Friday, February 20th, 2026 Today, the New Mexico attorney general has re-opened a criminal probe into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch; Prince Andrew has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein; the former South Korean president has been sentenced to life in prison for his coup attempt; a federal judge has thrown out Trump’s mass deportation policy as the administration readies to arrest 100K refugees; a Pro-Trump Texas woman who made series of violent threats is missing after failing to report to prison; the Secretary of the VA has walked back his bid to gut veterans benefits; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Friday, February 20th, 2026
Today, the New Mexico attorney general has re-opened a criminal probe into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch; Prince Andrew has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein; the former South Korean president has been sentenced to life in prison for his coup attempt; a federal judge has thrown out Trump’s mass deportation policy as the administration readies to arrest 100K refugees; a Pro-Trump Texas woman who made series of violent threats is missing after failing to report to prison; the Secretary of the VA has walked back his bid to gut veterans benefits; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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Former Prince Andrew arrested and held for hours on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein | AP News
New Mexico reopens investigation into alleged illegal activity at Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch | WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather
Ex-South Korean President Yoon, Who Declared Martial Law, Is Sentenced to Life in Prison: Live Updates | The New York Times
White House directing DHS to hunt for voter fraud by naturalized citizens: Sources | MS NOW
US judge throws out immigration board's ruling endorsing Trump mass detention policy | Reuters
Pro-Trump Texas woman who made series of violent threats is missing after failing to report to prison | CBS News
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Um. Msw media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, February 20, 2026. Today, the new Mexico attorney general has reopened a criminal probe into Epstein's Zorro ranch. Prince Andrew has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein. The former South Korean president has been sentenced to life in prison for his coup attempt. A federal judge here in the US has thrown out Trump's mass deportation policy as the administration readies to arrest 100,000 refugees. A pro Trump Texas woman who made a series of violent threats is missing after failing to report to prison. And the Secretary of the VA has walked back his bid to gut veterans benefits. I'm Allison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Well, I'm happy to announce it's a mostly good news Friday, everyone.
I love that. I love that.
Yeah, me too. We needed this day. It's a good way to start the weekend so we can rest and recharge later in the show. I'll be talking to John Fugelsang for Fugal Sang Fridays here on the Daily Beans. But I am just very happy that there's. I've got justice envy for other countries.
Me, too.
It must be nice to have a functioning Supreme Court. Um, but I'm glad that other people around the world get to experience justice that we don't get to experience here in the United States because of the current regime. But we'll talk about that and much more. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. First up, from the Associated Press. The former Prince Andrew was arrested and held for hours by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office that's related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein. This is an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought, uh, to shield the royal family from embarrassment. It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest. And it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years. King Charles iii, who whose late mother lived by the motto never complain, never explain, took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the arrest of his brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten. Windsor police previously said they were assessing reports that Windsor sent trade information to Epstein, a wealthy investor and convicted sex offender, back in 2010, when the former prince was Britain's special envoy for international trade. Correspondence between the two men was released by the U.S. justice Department late last month, along with millions of pages of documents from the American investigation into Epstein. Quote, following a thorough assessment, we've now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office that's what Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said in a statement. And while I wish he had been arrested for rape and sex trafficking and not giving trade secrets to Epstein, I'm happy to see he's been arrested.
I am, too. And if he is found guilty of this, it could hold a sentence of life in prison. It's a serious crime over there. And I also love that he was arrested on his birthday.
Happy birthday.
Happy 66 artist formerly known as. Yep. Rapist, formerly known as Prince Andrew. Um, I'm sorry, Alleged rapist. And From News Channel 11 WJHL in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Attorney General has reopened and that's New Mexico's Attorney general has reopened an investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epston's former Zorro Ranch. I've been waiting for this to happen. It's mostly unspoken about Attorney General Rolo Torres. The office made the announcement Thursday, saying the decision was made after reviewing information recently released by the US Department of Justice. Although New Mexico's initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York State, prosecutors say now that revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination. The New Mexico Department of Justice said special agents and prosecutors at the agency will be seeking immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and intend to work with other law enforcement partners as well as a new truth commission established by state lawmakers to look into activities at the ranch. And this is a quote as with any potential criminal matter, we will follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available. This is from the New Mexico Department of Justice. On Tuesday, New Mexico's Truth Commission had its first meeting. This is a bipartisan four member panel of state House representatives is charged with investigating allegations that the ranch may have facilitated sexual abuse and sex trafficking. New Mexico lawmakers also said they want to know why Epstein was not registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and whether there was corruption among public officials. There was. M. Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in New Mexico in 1993 from former Democratic Governor Bruce King and built a 26,700 square foot hilltop mansion with a private Runway. The property was sold by Epstein's estate in 2023 with proceeds going toward creditors to the family of Don Huffins, a ah Republican candidate in Texas for election to the office of Estate Comptroller. In a social media post On Twitter, Huffin said the property has been renamed San Rafael Ranch, after a saint associated with healing, and that his family plans to operate a Christian retreat there. That whole thing sounds sketchy as and makes my skin crawl.
Yeah, me too.
Uh, okay, G. God.
