro life, everyone. You know what I mean? The EEOC has targeted corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, abandoned some discrimination cases, and stopped enforc workplace protections for transgender workers. It is of a piece with a suit of executive actions that are making the American workplace by halting enforcement of sexual harassment rules and encouraging fewer mothers to work outside the home.
I,
mean, what a mess.
Now we're getting down to it. They don't care about women. They are trying to force them back into the home. That's what's going on here. Yeah. What a great closing midterm election message. We're going to cut back protections for workers who are pregnant. Also from the Times. This is so fucked up. Google announced Tuesday that early next year it's going to turn off artificial intelligence tools, and it's popular software for K to 12 students unless school administrators explicitly choose to make those tools available, meaning it's blocking search tools if you don't opt into artificial intelligence. Executives at the tech giant said they wanted to be responsive to educators and parents who've asked for more control in how children interact with AI. But there's a catch. Schools that choose to restrict AI entirely will also lose access to Google search entirely. AI features are now a standard part of Google's commercially available search engine, Quote. Search and AI are deeply integrated. I. I hate that so much, too. That's what Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google, said. If a school has banned AI, he said, students won't have access to search and they'll see a message from their school that indicates the search is not available. The company's new strategy underscores Google's powerful role in American education. If school leaders want continued student access to search within the company's ecosystem, they will be forced to embrace Google's AI. Lina Khan, former chair of the FTC Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement, google is, quote, using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting its AI. She added that multiple courts had found the tech giant liable for violating antitrust laws. This latest move shows it remains unchastened. That's Ms. Khan of Google's new AI changes for schools. She went on to say, as the public increasingly pushes back against the use of AI in schools, Google is making clear it will punish those who do not fall in line.
All right, thank you so much, Allison. And from the Times, Governor Mikey Sherrill sent letters on Monday to a dozen port and terminal operators in New Jersey warning them to turn away any tanker and carrying Russian diesel or face what she called harsh penalties. Ms. Sherrill, a Democrat, said that accepting the fuel would violate federal law and that she was prepared to use every available legal and regulatory tool to block any tanker from offloading Russian fuel into New Jersey. It is unclear if any Russian fuel is headed toward New Jersey, but Ms. Sherrill's position could put the state on a collision course with Donald, who, last month lifted a ban on the import of Russian diesel as part of his efforts to bring down the cost of the fue. Now, gasoline and diesel prices, of course, they have Risen since the United States and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February. God, it's been going on a while. A Russian official, remember, it was supposed to just be a second. Oh,
two weeks. Two weeks.
Two
weeks.
Russian official has said that three tankers carrying diesel were en route to the United States, but it is not clear how many vessels are actually involved or where they might be headed. And you know what? Fucking good for her.
Right? just, And you know, this story, the Times, they say that the, you know, he bought this Russian fuel, lifted the sanctions and allowed the sale of Russian diesel to the United States to lower gas prices. No, it wouldn't lower gas prices a bit. It's just to lift sanctions on Russia being able to sell their oil so that they can make billions of dollars to help Iran attack us and to continue to go after Ukraine.
What a mess. What a mess.
Yeah, Like Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. Yeah. No, no.
