Thursday, December 5th, 2024 Today, Trump considers replacing Hegseth with either Ron DeSantis or Jonie Ernst for Secretary of Defense; the CEO of United Health was shot in New York; we have the main takeaways from Supreme Court oral arguments over gender affirming care for trans teens; Ken Chesebro moves to vacate his guilty plea in Georgia; Rudy Giuliani is getting desperate as he asks Judge Beryl Howell for more time while representing himself; Trump asks to have his entire Fulton County case thrown out; Jerry Nadler is stepping down as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and endorsing Jamie Raskin; Democrats flip the final House seat up for grabs setting up a razor thin majority for Republicans; today in fuck around and find out, union members are upset that Trump has signaled that he’s canceling a steel export deal; and Allison delivers your Good News.
Thursday, December 5th, 2024
Today, Trump considers replacing Hegseth with either Ron DeSantis or Jonie Ernst for Secretary of Defense; the CEO of United Health was shot in New York; we have the main takeaways from Supreme Court oral arguments over gender affirming care for trans teens; Ken Chesebro moves to vacate his guilty plea in Georgia; Rudy Giuliani is getting desperate as he asks Judge Beryl Howell for more time while representing himself; Trump asks to have his entire Fulton County case thrown out; Jerry Nadler is stepping down as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and endorsing Jamie Raskin; Democrats flip the final House seat up for grabs setting up a razor thin majority for Republicans; today in fuck around and find out, union members are upset that Trump has signaled that he’s canceling a steel export deal; and Allison delivers your Good News.
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Hello and welcome to the Daily Beans for Thursday, December 5, 2024. Today, Trump considers replacing Hegseth with either Ron DeSantis or Joni Ernst for Secretary of Defense. The CEO of UnitedHealth was shot in New York. We have the main takeaways from the Supreme Court oral arguments over gender affirming care for trans teens. Ken Chesbro has moved to vacate his guilty plea in Georgia. Rudy Giuliani is getting desperate as he asks Judge Beryl Hal for more. While representing himself, Trump asks to have his entire Fulton county case thrown out. Jerry Nadler is stepping down as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. And endorsing Jamie Raskin. Democrats flip the final House seat up for grabs, setting up a razor thin margin for Republicans. And today in fuck around and find Outsville, union members are upset that Trump has signaled he's going to cancel a steel export deal. I'm your host, Allison Gill. Hey, everybody, Happy Thursday. It's just me again today. Don't worry, Dana will be back in your ears with me on Monday. I appreciate you hanging in there with me until she returns. Very, uh, frequently, if you're new here, she tends to go out hosting trips because she raises literally tens and tens of millions of dollars for the LGBTQ + community. So we really appreciate your patience when she's gone. So thank you. Later in the show, I'll be speaking with my friend Congressman Dan Goldman From New York's 10th district about, first of all, whether we'll see Jack Smith testify, whether or not he thinks Merrick Garland will release Jack Smith's report should he write one. We're going to talk about Trump's junk drawer picks and also some really good advice about what we can do as citizens to impede the Trump administration. And they're like fascism. So that is a really great interview. We have a lot of news. But before we get to the hot notes, we do have some quick hits. And to make a long story short, Too late. All right, first up, Ken Chesbro the cheese is seeking to invalidate his plea deal in the Georgia election interference case that also swept up his former boss as a defendant. Ken Chesbrough filed the motion to invalidate his guilty plea Wednesday morning. It is not related to Trump's victory in the election or to special counsel Jack Smith's withdrawal of the federal January 6th case. Rather, the cheese wants out of a state level guilty plea because the judge in the case invalidated the charge that he pled guilty to earlier this year. And you'll remember in September, Fulton County Superior court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that three counts in Fani Willis's RICO indictment were unconstitutional. McAfee found that the Constitution's supremacy clause precluded the charges, which had to do with making false statements to a federal body, from being filed. So we're going to talk about that on cleanup. And in a related story, Trump has cited Clinton v. Jones to move to have his entire Fulton county charges thrown out. Harry Dunn, he and I will go over those charges and, and that particular motion in detail again. That's the next cleanup on aisle, uh, 45 podcast. Something else we'll be covering, but I just had to tell you about is that Rudy Giuliani will be representing himself in federal