Anyway, good. I'm glad they've reopened this and from the times Former President Yun Suk Yok of South Korea was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of masterminding an insurrection when he declared martial law in 2024, a uh, move that plunged the country into a constitutional crisis. Prosecutors had demanded a death sentence for Mr. Yoon, who's 65, who's been on trial since April on a series of criminal charges stemming from that short lived martial law declaration. The judges at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ruled on the most serious of them being the ringleader of an insurrection. Gosh, that's why can't we have this? While sentencing Yoon to life imprisonment, Presiding Judge Jigui yeon said that Mr. Yoon had flouted legal procedures and resorted to violent means to try to incapacitate the national assembly and undermine democratic norms. Judge G said that while Mr. Yoon deserved a harsh sentence, he took into account Mr. Yoon's age and the fact that he had refrained from using lethal force during the period of martial law. Mr. Yoon, who denied the charges against him, has a week to appeal the verdict and the ruling.
All right, thanks so much, Allison. This is from Ms. Now, the Department of Homeland Security's chief investigations arm this week launched a broader nationwide campaign to investigate and prosecute naturalized citizens who may have improperly voted in past elections before they became citizens. That's according to two documents reviewed by MSNow, an effort that is spurring deep concern, of course, among law enforcement agents that the administration's true goal is to intimidate voters from participating in future elections. Agents with DHS Homeland Security Investigations were notified last week of the new initiative in which agents and all field offices are required to review both open and closed cases of suspected illegal voting by non citizen immigrants, according to documents and three people familiar with the plan, launching at the direction of the White House. This is what the people said. The program requires agents to determine if naturalized citizens voted or registered to vote prior to becoming citizens. Investigators are then asked to submit reports to the White House detailing each case in which they decline to bring charges. This is what the people said. An administration officials speaking on, um, background disputed that characterization.
Ah, uh, so they want to take away naturalized citizens right to vote by claiming they tried to register to Vote before they were naturalized.
Correct.
Got it. Next up from Reuters, a federal judge threw out on Wednesday an administrative board's decision endorsing the Trump administration policy of subjecting thousands of people arrested during its immigration crackdown to mandatory detention. This is one of these underlying big, giant cases and why they're converting warehouses to concentration camps is because rather than bring you in, hear your case, let you go, and then have you come back and check in, they want to detain you during the pendency of your immigration proceedings. That's the mass deportation policy that this judge threw out. Her name is Sunshine Sykes, which is, I think, one of the top two coolest judge names.
Yeah.
In the US Federal Court, we've got Sunshine Sykes and Sparkle Souknanen. But Sunshine, uh, Sykes is in Riverside, California. She vacated the decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals after finding the administration failed to comply with her earlier order, declaring unlawful the underlying policy of denying detainees the chance to seek release on bond. Sykes's Wednesday ruling in a class action lawsuit that covers migrants nationwide is more sweeping than decisions by hundreds of other US Judges holding the policy as unlawful and ordering detainees to be freed or given bond hearings. Sykes, appointed by former Democratic President Joe Biden, called the administration's actions shameless and accused it of trying to continue its campaign of illegal action by still refusing bond hearings despite her prior ruling. Quote, respondents have far crossed the boundaries of constitutional conduct. She said. Sykes's ruling means the board's decision can no longer be used by immigration judges to deny bond hearings. That's what Niels Frenzen said. He's a professor at the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law who represents the plaintiffs. Quote, we hope that the dhs, uh, and the immigration courts will now comply with the court's orders to provide bond hearings to the thousands of non citizens who've been arrested. Federal immigration law prescribes mandatory detention for applicants for admission to the United States while their cases proceed in immigration courts. And they are ineligible for bond hearings, bucking a long standing interpretation of that law. Dhs, last year, as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, took the position that non citizens already residing in the United States, and not only those who arrive at a port of entry, qualify as applicants for admissions. Makes m sense. Right? Uh, that, that's why, yeah, if you're here for 10 years in the Interior or whatever, you get a bond hearing anyway. The Board of Immigration Appeals, which is part of the Justice Department, by the way, issued a decision in September that adopted that interpret leading to immigration judges nationally employed by the department to mandate detention. Sykes, in a ruling last December, declared that DHS policy was unlawful but stopped short of vacating the board's decision. But she said it was clear further relief was needed after the chief Immigration judge, Teresa Riley, issued guidance instructing her colleagues that they are not bound by Sykes ruling and they should continue following the board's decision. Uh, wow, those immigration judges are employed again by the Justice Department. Sykes, in her Wednesday decision, criticized DHS for repeatedly and inaccurately suggesting that operations by ICE were limited to targeting criminal noncitizens who were the worst of the worst. Quote, maybe that phrase merely mirrors the severity and ill natured conduct by the government, she said. Even though these press releases might contain an inkling of truth, they ignore a, ah, greater and more dire reality.