Yeah. No, no, no,
no, no. All right, everybody, we're going to be right back with Adam Classfeld to talk about the latest on the docket for election day. And then we'll be back with the good news. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody. I've had my custom mattress from Helix for years now, as you probably know. And it's one of those purchases I keep appreciating because I can feel the difference. Every night before Helix, I was a restless sleeper. I thought it was the orange man in the White House. I would toss and turn. I would wake up in pools of sweat, and that was part of it. But mostly it was because I was sleeping on a mattress made for someone else. But my Helix mattress gives me support without feeling too firm. So I get comfortable faster, I move around less, and I rarely wake up at night because I'm too uncomfortable. It also tracks my sleep well, I track my sleep on Apple, and those number bears out what I can feel every night. I've noticed more consistent nights since making the switch. Fewer wake ups in the middle of the night, more consistent REM sleep. And the numbers are nice, but what matters most is that I feel better every morning. It's also made the bedroom a better place to spend time. I now read in bed. I watch movies in there. Sometimes I get a little work done without immediately getting uncomfortable like I used to with my old mattress. Now Helix makes shopping easier, too. It's got a two minute sleep quiz that helps you match with a mattress based on how you sleep. They also ship free in the United states. They deliver right to your door. And the Happy with Helix guarantee gives you a 365 night in home sleep trial. That's a year with seamless returns and exchanges. And to top it off, Helix is the most awarded mattress brand having been tested and reviewed by experts like Forbes and Wired. Tried, tested and true, Helix is the way to go for your next mattress. So go to helixsleep.comdailybeans for up to 30% off right now that's helixsleep.com dailybeans for up to 30% off during Helix's Black Friday sale. Helixsleep.com dailybeans everybody welcome. My name is Allison Gill and we've got some breaking election docket news here on the breakdown. So joining me as always, to break these things down is my friend Adam Klassfeldt from, All Rise News. You can also subscribe to All Rise News here, so you can get the latest on what's going on in the courts. This is gonna be ramping up a lot in the next 90 days with post election challenges, particularly from this Department of Justice now immunized in its ability to conspire with Donald Trump to interfere in the elections, thanks to the Supreme Court. But today we have some breaking news from the 9th Circuit. We have whiplash from the 9th Circuit starting yesterday. Yesterday, a three judge panel on the 9th Circuit basically lifted a restraining order allowing the Department of Justice to intimidate state election officials about, their voter rolls and noncitizens. And then the ninth Circuit said, we're going to hear this en banc and en banc in the ninth Circuit, which means the full panel is actually a little different than most circuits because the Ninth Circuit has 29 judges on the panel. So when they hear something en banc, they actually randomly draw 11, fewer than half of the judges to hear the case. And that 11, those 11 judges today, they upheld the three judge panel. But when they decided to take it en banc, it sort of vacated the three judge panel's decision and put that restraining order back into place. And now they are again reversing the restraining order. Now, there is something in the 9th Circuit called super en banc, which means all the judges hear it. It's never happened. And it can't happen to by itself. The Ninth Circuit can't decide by itself. According to Rule 43, a full en banc review requires a party's petition under 9th Circuit rules. So the challengers in this case would need to file a petition for a super en banc Hearing, which again, according to Steve Vladek from, you know, the shadow docket and the amazing con law nerd, itself described, says has never happened. So joining me today to go over the ins and outs of this, plus a couple other things, couple other breaking news items on the docket, like I said. Adam Klassfeld, All Rise News. Hello my friend.
Hello my friend. And happy election Day.
Happy election day to you. So it seems like they drew the worst possible en banc panel for the good guys that you could possibly imagine.
And right now I'm just thinking about the election workers. You know, I voted today, I missed early voting. And you think about the people who really make voting happen, the election officials, and think about the couple of days that they've experienced. They had a federal judge protect them from the threat of criminal prosecution. And then the Trump DOJ goes up to the 9th Circuit and they win a ruling saying, lifting that injunction, saying that they can send out these letters, they can threaten criminal prosecution, then an en banc court court intervenes. You gave the full breakdown. The en banc court in agreeing to hear that case restores that temporary restraining order. And state election officials can breathe a sigh of relief. They don't have to spike this list of 20,000 names which has been revealed over the course of us knowing about its existence. It just keeps getting further discredited. It's a list of 20,000 quote unquote, likely non citizens. The DOJ finally admits that it has a quote unquote high error rate. It loses all the way up to the Supreme Court. But the en banc court restores the status quo of Trump DOJ can be allowed to intimidate state election officials. And here's their reasoning. Now remember, very recently and again, whiplash is the right word. Alison, you had said that, that this ninth Circuit had said that essentially the Trump DOJ can't force state election officials to disregard their state voting procedures because that's the way it works in the United States. States run elections. Right?
Not the federal Judge in the 9th Circuit said that you can't intimidate.
Absolutely. And, and, but that was even before that. Setting aside the threat of criminal prosecution, the 9th Circuit found, and the federal judge found that they cannot compel, they cannot force the and this is where it gets a little bit mind blowing here. Because they cannot compel state authorities to set these ballots aside. And that's that effort that lost all the way to the Supreme Court last night with no noted dissents and no need to even get into it. It's so obvious that they can't do that. The Supreme Court doesn't bother to explain its reasoning. They don't even need briefing from it. But now is a separate.
And that was in a separate case over just the 20,000 ballots.