court in D.C. and he has asked Judge Barrel how he's doing that because, no, nobody wants to represent him. He says it's because of other reasons, but he's full of it. He sent a letter to Judge Barrel how asking if she could give him 30 more days to respond to a motion for contempt filed by Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss. Now, this is not the contempt that he could face for failing to turn over his property. This is the contempt he could face because he continues to defame the election workers, which is a violation of the court order. Almost immediately, Judge Barrel Howell denied his motion and had some choice words in her minute order, too. She said that aside from this being late, he forgot to sign it. He forgot to confer, meet and confer with opposing counsel about it, which is a local rule. And she said even defendants with no legal experience should know and have to follow the rules. But certainly a, uh, previously practicing attorney with high level government positions should know better. So that is all going to be on the next cleanup on L45. I hope you enjoyed the episode this week, by the way, the first one with former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn. Next up, Jerry Nadler says he's going to withdraw from consideration to be House Judiciary ranking member again. And he's endorsing Congressman Jamie Raskin. I expect Congressman Raskin to win this and become the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee. I don't know if Jim Jordan's going to continue to be the chairman of that committee. I imagine so, but we'll see Also some good news. Republican Rep. John Duarte has conceded to his Democratic challenger Adam Gray in California's 13th congressional district. This is according to Duarte campaign spokespersons talking to cnn. The five counties in the district certified their results Tuesday. Gray had 187 vote lead. The contest was the last unresolved House race in the country and with Gray's victory, Republicans won 220 seats to Democrats 215 overall. Democrats gained one seat from their pre election total. I should note that Democrats lost the house by just 7,000 votes nationwide. So when I talk about how every vote matters, even if you're in a blue state or a red state, that's what I mean. All right everybody, we have more news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes hot uh notes. All right, first up, from Lindsay Whitehurst at the Associated Press. The Supreme Court heard the most high profile case of its term Wednesday, weighing Tennessee's ban on transgender affirming health care for minors. Similar laws have been passed by other conservative leaning states and challengers say they deprive kids of the treatment they need while the states defend them as protecting minors from life changing decisions. The conservative majority court appeared ready to uphold Tennessee's law. It comes against the backdrop of escalating pushback to transgender rights, notably from Trump. Here are some key takeaways from the arguments, according to the Associated Press. In the arguments Wednesday, five of the court's six conservatives seemed skeptical of the argument that the ban on gender affirming care for minors is discriminatory. Two key conservatives, Roberts and Coney Barrett, repeatedly challenged the arguments from lawyers challenging the ban. Roberts questioned whether judges should be weighing in on a question of regulating medical procedures, an area usually left to state lawmakers. State is the key. Barrett sounded skeptical of the administration's argument that the law discriminates because of sex. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch was notably silent, asking no questions. The court's other three conservatives seemed to favor Tennessee. The three liberals largely backed the challengers, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor highlighting the risks of suicide among kids with gender dysphoria. The litigation marked only the second time the high court has heard a case that represented a fundamental test of transgender rights. In the case involving LGBTQ rights four years ago, two conservative justices, Roberts and Gorsuch, joined with the liberals to expand protections for transgender workers. Barrett wasn't on the bench at the time and had no record on transgender transgender rights. Gorsuch wrote the opinion, which left open claims of discrimination in other situations. The court isn't expected to rule for several months. The decision could have direct effect in the 26 states that have passed versions of these bans. Supporters of the measure argue that gender affirming treatments are risky and that the laws need to protect kids from making decisions before they are ready. Challengers say many medical interventions come with some degree of risk and families should be able to weigh those against the benefits. The arguments in favor of Tennessee's ban could also be used to back federal restrictions, says Chase Strangio, the ACLU attorney who represented three families challenging the law and the first transgender lawyer to argue in front of the Supreme Court. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scurmetti said that the state's arguments would still let each state set its own policy. This sounds awfully familiar to the Dobbs decision and it could undermine any sex based discrimination claims and leave that up to the states. Meaning, you know, a state could decide that women don't get to vote. We're going to leave that up to the states. A state could decide that women don't get to divorce, no fault divorce, and that could slip into Obergefell and Loving. And any other decision that we have that protects that, you know, puts federal protections for individual civil rights could throw it all back to the states. Meanwhile, Mark Joseph Stern at Slate reminds us that Skrmeti is not just about transgender people. It's also fundamentally a case about gender equality and whether constitutional limitations on sex discrimination can survive the Supreme Court's conservative supermajority. The key legal question in the case is surprisingly easy. Do laws that deny certain medicine to people based exclusively on their sexual trigger heightened scrutiny by the courts? The answer, according to long established precedent, is a resounding yes. If the courts decide otherwise, it will shred the constitutional presumption against sex discrimination and replace it with a rubber stamp for states that want to impose their own prejudiced conceptions of gender roles by force of law. Transgender Americans are, of course, most immediate affected by Scarmetti, but the case really implicates all of our rights. Everyone's freedom to reject gender stereotypes without fear of state oppression is at stake. So we'll be keeping an eye on this ruling. Um, maybe we'll get one in June or July. That's, uh, when these rulings for this term come out. Next up, from James LaPorta et al at CBS News. President elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth is showing defiance amid misconduct allegations as support for his confirmation appears to be in doubt. There are now several candidates under consideration to replace him as Trump's intended nominee, according to sources familiar talking to CBS news, including Ron DeSantis and Joni Ernst. She's the Iowa senator. But the embattled former Fox News host on Wednesday pushed back on reports that Trump is considering other candidates for defense secretary. On Capitol Hill. On Wednesday morning, as he continued to visit Republican members of Congress, Hegseth told CBS News he does not intend to withdraw his name from consideration. He also said he spoke with Trump Wednesday morning and the president elect encouraged him to keep fighting. This is the same road Matt Gaetz went down. Remember when Matt Gaetz showed up to the Capitol with J.D. vance in tow and said, I'm not going anywhere, and then, oh, like a day later, womp, womp, we'll see what happens. Quote, I spoke to the president this morning. He said, keep going, keep fighting. I'm behind you all the way. Why would I back down? I've always been a fighter. I'm here for the fighters. This is personal and passionate for me. In an interview with Sirius XM's Megyn Kelly Show Wednesday, Hegseth said he'd spoken to Trump earlier in the day and that the incoming president told him, I've got your back. On reports of the possibility that DeSantis could replace him as defense chief nominee, he told Kelly, it's all the president's choice. I spoke to the president this morning, he said, I'm his guy. Despite the acrimony between DeSantis and Trump during the primary campaign, the Florida governor is interested in the job, according to two sources familiar with DeSantis thinking his second and final term as governor ends January 2027. Trump has already announced a series of cabinet nominees who hail from Florida. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, for example, Pam Bondi. Although serving as defense secretary would pose some political risk, DeSantis believes it would position him well for a presidential run in 2028. Hegseth, former Fox and Friends weekend co host and army veteran, has been meeting with Senate Republicans in recent weeks to build support for his confirmation. But reports in recent days that detailed alleged sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement at veterans charities, repeated intoxication and infidelity appeared to be softening his support. Wow. It takes, it takes a lot to soften support among Republicans. Some Senate Republicans have called the allegations disturbing and say that they came as a surprise. Still, Hegseth on Wednesday told reporters at the Capitol that his meetings with Senate Republicans have been a wonderful process. In his interview with Kelly, Hegseth said, no one has looked me in the eye and said I have concerns And I can't vote for you. In fact, most have said, let's take a picture, and I'm behind you all the way. Hegseth also defended himself in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday amid reports about his removal as the head of veterans charities over