Thank you so much, Allison. This one is from cbs. Abigail Shri's verbal threats against public officials. They've been racist, violent and detailed. Her targets have included a federal judge in Washington, a Democrat in the House and the Texas Capitol. She allegedly once said she would annihilate the Texas government in an armed attack that would be more violent than the January 6th insurrection. At one point, a federal prosecutor said Shri was unmoored and posed a danger. Well, now there's a new concern. The feds can't find her. Shri was supposed to report to prison Tuesday in Florida, but she failed to show up and has gone on the lam. I love that they put that in the story. I'm sorry, I don't laugh at it. Laugh at that. But who speaks like that right now? A, uh, judge was issued a bench warrant for federal agents to find and arrest her. Shri was due to begin serving a 27 month federal prison sentence in her most recent threat case. She pleaded guilty in November 2024 to a federal charge in Texas for a phone message she left in the Washington, D.C. chambers of Judge Tanya Chutkin. Now, the threat came hours after Chutkan was assigned to oversee President Trump's 2020 election conspiracy case in August of 2023. And according to the Justice Department, Schrei called Chutkan, and please forgive me, a stupid slave epithet. That is what they have in parentheses. I don't know what the word is, and said if Trump doesn't get elected in 2024 to kill you, so tread lightly. Shri, who has lived in Alvin, Texas, south of Houston, was also accused of threatening Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat. I, I sense a pattern here. Court documents said Shri left a phone message saying that she wanted to kill Lee and would Target her personally, publicly, your family, all of it. CBS News has learned Shy was scheduled to self surrender to the Federal Correctional Facility in Tallahassee, Florida on Tuesday, but did not show up. And a federal judge in Houston has ordered a warrant for her arrest. I don't know exactly how the law works, Allison, but why the fuck would you trust someone who has been, uh, charged with. Everything she's been charged with is due to serve time to self surrender. I just. It's really hard. I just come on Shri's. And I understand, like, there's, you know, there's laws and there's all the process, but. Okay. Now Shri's failure to report to federal prison will further complicate her freedom. Really? And expose her to greater legal jeopardy. No, I know, Greg Rosen. It'll also qualify her to run for the cabinet in the Trump administration.
Right.
Greg Rosen, a former federal Prosecutor in Washington, D.C. told CBS News that Shri is facing further criminal proceedings.
Oh, yeah, thanks for that, cbs. Thanks for.
I know, Detective.
Oh, if you don't show up for prison, you put yourself in further legal jeopardy.
What?
I didn't know. I mean, why would anybody show up for prison, man, Except Donald Trump. He doesn't face any further legal jeopardy when he doesn't show up for stuff. Yeah. All right, Dana, thanks for that reporting. And next up, we've got Fugal Sang for Fugal Sang Fridays, followed by the good news. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
We'll be right back.
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Thank you so much. Yes, there's not a lot of books with as many dick jokes as this that find their way into this many church book club. Getting a lot of very nice requests from a lot of very nice old ladies around the country. Hello, Alison, how are you?
Hello. And I see it everywhere. I speak at a lot of Democratic clubs and Democratic clubs tend to meet at libraries. And there's always some sort of a separation of church and hate book club going on at every library. Coronado, San Diego, and bookstores. Uh, here, Warwick's. It's everywhere. And so I'm super proud of you, my friend. And something that you and I have talked about offline and I want to bring up here is this whole thing going on with Colbert and CBS and the lawyers and Brendan Carr and the FCC all surrounding the James Talarico interview. And, uh, for most of this week, I've been like, it doesn't really matter what the content is because it's being censored and it doesn't matter who the candidate is. It doesn't, you know, it's just about the censorship and this BS equal time rule to get people off the air. But you brought up a very good point. There's something that he talks about that the billionaire class does not want you to hear. Tell us about it.
Well, I just want to say this is very much about the equal time rule. Okay. That's the FCC's most sacred doctrine. I mean, going back 20. What, what, what has the FCC cared about more in the last 40 years than the equal time rule? Except, except no nipples at the Super Bowl. Other than that, what if the FCC cared about more? But yeah, it was never meant to muzzle comedy shows interviewing politicians. Now it might. It's so interesting to talk about this because the Talarico interview was polled and I think we can say it was censored. It was coerced into self censorship, which is the way these guys do these things these days.
Yeah, it's called indirect coercion to stifle unfavored speech. The supreme, uh, Court has made many rulings on this.
The Supreme Court has weighed in on it. I don't really see the FCC putting the screws to Fox to force Greg Gutfeld to have every opposing candidate on. And there was a lot of, you know, and it was a great story. And I mean, Colbert did the right thing. It's amazing. But what I thought a lot of folks missed was the real reason why they're terrified of James Talarico. And I found it really interesting. There's a coincidence here that this happened the same day that Jesse Jackson died. But let me begin with Talarico. You know, um, how deeply I love Jasmine Crockett. I just revere the woman. And I liked Alarico a lot. He's brilliant and he's doing something that only Pete Buttigieg has done. And it's what I try to do in my humble little book. And it's called reminding people of the actual damn teachings of that Jesus Republicans pretend to follow this guy Talarico. Yeah.
And I do wanna clarify and I've clarified this on the show before. I do not live in Texas. I think these are both incredible candidates. Personally, I would vote for Jasmine Crockett.
It.
But what you're bringing up here is an incredible and important point about what he said during that interview.