Absolutely separate case. And that's the California case. Now here's how the en banc court distinguishes the two cases they write. The present case, however, poses a different question from that posed to the California panel. There, the panel decided whether a state must adapt the ballot sequestration process requested by the government. Here. Here we consider only whether the government can make such a request in the first place. And as we explained above, we think the government has established that it likely can. They can. And, listen to that word request. And so the dissent really latches onto that word because a request that is made under the threat of criminal prosecution is a little stronger than a request. You know, for example, if I take a Glock and tell someone, give me all your money, one can characterize that as I'm making a request for that person's money. But there might be intimidation at play, there might be coercion at play. And that's what the dissenting Judge Mergia says in her dissenting opinion. She says, last Friday, we held that the United States has no authority to compel state elections officials to disregard their own lawful elections procedures. Today, by contrast, we hold sitting en banc, that several federal agencies and officials may compel state election officials to put aside state election procedures in favor of defendants preferred procedures by threatening prosecution of state and local officials who fail to comply. These decisions cannot be reconciled. and they go and say that they. By treating it as merely requests which state election officials may safely disregard. But this ignores the reality that these requests are made under pain of prosecution. A separate dissent makes that same point. And talking about the effect on election workers who have been through the wringer over the past couple of days, can they be threatened by the federal government if they say no to a vengeful Trump Department of Revenge? The answer a couple of days ago was no, you cannot be prosecuted because a federal judge has blocked that prosecution because the premise of that prosecution was a violation of federal law. Then they're told by the ninth circuit that, well, you know, the state has a lot of power to make a request and state their view of their legal theory, but their view of their legal theory. And they, they go on in the majority opinion. I, you know, I looked into it. It and the. They say that, well, you know, if they bring a case, you can claim to be vindictively prosecuted. There are all of these, there are all of these defenses you may bring at that time, but it ignores the reality that we're in Election Day now and California officials are now. Right.
And why didn't we get that treatment in the immunity ruling? Like there's a million other ways to prevent rogue prosecutions? Why do you need a special set aside for Donald Trump and his pals at the doj?
Right. And it really, the second dissent really just latches onto this kind of, this predicament that California election workers now face, that if they don't do this preferred conduct by this department of revenge for Donald Trump, then they're put in the firing line here and they say, you know, I'm just going to read one sentence of this. The majority takes the extraordinary step of granting an emergency stay of the district court's temporary restraining order just after polls open on election Day. This action was unnecessary and avoidable, and it was incumbent on the majority to consider alternatives that would minimize, not maximize confusion in the election. So that's where we're at. And that's the ninth Circuit.
Yeah. And we'll see if we get a petition for a super en banc, the elusive super en banc hearing. Again, it has to be by petition. It can't be sua spontaneous, meaning the court just can't do it by themselves. at least according to Rule 43 of the Ninth Circuit Rules. we'll see what happens there. but of course this is far from over, I imagine, and there are multiple lawsuits like this happening. I know Boasberg just shot, one down from the DSCC and dccc, Democratic, Governors association because they didn't have standing, to sue against this, by association with voters. and you know, we'll talk a little bit about that, in other parts of today's episode of the Daily Beans podcast. But let's, let's go back to what you were talking about in the other, the California case, the 20,000 ballot sequestration case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court, went to the ninth Circuit, back down, went to the ninth Circuit, they said no, then it went. They four, they forewent if that's the proper term. The, ah, doj, ah, an en banc rehearing and then went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court within hours, as you said, with no noted public dissents and without asking for briefing, which seems to be even a bigger fu to this Administration, just decided not to take the case, and leave the lower court, order in place. Talk a little bit about that because I believe Steve Vladek said he has never once seen the Supreme Court not ask for a response or a brief, from the opposing party. And they did not ask for that in this case, along with having no public dissents. Do you think Alito and Thomas, were sick or like
what? You know, I've never seen anything like it. I wouldn't even in a case like this. Look, I knew that that, of going in, that this was something that was going to fail, that it was going to fail in about six hours after the Solicitor General of the United States files an emergency quote, unquote application, and that nobody says a peep about it. And it's one sentence. No. Thank you, Mr. Trump. That surprised me. I've never seen anything like it either. I don't have as much experience as Steve Vladek covering the courts, but, but it's approaching nearly 20 years covering this and I've never seen anything like that. It's a, you know, it's a cherry on top of a Sunday of humiliation that. Yeah.