allegations of financial mismanagement, intoxication, sexual misconduct, and fostering a toxic work CL climate. Hegseth wrote of his work for the organization Concerned Veterans for America. Quote, we fought entrenched interests and mobilized veterans and patriotic Americans across this country, he said, denying reports of any misconduct and accusing the media of publishing falsehoods. We had hundreds of employees and thousands of volunteers. Yet based on the anonymous accusations of a few disgruntled employees, the legacy media has made it sound as if we ran a college frat house, he wrote. That's just untrue. Yeah, it's a big Democratic conspiracy. We're all out to get you. It's just the Democrats, right? Your mom said you were a bad dude. Your mom, your own mom. Okay, Republicans. Republican women at a Republican conference said you were a bad dude. Uh, current. 10 current and former Fox News employees said, your drinking is out of control, but, yeah, it's the Democrats. Hegseth also said that he left CVA over, quote, an internal difference of opinion about its future. I wanted to engage in foreign policy. Our donors didn't. And he added up that the group's leadership, quote, wrote me a glowing letter when I left. Can we see it? In his interview with Kelly, Hegseth addressed the sexual assault allegation that emerged in November. He responded, absolutely not. When asked if he had raped a woman in Monterey, California, he admitted that it would have once been a fair characterization to call him a serial cheater, but says he has changed. Quote, I may have been drinking, but I was cognizant enough to remember every single detail. And I'm not here to say that my conduct was good. He said being in a hotel room with someone, that's not the person you're with is not okay. I own up to that, and I've had to own up to that, and that's been difficult. He said he paid his accuser because, quote, I had to. Or at least I thought I did at the time. I had to. He explained that he was newly married and was under consideration for a role in the first Trump administration and wanted to protect his family and his Fox News job. He also responded to reporting by NBC News that cited current and former Fox News employees who said that on more than a dozen occasions while Hegseth was at Fox and Friends. They smelled alcohol on him before he went to air, and he appeared on TV after they heard him talk about being hungover and he was getting ready or already on set, the report said. Three current employees said his drinking remained a concern up until Trump announced him as the choice to run the Pentagon. But in the op ed, Hegseth did not directly address allegations about his alcohol consumption. Quote, I've been at Fox News where I saw my work as a continuation of my mission to fight for America again. The legacy press has used anonymous sources to try to discredit even that. And then he referred readers to his Twitter feed for statements of support from professional colleagues. He did tell Kelly, I've never had a drinking problem. North Dakota GOP Senator Kevin Kramer is scheduled to meet with Hegseth Wednesday afternoon. That's yesterday. And told reporters earlier in the day that the allegations are very, very serious. They can't be trivialized. And I just want to know that, that he's redeemed and going forward, he's going to do better. Kramer also added, I think the mood of the conference is one of the pretty serious, really, really serious about it, and they're serious about how these things affect his ability to do his job and the ability of the troops to look up to him. He suggested that Republican conference was watching for signals from the Trump transition team about Hegseth. Quote, there's a mood of the conference, and then there's the mood of the Trump transition team itself. So we'll see what kind of messages and signals we hear throughout the course of the day. As you can tell, these things have been breaking pretty fast and furious. Kramer said of Joni Ernst that she would be easy to confirm, and I think she'd be great. And in fact, if she wanted it, she'd be my first pick. I've never backed down from a fight, and I won't back down from this one. Hegseth wrote, adding, I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing with our distinguished senators, not a show trial in the press. Heg Seth has continued to meet with Republican senators who will weigh in on his nomination. But one prominent Republican, Josh Hawley, told reporters Wednesday afternoon that Hegseth canceled their upcoming meeting. Quote, I was supposed to sit down with them tomorrow, but they canceled that meeting. Yeah, uh, we'll see what happens. And next up from cnn, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning in a, quote, brazen targeted attack as he walked toward the hotel hosting the company's annual Investor conference. That's according to New York Police. The gunman remains at large. Shortly after 7am A gunman masked in the freezing temperatures was lying in wait before opening fire on Thompson outside the Hilton