Yeah, we already know that they want her to get the nomination because these are Texas Republicans and they don't believe a black woman could ever represent their state. They think that she'd be much easier to beat. They vastly underestimate the turnout that would come for her, uh, especially among young people and women who would love to have her. And I've said to you before, I think if Jasmine Crockett were to become senator, she would be like, the biggest Texas politician since Ann Richards. I mean, so much good would come from it. And I am not a Texas resident. I'm not even a Democrat. I'm a big fan of both of these folks. Um, and I've met Jasmine Crockett. Uh, I've exchanged emails with Talarico. I like them both very much. But Talarico does a very soulful version of what I do with dick jokes in my book. He goes right to the core of it, like a real preacher.
Well, when he said the Bible never mentions abortion, the Bible never mentions gay marriage, I'm like, where have I heard this before?
Yeah, but he's. He's not like a political, you know, ranter, like. Like me. He's. He's like the priest and knives out, wake up, dead man. He. He's the real deal, this guy. I mean, he'll go into the next room to talk about your dying mother with you for four hours, regardless of what he has on his plate. Um, that's a very good movie, by the way, about what Christianity really is or was supposed to be. So James Talarico isn't dangerous to the Republican establishment because he's radical. He's dangerous because he's fluent in Jesus and he quotes Jesus correctly, and he doesn't weaponize scripture like a cheap culture war prop. This is the guy who will say, love your enemies. Blessed are the peacemaker. Whatever you do to the least of these, the lowest people, you do to me. Authoritarian movements can survive criticism from comedians like me. Authoritarian movements can't survive moral clarity. And they need the Christians to vote against Jesus. Donald Trump is president because enough white Christians voted against everything Jesus ever talked about over abortion, which Jesus never talked about. You can't follow this Republican Party and follow the teachings of Jesus. It's not possible. That's why they focus on what? The manger, the miracles, the cross, and nothing the guy ever said. They never fight to put a Jesus quote on a courthouse wall or a classroom wall. He is a symbol to them. He's a mascot. That's it. The irony here is that. And I'm not asking anybody to believe in divinity or magic tricks or any of that. Um, atheists, you have a home here. The irony is that Jesus teachings are as threatening to authoritarian power today as they were 2,000 years ago. And even if you're an atheist, if you're fighting Christian nationalism, Jesus is on your side. The Trump White House is trying to silence a politician who quotes Christ. Remember Talarico went on Joe Rogan, and like, within an hour, Rogan was saying, I want you to run for president. That's dangerous, because he will reach white Christian voters. And this is why they're scared of him. You know, Rome didn't crucify Jesus because, uh, for saying be nice, they crucified him because he challenged power. And this is the Streisand effect, right? You try to hide something. Well, good. You just put it on a billboard. This guy is now more famous than ever. They thought they were stopping a campaign appearance, but what they did, these idiots, Alison, these twists, they totally confirmed the censorship narrative. They elevated this guy and helped him raise millions of dollars. They exposed how corrupt the FCC is, and they accidentally have proven that quoting Jesus is now subversive. These idiots made the Sermon on the Mount edgy again. And I found it amazing. This happened the same day that Jesse Jackson died because Jesse Jackson did the same thing, and he did it in criticizing the Democratic Party. You know, when Dr. King died, he became a saint. Jesse Jackson had to stay alive and do all the compromises and the coalition building and losing the elections and taking all the criticism. And Jesse Jackson and did really the same thing Talarico is doing. He quoted the actual Jesus parts of the Bible for policy by saying the Democratic Party had to welcome the stranger, had to care for the sick, had to care for the poor, had to care and stand with workers, had to oppose war. And he used the Gospels to stop the Democratic Party from sliding into neoliberalism before that even was a thing. And I just found it amazing that Jesse Jackson, who was so threatening to the Democratic Party because he quoted Jesus in ways that made power elite, uh, uncomfortable, dies the same day. Talarico is living that same example on Colbert.
Yeah, that is interesting.
They're terrified of goodness.
Yeah. And I don't going back to what you said about the. The Bari Weiss effect, which is what I call the Streisand effect now.
Yeah.
They, I guess, didn't learn their lesson from hiding the Inside sea coat 60 minutes piece, which got a million times more views than it would have had they just shown it. Same with the Talarico interview. And Colbert said that. He's like, well, it could have just aired and nobody would have watched it, but now it's like 5 million views.
They're so stupid. Allison. They're so stupid.
Yeah. Do you think that's idiocy? Failure to learn when you burn your hand on the stove, or, uh, do they not care?
No, no. Donald Trump hires incompetent people deliberately because incompetent people aren't going to say to him, no, that's not legal. That's not right. So he hires schmucks. Look at Kristi Noem. Look, look at Kash Patel. Look at Pete Hegseth. I mean, I could go on. It's all embarrassing. I mean, look at Pam Bondi. He hires these craven clowns or people who used to be human and have now signed up to be craven clowns because A, they're not going to tell him no, and B, if shit ever gets too close to him, he can easily cut them loose. I don't think Pam Bondi and Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth realize that he's gonna lance them like boils the second their screw ups become inconvenient to him. They are built in fall, guys. Same with Brendan Carr and these people. The stupid is always greater than the sinister. I call them dim, shady. And we do not give enough thanks to God or Satan or whomever that in the 21st century, as with Bush and Cheney, our fascists have blessedly been more dumb than they evil. And they're very evil, but they're incredibly incompetent. I mean, we're, we're witnessing that right now. They're going to hurt a lot of people, but ultimately they will fail because they're not hiring the best fascist they could get.