And something else you pointed out was one of the sentences in the Department of Justice's bid to the Supreme Court was so filled with hedge words that like 98% of the words were hedge words. Like we think the office might have heard from Farris's best friend's, cousins, brothers, boyfriend's girlfriend, that he may think that there might be some non citizen voters perhaps on our list. And, you know, therefore, you know, it's just
this
bizarre sentence for a legal brief where you tend to try to be succinct and direct with your facts.
Right. And to show that Alison wasn't really exaggerating there, I'm going to read that weasel word filled sentence. This sentence has a little bit more than 50 words. Here it is in this case. This office has been informed, weasel phrase number one, that the United States has identified more than 20,000 individuals who appear, weasel word number two, to be registered to vote based on publicly available information. Weasel phrase number three at the time that information was received. Weasel phrase number four. But who in the United States view weasel phrase number. I've lost count. Are likely weasel words, not US Citizens. So that is the, that was the lawyering, that was the persuasion brought to the table by Trump's former criminal defense attorney, turn Solicitor General of the United States, John Sauer to the Supreme Court. And you know what? It didn't convince them to rule in his favor.
And you know, if Jack Smith were writing a sentence like that, he would have researched all of it and he would have said we found 20,000 non citizen voters
here,
instead of our office. Heard that there are likely, perhaps, maybe some things that we believe to be, you know, and it's just like, oh my goodness, this is a legal brief that you're filing with the Supreme Court. And that kind of mealy mouth language, language may have lent, because this wasn't just the administrative justice not referring this to the court and saying no, this was after a referral to the Supreme Court who then considered it and then said they didn't say anything, they just refused to hear it.
Right. And it's been, you know, I don't want to mince words here. The claim has been entirely discredited. Just yesterday you had the Trump DOJ lawyer saying that it's a high error rate. You have LA county running the numbers when taking a sample of 200. More than 70% of them have never voted in a previous election. more than a third of them have listed places of birth as being in the United States. This is incredible data. It's as credible as a Nevada data which went from 16,000 to 185 to zero. It's in the words of, of AG Rob Bonta of California, garbage. but it's the garbage that's being used to threaten California election authorities with prosecution. And the ninth Circuit blesses that just based on the recognition that the federal government as from the prosecuting authority. They have a lot of powers and it's hard to stop them from threatening people. So the Trump DOJ has been empowered to threaten people based on garbage information and data.
And does this 9th Circuit whiplash ruling, going back to the original thing we were talking about, does that allow DOJ to just threaten people in California or nationwide?
Well, the ninth Circuit, jurisdiction it would, you know, that principle will hold with c. And if these issues are litigated in other circuits, we'll see if it goes to the Supreme Court. and this news falls on a day that we learn about other news revelations of intimidation. We have the Trump DOJ sending roughly 20 target letters to Democrats in Alaska, in association with the reports of ballot stacking there. One of the target letter recipients, according to the New York Times was Mark Elias. you have a DSCC official who received a target letter. So most, you know, to kind of like go full circle here. Most of the Trump DOJ's efforts are failing. They lost 26 different cases to try to seize voter, roll information. They lost the California litigation all the way up to the Supreme Court. They keep losing serious battles. But unlike the 2020 presidential election, Trump has his stooges in charge of the Trump doj. And the Trump DOJ has a lot of power and they're exercising that power.
And they feel immune because of what happened with the Jack Smith prosecution. Jack Smith had to supersede his indictment against Donald Trump's 2020 election interference because the Supreme Court said absolute imm community for discussions between the Department of Justice and the president. And so now they're kind of, counting on that. So those massive conspiracy crimes that we saw being committed in 2020 are now free and fair game. And one last question, talking about the 20 target letters that went out in the Alaska criminal investigation into ballot stacking, in that story from the New York Times, they say that one of the things that they are investigating is conspiracy. And I have to assume they mean Title 18, United States Code 241, Conspiracy Against Rights, which is what Donald Trump was charged with for 2020, as well as Wohl and Berkman. Remember those two jackoffs who made a bunch of robocalls in very specific areas.