Midtown. According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, quote, many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target. And she said, I want to be clear at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated pre planned targeted attack. The gunman approached Thompson from behind and shot him at least once in the back and once in the right calf. Responding emergency workers took Thompson to the Mount Sinai west in critical condition where he was pronounced dead at 7:12am Police described the shooting, which is shown in a surveillance video obtained by cnn. Officials say the assailant stepped from behind a car onto the sidewalk, ignored other people and then shot the victim from behind. The shooter walked closer and continued to shoot until the gun apparently malfunctioned. The suspect cleared the jam and fired again before fleeing through an alley. Quote, it does seem that he's proficient in the use of firearms and he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly. That's NYPD Chief Detectives Joe Kennedy. Now. Investigative efforts of the New York City Police Department are well underway, Tisch said, and we will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter. The suspect fled first on foot, then on an E bike and he was last seen in Central park early this morning. Investigators are continuing to canvas the area. Thompson, who was visiting from Minnesota, was shot with a weapon that appeared to be outfitted with a, uh, silencer. The motive for the shooting remains unclear, but Thompson. Thompson's wife Paulette told NBC News there had been some threats against her husband. Quote, she said there has been some threats on, um, this is a phone call to NBC News. Basically, I don't know, a lack of coverage. I don't know the details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him. Paulette Thompson declined to comment to CNN on the threat she described to NBC. Quote, we are shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian, she told CNN Wednesday. Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives. Most importantly, Brian was incredibly a loving father to our two sons and he will be greatly missed. The shooting happened at West 53rd street and Sixth Avenue in Midtown, just blocks from Rockefeller center, where the annual Christmas tree lighting event will be held Wednesday night. That's last night. If you're listening to this, on Thursday A source familiar with the company security said the leadership team at UnitedHealth Group is supported by an in house security team. Thompson's security detail was not with him when the early morning shooting occurred. NYPD Crimestoppers has announced a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible. And today in a new segment I like to call the fuck around and find out. This story comes from Trib Live. On Monday night, President elect Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to the proposed $14.9 billion sale of U.S. steel to Japan's Nip and Steel Company, vowing to block the deal when he takes office. Some steel workers in Pittsburgh's Mon Valley who support the deal and Trump weren't happy. Quote, I'm very frustrated with the news that came out last night. This is United Steelworkers Local 2227 Vice President Jason Zugay. He said this during a panel discussion Tuesday in D.C. quote, I didn't expect that to come out. So that was like a gut punch really. He campaigned on this. The local represents hundreds of workers at U.S. steel's Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Zugai Local 227 President Jack Masky M and West Mifflin Mayor Chris Kelly. Those are. Those three people met with politicians Tuesday to lobby them to approve the sale, which has come under scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats alike. Leaders in both parties, including President Joe Biden and, um, both of Pennsylvania's U.S. senators, opposed the deal. On a national security level, many believe the iconic Pittsburgh company should remain domestically owned. Also standing in opposition is the leadership of the United Steel Workers. Its president, David McCall, told Trib Live last month that the dispute fractures among his membership. He remains firmly against any deal, though. McCall said he has little faith that NIPUM will make good on promises to pour $1 billion into the Mon Valley Works, analysts say needs at least that much money to remain competitive. Masil, the local president that I mentioned a minute ago among those three people, acknowledged that when the U.S. steel NIP impact was first proposed in December of 2023, he and other steel workers were skeptical. Those concerns began to fade, however, after Nippon Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori met with local steel workers and Mon Valley elected officials in October. Mascal told the panel convened by the Hudson Institute, a uh, Washington D.C. think tank, that 95% of the employees at the Irvine Works now support the NIP and purchase. He suspects that a majority of workers across all three Mon Valley facilities back the deal as well. There