Yeah, but, um, there is justice.
I mean, Brendan Carr, I mean, I mean, Talarico may have just won the Senate now because of this, Right?
Yeah. And Mark Kelly is, has won a, at least a spot to run for president in 2028.
Oh, I, I think Hegseth's trying to make Mark Kelly. I think Hegseth and Trump secretly hate JD Vance and they want Mark Kelly to because that's the only explanation that makes sense. Either that or they're incredibly stupid because they position Mark Kelly to be the front runner for people who aren't into Newsom.
And it must be nice to have a functioning Supreme Court and to have a functioning system of justice. We saw today the South Korean guy who declared martial law, sentenced to life in prison after being impeached and having for insurrection martial law overturned by the Congress over there, and having the Constitutional Court, which is kind of like our Supreme Court, uphold that impeachment and uphold the, you know, and now he's been convicted, and he's going to prison for life for exactly what Donald Trump did on January 6th. So it must be nice to have a functioning Supreme Court. And over in the uk, They've arrested the Andrew formerly known as Prince. And Donald Trump is asked on an airplane in an Air Force One, what, uh, you know, he's like, well, I can talk about this because I've been totally exonerated. And, uh, it's really sad what happened to the Royal Family. Like, he's the one who trafficked Virginia Giuffre from his Mar a Lago spa to Epstein to give to Andrew in the first place. And so to see this kind of justice happen elsewhere, I have justice envy from some of our international neighbors and their Supreme Courts.
Yeah, boy, Pam Bondi sure isn't in charge of South Korea or UK Law, is he?
North Korea is more like.
Yeah, I mean, over here, you know, we treat. No one is above the law. That's more like a decorative throw pillow, uh, for our justice system at this point. I mean. I mean, like, the British say no one is above the law. And Americans are like, okay, define above.
Um, yeah, we talk in wishes and dreams. Over here, we're like the American ideal. The flag stands for this beautiful multicultural democracy that we want to have, and we want there to be no one above the law. But then when you get, uh, somebody like Justice Roberts, who, who, uh, disagrees with you fundamentally, we end up with, uh, the elite, definitely above the law.
That's it. And these guys don't want justice. They want a hall pass. They're terrified of justice. Trump runs away from accountability like it's a salad. And this is one of the reasons why we're a joke now, because we lecture the entire world on justice, like a landlord who's behind on his own rent. You know what I mean? Like, America's officially become the motivational speaker who will never follow their own advice. Britain arrested a member of the royal Family. We're arresting protesters and journalists. These guys are stupid. Epstein is not going away. And I think I would never compare the Epstein situation to the Russia investigation, which, by the way, yielded 10 counts of obstruction of justice against the President. The Democrats decided to do nothing with it. But I'll, uh, compare it in this way. You know, Alex, uh, I'll talk to
you about that in a second, all right?
But I will say the Democratic model for the midterms in 2018 was, we don't talk about Russia. The media talks about Russia. We're going to Go out there and talk about education and healthcare. And it worked. I think you'll see some Democrats talking about Epstein. But the media can largely carry this ball because these files aren't going away. And more and more revelations are going to come out. And as more overseas leaders are forced to leave their jobs. Just over proximity. Just over proximity. The only American so far who's lost who's. Who's. I mean, Larry Summers, I guess, has gone into hiding. And there's a lot that's going to be coming about him. And boy howdy, Deepak Chopra, it's going to be really awkward for a long time. And these stories are not going to become quieter between now and the midterms. More discoveries will come from the files we already have. We've seen the Polish government actually say that they might release all the names. And then what are we going to do when we have evidence, at least testimony of powerful elite men torturing, mutilating, raping children, and a White House that continues to refuse to do anything, that continues to protect them? You're going to see other nations will reveal these names before ours does. And you know what? It's going to cause a lot of pain for the victims, but these guys have to come down hard. And this is going to be one of the torches that burns down their castle of bullshit. They can't hide from it. They're hiding half the file still, which we have to keep hammering in every conversation with Republican loved ones that Trump and Pam Bondi have broken the law every day since December 19th to protect rapists of children. This story's only gonna get louder. And with the example the UK has now set of taking a literal royal family, I mean, we don't have crowns anymore. We replace that with red hats. And they've taken a literal royal family and they put him in a. A cell on his birthday. The bar has been raised, folks.
Yeah, a bar that for us is in the gutter.
Yeah.
Sorry to interrupt you on the Mueller thing.
Go ahead.
Not the Democrats who failed to do anything. It was the Republicans, starting with Robert Mueller, who failed to declare that Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice, which allowed Bill Barr to come in and write a memo saying he did not. And we declined to prosecute, which makes it impossible to prosecute those. Obstruction of justice.
Right. I'm just saying that a year after that, The Democrats put three impeachment articles on the table, and it could been 13 because Mueller already had them all written out and spell checks and everything.