I covered
that case to deprive people of the right to vote. And I was speaking with my friend Joyce Vance a little bit earlier about like, how is this different from that? And she says, well, when you talk about about 241, there's a higher bar for mens rea, for intent, for motive, when you're getting into conspiracy against rights. And in these particular cases, like voting in Alaska and the candidates, the courts have ruled that they cannot question a, candidate's motives for running for office. And if you're unable to question those motives, then you can't meet that mens rea bar. So those charges, I don't think will go anywhere. But something you and I talked about that I think is even more frightening is that they would have to investigate how people voted. And that blows apart the secret ballot, which is sacred here in any democracy, but especially in the United States.
Right, right. you know, and that's why they lost their attempt to try to block the certification. They're fighting that in the Ninth Circuit. I would be shocked if the Ninth Circuit came anywhere near the other decision of the Ninth Circuit that we were talking about. However, that's why they lost. We have a secret ballot in the United States. All liberal democr have a secret ballot. As for what a criminal investigation, might be in this case, the details are really sparse. But insofar as it's trying to criminalize ballot stacking, as you pointed out, Alison, this issue has been litigated all the way up to the Alaska Supreme Court. The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling finding that it didn't matter whether Dan J. Sullivan was a, quote, unquote, good faith candidate. He could be the worst faith candidate in the world. He could have run on the platform of sowing voter confusion to siphon votes from the incumbent. That could have been literally his slogan. And so far as Alaska law goes, it doesn't matter. You might find it disreputable, I might agree with that. But as far as Alaska law goes, it's Alaska law. One other point on this, there's that it's common. Everyone does know that. There's been plenty of reporting about how this has been happening all over the country. This, it affects Democrats and Republicans. It affected Mary Peltola in a previous election when they ran a spoiler candidate. When they, I'm talking about the Republican Party ran a spoiler candidate, or supported a spoiler candidate who was incarcerated in New York. York. One other ballot stacking example happened in Florida, where the Republican Party supported a different Rodriguez than a state elected official. And the scheme worked. It changed the outcome of the election because Rodriguez had lost by about 30 votes. Was the election thrown out? No, the results stood. Was there a criminal prosecution? Yes, but not for the ghost candidate. The criminal prosecution was over campaign finance contributions. So if they're trying to criminalize ballot stacking, this seems to be another harebrained scheme that is going to fall apart just like the other Department of Revenge prosecutions. But that's what the law says.
Yeah. And my feeling about it is that if ballot stacking is legal, just like gerrymandering is now legal, I don't think we concede that ground. And I think we keep. I think we do whatever we can that's within the law. And if we want to change the laws, then in 2029, we can pass a comprehensive Voting Rights act that bans both gerrymandering and ballot stacking so that no party can do it, and expand voting rights. but as long as it's legal, I don't think we leave those options on the table when it comes to this. And so I don't think that, you know, Mary Peltol actually had anything to do with this. But even if she did, like you said, it's just like redistricting in Prop 50, to me at least. Because if you're going to illegally gerrymander as a Republican, we're going to do it, too. to make up for the difference. we're always like, bring a gun to a gunfight, don't bring a knife to a gunfight. And that's where I stand on this. but also for expanding the Supreme Court in 2029 so we can pass comprehensive voting rights that won't be gutted and perhaps included banning gerrymandering and ballot stacking.
And to your point, just one very quick thought on this. You know who echoed that argument that Congress can take action? The state of Alaska, in opposing the Trump Department of Revenge. They. They said Congress can take. State of Alaska, said that, you know, Congress can take action. The laws.
And you're not talking about. You're not talking about the Democratic Party of Alaska. You're talking about the state of Alaska, the one that initially sued to get the Dan J. Sullivan off the ballot that went precisely. Alaska Supreme Court, my friend. Always good to talk these things out with you. I'm gonna check one last time here while I've got you, to make sure that we don't have any else. Anything else going on in the 9th Circuit that we need to know about? Nope. So far, nothing. but, polls are gonna start closing here in about an hour as you and I record this, and we're gonna be watching these results, very closely. And I look forward to probably more of these live discussions with you on post election lawsuits, which I know we're going to see plenty of.
Let's bring it. I'm looking forward to it, Alison, as always.
And that is why everyone needs to subscribe to All Rise News, because we know that Adam Klassfeld is going to be on top of the docket, and appreciate, your time today, my friend. It's always good to see you.
it's always great to see you as well.
All right, everybody, thanks so much for listening. I'm Alison Gill. We'll see you soon, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news,
everyone. Then, good news, everyone.