Yes. Okay. Although I. I said I wouldn't impeach on. On the Mueller investigation personally.
But, you know, I, I will never stop saying, I wish Mueller had just followed the damn money and looked into the money laundering, because that, I think
that was the red line. He was going to get fired if he did that. And the whole.
That's right, that's right. But that's. That's what we have to.
Nothing would have happened when.
I mean, Deutsche bank whistleblower should be the thing all of us crazy anti Trumpers are talking about all day long. Robert Mueller hired guys who were experts in money laundering and then didn't even follow the money anywhere, which is what could blow this all open. The problem is that could blow open an entire established order, to say nothing of the entire New York real estate industry. Uh, a lot of money gets laundered for Russians in New York real estate. And Donald Trump. Well, they followed that money. Racist landlord.
They followed that.
Yeah, they did. And you know what happened with that Manafort? Uh, the assets seized by Manafort paid for the entire Mueller investigation.
Yep.
Funny how that works, guys.
Isn't it that crazy? So when they're like, you blew $30 million, it's like, no, we actually made
about made money on the Mueller report. I'm all for that. Oh, Elon. Oh, Elon. I'm all for it.
Yeah.
But the timidity has to stop right there. There could have been a point where Merrick Garland actually said, I don't care if there's an Office of Legal Counsel memo from Bill Barr saying he refused to prosecute, I'm going to try to prosecute and maybe lose.
And then maybe you notice, criticize Merrick Garland. I'm going to fight you on this.
And then maybe you knock your conviction success rate from 100% down to 99.99%. Like, go ahead, take the risk, man. Take the fucking risk.
We live in such an amazing time right now because as I said on your show before, it's never been harder to get away with abusing a woman or a child. It's happening right now. It's so, uh, men have abused women and children for thousands of years, and Homo sapiens are only doing something about it on a societal scale for maybe the last 30 or 40 out of tens of thousands. Look how fast we are moving. This human race is a real drag. But once we get figure something out, we do get better. And look at how homophobia is never going to come back in this country the way it was. And look at how it's never been harder for a Man, especially a powerful one. To be a predator. Yes, it's still way too easy. But so much good is going to come from this. And this Epstein story is not going to go away for a long, long time. If I was running for office as a Democrat, I would not just be calling for special coun. So I'd also be the Democrat demanding that we scan that entire island for buried bodies. I'm telling you, people are outraged. Conservative people, too.
And, um, I feel like other countries could do that, because it's not in America.
They could. Well, it's. No, it is in America, unfortunately, is American territory. So it has to be one of us. But that's all the more reason why a Democrat could run on this. And it's an attractive message, because if there's one red line morally left for our MAGA friends, it seems to be child rape for some of them. Them and the lies this administration has already told after the lies they've told about the killings of Americans. I'm sorry, man. I. I want to Nuremberg this entire thing when it's over and this is part of it.
Yeah, I agree. And it looks like New Mexico is doing something about sort of a ranch as well.
That's right.
So, all right, let's see New York
State do something too. You know, there's lots that could be
done that would be lovely. Uh, hello. Uh, yeah.
Uh, I mean, if a governor wants to be more popular just putting it out there, you know?
Gosh. Yeah. I wonder if there's anybody in the New York area that. That would have interest in this and have the wind at their backs. And also Alvin Bragg, if you're listening.
Uhhuh.
Um, New York Attorney General Letitia James, if you're listening.
Exactly.
All right. Thank you so much, my friend. Thank you.
You're the best.
Yeah. And you. I know everybody thinks I'm a Merrick Garland apologist or whatever. He could have been m. He could have easily challenged Bill Barr's obstruction of justice memo.
Easily.
Because it was wrong on the law.
Listen, you are the best on Merrick Garland because you criticize him when it's warranted. But you. You. You demand fairness for him, and I really respect that about you.
Well, I would be a lot more popular if I jumped on the hate that guy bandwagon.
Yeah, I know, but you. You do this thing where you pour facts into your head and you leave them there, so you can't. So it's your own fault like that.
It's just weird. But there were definitely mistakes. And I talk about them all the time.
So thank you so much for having me again.
Yes, my friend. Everybody check out Tell Me Everything on Sirius XM Progress127. It's weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific. Grab your copy of Separation of Church and Hate, New York Times bestseller. I always, uh, I love that I get to talk to a New York Times bestselling author once a week. You can check out the John Feeglesang show podcast and uh, you know, seriously, just google John Fuglsang. You'll find a bunch of stuff. Everybody, thank you so much my friend for being here.
Thank you Alice. Listen, have a great one. Take care.