All right, everybody. Send in your good news. Send in photos of you in line to vote. Send in the election results in your district. We want to hear from you. You can send in any good news at all. You can send in a funny joke, misheard song lyrics, a shout out to a loved one or a nonprofit or a small business that could use a boost, maybe a Shout out to yourself. We love those. You can send your good trouble tips in to us. We're going to have a lot of good trouble between now and January 3rd when we take some gavels back and we want to hear what you have to say about it. Send it all to us dailybeanspot.com click on all you gotta do is attach a photo. It can be your pet for paying your pod pet tax or a photo of whatever else it does. Anything, really anything, as long as it brings a smile to our face. Send it to us dailybeanspot.com, click on Contact. First up is your Good Trouble Good Trouble Today again Calls to Cure Ballots Virtual Phone Banks hosted by VO Pro Pros. Okay, this is very very important ballot curing. These are people who want to vote but there might be some little mistake with their ballot. So they say Election day is done, but they a lot of ballots to count and you can help cure mail and absentee ballots that have been cast to ensure that likely Democratic voters in states like Georgia, Iowa, Nevada and Ohio and maybe more get their ballots counted as the data on rejected ballots comes in. Vopro Pros helps voters fix mistakes so their voted ballots count. Unless they take action their votes will not count. So join us for important and impactful Voter protection phone bank to help votes count. Ballot curing phone banks are happening every day through November 12th and you can go to the link in the show notes Voter protection calls to cure ballotsobilize us and help out. This is such an important effort help people get their votes counted.
This is awesome. Thank you, thank you thank you. What good trouble. All right, next up from Evan no pronouns given. Hello you wonderful disembodied voices that feed me news that gives me hope while still living in Alabama. Today is election day and since they want to keep as few people voting as possible, there's no gen pop early voting allowed. I will be taking my newly able to vote trans child with me and my wife to vote today. They were not sure what to do or who they were supposed to vote for. While I'm not going to tell someone what they have to do while living as a family under one roof, my wife decided to simply explain what was on the ballot and explain who was not not an ally. I figured that was the best way to approach things. Be informed, be aware. While my vote may not mean much in Alabama, I refuse to sit there and take it. A vote or three cast in defiance and hope is worth every effort. P.S. tax is my very manipulative and very attached void. With her white fur, Speedo and bra. She's a lady after all. Thank you. Evan. Evan, I don't know who you are, but my goodness, you sound like a fun doctor.
Oh, my God, look at this cat.
So good
wearing a string.
Actually, I don't even know if Evan is a dude. I should just say you sound like a fun human.
Yeah,
let's put a gender to you that may not actually apply.
And what a great, you know, teaching opportunity. Like, here's the issues. Here's who's an ally, here's who's not an ally. Go make it happen. Live your dreams.
So good.
Next up, from Ash Tree. Hi, lovely ladies of the Laguminati. Thank you for your frank look at the news. I listened to you on the drive to take my son to school. Hello, son. And at least I know I will not be swearing alone. I don't know when we will get off this twisted carnival ride that is Trump 2.0, but here's hoping that today will be the first step in many to rebuild. May we never forget and may we build back stronger than ever now that we realize just how much of our government is held together by good intentions and cultural norms. Right. Wishes and dreams.
Seriously,
I want to shout out my oldest child, who was so excited and scared about their future that they caught a ride home to vote in person. They're in college, about an hour and a half away. They'll cast their ballot here in the great state of Maryland once I drive them to their polling place. We don't always give Gen Z their flowers, and yes, many of them are jaded, but they're some of the smartest folks I've had the pleasure of raising. I don't know where we'll be the next couple of months, but right now, right now, I'm filled with hope. Hope. I have three kids, all of whom have voted in this election. I'll never forgive the Tangerine Palpatine for his systematic destruction of the systems in place to help them secure a better future. Well put. I try to be a pacifist, but, man, on that fine day, may the juice be worth the squeeze. There. That works on, like, nine levels.
Oh, my God. It's so good
for my pod pet tax. Please enjoy this picture of my oldest Shay's axolotl. Toothless. I swear she's posing for the camera. And the black kitten mystic we rescued from a parking lot on October 30th of last year, she's taken over the house. And in this picture, she's supervising from the bookshelf over my desk. Look at the axolotl.
I know. That's so cool.
Oh, and this sweet kitty. Yeah. Toothless. I. I assume ash tree. Named after how. Ah, to train my dragon,
maybe. Well done. All right, next up from Kathleen, pronouns, she and her dear AG&DG sending you post election good news and chickens.
Chickens.
the good news. Chickens. The good news is that my son voted for the first time and they clapped for him at the polls. I'm really proud to have raised two voters and now the chickens. Recently, my husband and I spent a week in upstate New York exploring our backyard. We stayed a few days in a cozy yurt in Ithaca for my pot pet tax. I'm sharing a photo of the chickens that live on the property with the yurt. They lay eggs, and guests are invited to harvest and enjoy the eggs. My second photo is of a waterfall near Ithaca. The Finger Lakes region is gorgeous,
I.
E. There are a lot of gorges and waterfalls. It's gorgeous and worth visiting. much hope and love to all as we see what comes next.
Yeah, Ithaca is gorgeous. Kathleen, first of all, amazing. And thank you for chickens. You know how I feel about chickens. And then at one point, she says, and now the chickens. That's exceedingly funny to me because my best friend of 30 years and I have this inside joke from when she was in, like, junior high and she did a class presentation where she was Julia Childs. And at one point during the presentation, she said, and, now the chicken. And so whenever we talk about chickens, and especially since Kathleen was like, I know the chickens. I just. I heard it,
in
my best friend's Julia Child's voice. Thank you so much for that. All right, Catherine pronouns she and her. Hello, lovely ladies. Greetings from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I love Grand Rapids, Dana. It's such a beautiful city.
Yes.
There are so many yard signs for El Sayad in my red side of the state that I'm, hopeful you'll have a good election news to report. I'm writing to simply send you a couple of pictures I took today. I was chaperoning my daughter's first day of Zoolag lab, and we toured the whole zoo. So I snapped a pic of one of our red pandas. My daughter is studying the river otters this week, and we spent an hour observing their antics today. Okay. Two of our favorite animals, Catherine.
I know. Seriously,
there's the red panda.
Look at the otter's face.
That is such a beautiful picture.
Oh, my goodness
and the little bubbles coming up from the fins.
No,
there's thank you so much, Katherine.
Oh, next up from Tracy Pronouns she and her My neighbor and I started participating in weekly Saturday protests in Eagan, Minnesota at a busy intersection where we all vent via homemade posters. One of my Good Trouble posters said Jesus was woke. Thanks John Fugelsang for your book Separation of Church and Hate, which legit convinced me that Jesus was in fact woke. My most recent Good Trouble protest poster said how honk for midterm elections instead of. Oh, excuse me, midterm erections. Honk for midterm erections instead of elections. I just wanted to keep things light and erections are equally appreciated and enjoyed by all political parties. Presumably, most people driving by didn't notice the spelling change, but when people did notice, I received lots of honks, preceded by furrowed brows and chuckles, even from people driving pickup trucks. One driver stopped his car, parked it, walked over to me to ask if I knew that that I was all over the radio and he wondered if I knew I had spelled elections wrong. I assured him I knew it was misspelled and explained to him to make people laugh during a time of much stress. My dog Vader is also Good Trouble. I'm sending a photo of him sporting a dog scarf that says Choose Love from Penzi Spices. We love Pensies, by the way, the only business I've ever encountered that is unapologetically and openly antiquated Trump. In the About Republican section of their website, they state, and I quote, we're done pretending the Republican Party's embrace of cruelty, racism, Covid lies, climate change, denial, and threats to democracy are anything other than the risk they legitimately are. If you need us to pretend you are not creating the hurt you are creating in order for you to continue to be our customer, I'm sad to say you might be happier elsewhere.
Fuck yeah.
I love Penzies. Damn. Vader also decided to run for Minnesota Go Governor. As you can see from his Halloween costume, he threw his hat in the ring. Even though we are huge Amy Klobuchar fans, I think Vader wins in the cuteness category, but Amy wins in the competency category. I am thinking Vader may be a good candidate for lieutenant governor.
Oh my God, look at this. Vader for governor. Loyal, sniffs out fraud, never drops the ball. Telework for dog owners, no super PACs and more taxes for cats.
I mean, so good.
And he's so proud in his outfit.
Oh my God.