You too. Everybody stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Hey everybody. Honey Love is an independent female founded brand and the design approach shows the pieces feel thoughtfully engineered by women who actually wear them, with an emphasis on comfort, fit and everyday practicality. I tried Honey Love after getting frustrated with bras that start out fine, then shift and require constant adjusting and roll and slip off the shoulders in the cups and they get gaps anyway. I expected a firm, restrictive feel, but it was comfortable while still providing real support. The bra held its shape without me needing to tug it down. It's built to work across a range of bust sizes from smaller to fuller. I also wore the shapewear for the dressier outfit I have, and it stayed in place. It didn't roll, no readjusting. It was amazing. So now you'll understand why we want to thank HoneyLove for sponsoring the Daily Beans. Use our exclusive Link to save 20% off honeylove@honeylove.com DailyBeans Honey Lift Shapewear is a lot more wearable than the stuff that feels like it's trying to win a wrestling match with you. It gives you shaping in the places you want without making you feel squeezed or stiff, so you can actually move around and stay comfortable no matter what you get up to. It's also easier to put on and take off than most shapewear, and it has practical opening for bathroom trips, so it's far more convenient. And if you're shopping for bras too, Honey Love gives you real support without the underwire. I'm so happy to get rid of the underwire. These bras are so comfortable, they have beautiful silhouettes. It's a great upgrade over the poking and pinching from regular bras. So treat yourself to the most advanced bras and shapewear on the market. Use our exclusive link to save 20% off honeylove@honeylove.com DailyBeans that's honeylove.com DailyBeans after you check out, they'll ask where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. Experience the new standard in comfort and support with Honey Love. Hey everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone.
Then good news, everyone.
And if you have any good news you want to share with us, it can be big, it can be small. It can be from yesterday or five years ago, 20 years ago, doesn't matter. Uh, send it into us. Maybe your good trouble suggestions. We would love to hear what kind of good trouble you'd like us to get in. Uh, maybe you have a shout out to a loved one, a spouse, uh, yourself, a small business in your area, a nonprofit you want us to know about, or a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one. We usually do Democratic government programs, but if you can find a Republican government program that has helped you or loved one, let us know. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com click on contact. And all you got to do to get your submission read on the air is pay your POD pet tariff, which means attach a photo of anything. It can be anything. It can be your pet. And we can try to guess the breeds in your shelter pup. It can be an adoptable pet in your area. It can be a random animal on the Internet. It can be a bird watching photo, which can be a bird or you flipping the bird to a Trump property. Uh, it can be family photos, awkward family photos, baby photos, your baby photos if you have them. If you have access to anything like that. It can be what you're a photo of, what you're making or creating, or maybe some great signs you've seen at, uh, protests you've been to, or one of those cool overpass signs that you see sometimes on the freeway. Seriously, anything at all that'll put a smile on our face. We need to microdose hope. Send it to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. First up is your good trouble. And your good trouble today comes from Senator Chris Murphy, who posted on Blue sky, quote, let me tell you about the SAVE Act. You need to know about it. It's Trump's first of likely many major attempts to rig the election in his favor. It takes away the right to vote for millions and allows your voting records to be erased. We cannot let it pass. In the Senate, the SAVE act has passed the House and 50 senators have indicated they will vote for it if it reaches a vote in the Senate. So reach out to your senators and tell them not to support this legislation, to vote no on this legislation if it comes to a vote. We have a list of Senate co sponsors in the show notes and, uh, links on how to contact your US senators. Because if 50 senators say they're going to vote for this and they only need 60 to pass this bill, that's cutting it way too close for me. So make sure you call your senators.
Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. This is from an anonymous human being pronoun. She and her. Hello. Lovely legume, ladies. Thank you so much for doing all the hard work that you do daily. I'm ready to celebrate the fact that I joined an adult ballet class. I haven't taken a class in over 20 years. I'm the oldest in the class by about a decade. But I'm doing it for my pod pet tax, not a tariff. I'm Canadian, so I don't pay American tariffs. I'm submitting a picture from my vacation two summers ago of my daughter feeding her favorite goat at the resort we stayed at in Virginia. It's one of our favorite vacation spots, and we can't wait to return when things are a little safer to travel. Love you both, and congrats, Dana, on your new Patreon. Anonymous. Thank you so very much.
Okay, I love the goat, but I love this little girl's hat even more.
I know, it's so cute.
Oh, it's the blue with the little hearts and it's got the big rim on it, so she keeps out of the sun. Anonymous. Thank you so much. That's a lovely photo. Next up, uh, D.C. near D.C. happy birthday to me. I need a professional assessment of this joke that I just made up. Why did the computer hacker start singing I'm all right? Because he knew all the logins. Get it, Kenny? Logins.
That is very cute. Well done. Good dad job.
It's okay if it's not good. I'm a dad dad. It goes with the territory.
It's a good dad joke.
It is a good dad joke. So in lieu of having you guess my golden retrievers breed, for my tariff, I present one of a hilarious series of man versus Goats videos that I've been recently fed. Probably because Facebook spies on us and you keep saying goats, goats, goats on my phone. The creator's name is Anthony Brock. Here's my favorite. Goats versus Dinosaurs.
Thank you so much.
We'll have a a link to this Instagram reel in our show notes. Love, uh, the dad joke. And, um, that's really interesting. You know, if you listen on to this and your phone is. Is listening, I'm interested to know if. If you guys are getting goats fed to you in your algorithms on social media.
Oh, my God, that's funny. Absolutely. All right, this is from Gerard. Pronouns he and him. Yesterday would have been my grandfather's 113th birthday. Friday is my birthday. Happy early birthday, Ge. Actually, if you're listening to this, happy birthday. We share the same first name. He shared his love of the outdoors and especially sailing with me and the rest of his grandkids during his 88 years on this earth. Shout out to Jerry. May his journey still be guided by Polaris, the name of his sailboat.
Oh, this is a rad picture.
Yeah, both of these are very fucking cool.
Happy birthday, Gerard. Oh, yeah, I didn't see that second picture. Look at that. Beautiful sailboat, too.
Yeah, gorgeous.
All right, next up, from Jay, Pronouns he and they. Good day, Beans. Queens longtime listener, first time reaching out during Thursday's show. The discussion with Phil Williams. Allison questioned how it is that the Alt Right have been able to move from the sidelines into the mainstream, and especially how they've been able to reach the disaffected youth so effectively since the 90s. I highly suggest watching the Alt Right Playbook series of videos on YouTube by Innuendo Studios called the Alt Right Playbook. Each video is focused on one aspect of how they've been controlling narratives, recruiting normies in quotes, and deflecting valid discussion via, uh, various rhetorical tools and practices. I think you'll be shocked at how on point the descriptions are and may even find some little gaps of understanding suddenly filling up. As they say, knowledge is half the battle. Jay, thank you, M for this. I've definitely watched this, and we'll put a link to this YouTube series in our show. Notes Podpet Tacks are my sibling, ex feral Covid, Kiddas, Nymira the Torti and Fang the Void. Nymira is gorgeous and so is Fang. Look at this guy I want to pet.
So beautiful. Both of them. Okay, this is her. Martha pronoun. She and her. Greetings, lovely Laguna ladies. I've been listening for quite a while now. You keep me sane. I love your giggles, your tears, your anger, and your incredible compassion. I'm a retired scientist, pastor, teacher. That's a nice trifecta. Who now works as a fiber artist. All right, the tapestry piece began as a way to try out a new loom using rug, yarn and a vague notion of geological layers under a Pastoral scene. The loom sat with just the lower part done for months and then the world exploded. When I got back to weaving, the piece reflected that thus the town on the right is being menaced by a creeping chaos monster on the left. Made from the snarls of some tangled yarn, it's under siege by flames and smoke to the right and the thunder clouds overhead. I used a lot of hand dyed, hand spun yarn. I painted the frame gold because a cheap wooden frame covered by gold paint seemed to be representative of our current regime. My working title was Chaos and Fire. Sometimes a firm foundation doesn't help. But in the end, I just named the piece 2025 for my pod pet tax. A picture of me with my goofball cat, Hermes. He loves to help me weave.
Oh, I bet he loves to help you weave. I bet he helped with the chaos monster tangled yarn part. That probably.
This is very cool.
It is beautiful. I love the gold painted frame. It's very representative of the regime right now. And look at this kitty.
So much significance. It's awesome.
Yeah, awesome. Thank you so much. Next, Aunt Maggie. She her best wife ever. Hiya, my favorite new gals. I finished Separation of Church and Hate and now I own my own copy to mark up. Anyway, I'm writing to share a TikTok post that I loved. I can't tag the original creator. I didn't pay close enough attention. It is my pet pod fee. Enjoy. The caption is, this is why I keep a fork beside me when I watch TV. I've also included Callie O' Malley McFatty pants, Chonky Tabby Lily Deaf White Babylon Applesauce, Diluted Tabby, Spoiled Brat, and Aspen the Talking Gray Snugglebug. Keep up the good work. Appreciate you keeping us informed and entertained and sane. And yeah, I've seen this. You put the fork up when Trump is talking and it looks like he's behind prison bars. And look at all these kitties. Callie O' Malley McFaddy Pants Lily, applesauce and Aspen.
Oh, cutie pies.
I want to pet Lily's belly.
By the way, I'd be so sneezy.
So many kitties be so sneezy, my friend. Everyone, thank you so much for sending in your good news. Please send us all your good news. Dana's gonna be taken over next week, so make sure you send all your baby pictures. Just flood the good news with baby pictures, please.
And otters. And otters and pandas. Red, white and black. Uh, whatever you want to send. And all the happiness and make sure
the otters are holding hands because that's extra bonus points. And if there's.
Are.
If there's a baby otter and they're holding hands.
I can't. I would have. My heart would explode.
Your heart would explode. All right, everybody, thank you so much. Dana, do you have anything you want to say before we get out of here for the weekend?
I just want to. Yeah, this is going to sound like a weird public service announcement. I had a spot removed from my ear today, and I can't tell you how much pain I'm in. So. So just. We're getting it checked out. It's going to be biopsied. But just a little reminder, when you're putting sunscreen on your face, and you should make sure you also cover your ears.
That's a very good point. And I'm going to remember that while I'm on vacation, though, I think it's going to be raining the entire time.
Doesn't matter that those UV lights will go through those clouds. You cover your ears, my friend. You cover your ears.
You're absolutely right. Thank you so much for that public service announcement. And, um, uh, I hope that you feel better, my friends. Thank you, everybody. Send the good healing vibes so the pain goes away. All right, everybody, we'll be back. Well, Dana will be back in your ears next week, and I'll be back in your ears the week after that. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family. I've been ag.
I've been dg.
And them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison 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 mswmedia.com msw media.