Oh, that's wonderful, Tracy. Thank you so much for that. And, a honk for midterm erections. That's great. You're all over the radio. Next up from Michelle. She and her Good morning Ag and dg. I'm writing with some great news. My wonderful husband Preston has officially retired after 30 years with Cal Fire. Oh, my God. My goodness. He rose through the ranks of the department doing everything from seasonal firefighting to arson investigations and everything in between. He ended his remarkable career with them as deputy chief in the Behavioral health and Wellness unit, helping others deal with the trauma that many first responders experience. I couldn't be more proud of him and more excited for our future adventures. We'll see you at the election night watch party. We're about to go to that as we record this in San Diego. Attached are our pod pet pics of our girl, Zion. You've guessed her breeds before. She's a hot mess of 19 different breeds. And our newly adopted girl, Alaska. Her breed is pretty obvious. They're getting along great. We're glad to be able to give them a loving home since they've had rough lives before us. Look at this sweet baby. Oh,
my goodness.
And a bonus pick from Preston, who also wrote in a self shout out about his retirement. Congratulations, Preston and Michelle. There's a dog. Oh,
my God. Love it.
Oh, Preston and Michelle, looking forward to seeing you tonight, but I know you're listening to this tomorrow after you already saw me, so. Hello from the past.
Oh my God. So good. So good. All right, next up from Peg Pronounce she and her hello beans Queens, longtime listener and first submission. Today I want to celebrate my better half, Craig. During the last several years, I have been very active with my local Indivisible chapter. Shout out to my friends at Indivisible Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and friends. And my husband has not only supported my volunteerism, but also he stood by my side at every protest, every community event and many of my zoom meetings. We're both veterans. We care deeply about our democracy. November 2nd is his birthday and guess what we're doing to celebrate? We traveled from Pennsylvania to San Diego to attend a kick ass election watch party with Lagunati. I so appreciate you both and am cautiously optimistic about what I hope is the beginning of the end of this government's corruption and cruelty. Tea, my pot, pet tax. I include a picture of my hubby and our sweet Nala. A mixed breed of blank, blank and blank we adopted two years ago. Thank you for all you do to make the world a better place. Oh my God, you two are absolutely lovely. Nala is beautiful. I see some German shepherd in the snout. Maybe some.
Yeah, I
m wonder how big she is. Is that big fluffy dog, Maybe There's Pyrenees. I don't know what the last
size is. Right. Those ears, though. What the frick? It's adorable.
I know.
Maybe a lab person.
Shepherd. I know.
All right, let's see. we have a shepherd. A great. Oh, they call it a great white Pyrenees. That's funny.
Oh, my God. Funny
and boxer. Okay.
Oh,
I can sort of see that in the snout a little bit.
Nala's beautiful, though.
We adopted two years ago. Oh, my goodness. We're gonna see you tonight. So we're gonna see Peg and Craig and Michelle and Preston tonight. Watch party. Peg and Craig. I love it.
You
guys, thank you so much for this good news. we're going to go watch some election returns and we'll talk tomorrow, where we will be 124gavels richer in the House of Representatives. That I'm pretty sure about.
Absolutely amazing. We've already got results coming in on the New York Times. They've called three races. Two Democrat, one Republican. No flip so far. So those three, they just assumed we're going to stay as they are, but results are starting to come in from places like Kentucky and Indiana, like you said.
Yep, yep. Hamilton County. Actually, the early numbers are very, very red. County in Indiana, in the middle of nowhere. I think it's like a suburb outside of Indianapolis. D 30 in Hamilton county, then. That's bonkers.
Yep.
So we're going to keep an eye on it. We're going to give you all of the. Well, as much as we can tomorrow because I know a lot of these races are going to take a while to count, like Alaska and California, but, man, nauseously optimistic, like they say.
Any final thoughts? Optimistic.
Any final thoughts, my friend?
No. No final thoughts for today.
All right. Just sending out all the love, everybody. all this work, I think is about to pay off. fingers crossed. And then we got all the court things we have to go fight.
Yeah, no kidding.
All right, everybody, since the election's over, we're going to go back to our old sign off. We'll be back tomorrow, come check us out on Beans talk. We'll show you some of the early voting, lines and stuff like that. So until then, please, take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, take care of your family. I've been ag.
I've been DG
and the them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com msw media.