are more than 3,000 union steel workers across the three facilities in Mon Valley works now. Zugay, another one of those three guys, said he attended Trump rallies in Westmoreland county and Pittsburgh in the run up to the election, even meeting with the president elect at one of them, and helped organize steel workers to attend those rallies. Trump didn't mention any opposition to the Steel Nippon deal at those particular rallies. Zugay said Trump told him then that he would take another look at the deal after he won the election. Zuge said he was hopeful Trump would eventually support it. After speaking with Mon Valley workers and members of Mon Valley communities, Kelly, the West Mifflin mayor, poked fun at Trump for not coming around to their side. He said he has yet to hear from any national politician about a plan to invest in the Mon Valley plants if the deal with Nipin is blocked, quote, maybe he has concepts of a plan, kelly said about Trump, referencing an often mocked line from the Trump September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris when discussing healthcare. The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment. Really? Steven Chung didn't come out and say this is absolute left wing bullshit. Uh, you're attacking the president. You're going to be tried for treason. He's a peach. But no, I guess they didn't comment and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a body responsible for evaluating the national security implications of foreign investments in American companies, is currently weighing the sale. The committee's deadline to issue a determination is December 23rd. In the meantime, Zugay said local supporters like himself have been trying to persuade politicians to back this deal. He said he spoke with governor Josh Shapiro's office and came away feeling that the governor is trying to help push the deal through. Shapiro, at a stop in Pittsburgh Tuesday, confirmed that Zugay had met with members of his team. The Democratic governor didn't express outright support for the steel nip and proposal, but he said he's trying to ensure the deal keeps steel jobs in the Mon Valley. Quote, I have been where I've always been. I've been convening people to the table with all the relevant parties to try to see if there's some deal to be had that would protect the jobs in western Pennsylvania and importantly have a future for steel making in the Mon Valley. Now a report by Bloomberg indicated Shapiro has spoken with Nipins, Maury and Biden about the sale. Shapiro didn't confirm those reports, though he said he would rather not divulge the details of private conversations. He added, though, that he felt the need to get involved in the sale because he lacks faith in the US Steel CEO David Burrett, quote, if we leave this just to Dave Burrett alone, he's going to do what he's been doing and what he promises to do, and that is to move jobs out of Western Pennsylvania. My approach, shapiro continued, all along has been to bring people to the table to see what we can do to find common ground and see what we can do to protect these jobs and create future opportunities. So we'll see what happens. But a gut punch for Trump voting steel workers in Western Pennsylvania as Trump, uh, decides he's going to cancel the US Steel Nippon deal. We'll see what ends up happening. And I will keep you posted. And we'll be right back with the good news. But first, my conversation with Congressman Dan Goldman. We're going to talk about Jack Smith. We're going to talk about Trump's Cabinet picks, and he's got some great ideas about what we can do, regular citizens can do to help slow Trump down. So stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
We'll be right back.
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I'm good. Good. Great to be with you.
Uh, good. I'm so glad to speak to you today because there's a lot of people are very worried about what's coming, ah, starting January 20th. It's kind of nice we know when it's happening so we can start to prepare things. But I wanted to kick this off by getting your initial thoughts on some of these picks, these Cabinet picks, uh, you know, particularly like Kosh Patel at the FBI and how that's going to impact us if he even gets confirmed, if, you know, Donald Trump decides to actually listen to advice and consent of the Senate. What are your thoughts on some of these picks?
Yeah, it's been an interesting evolution of his picks where, you know, some of them, um, are pretty unobjectionable. I think Marco Rubio will sail through as Secretary of State, um, but the interesting ones are the unqualified incompetent nominees, um, that he has put at the top of the agencies, uh, where he is most, uh, about which he is most frustrated. So that would be the Department of Justice, FBI. Uh, he was very frustrated with both, um, Secretary Jim Mattis and Mark Esper of, uh, the Defense Department in his last term. So he has put, uh, a Fox News host, uh, with zero Management experience, but apparently a lot of experience with intoxication and sexual harassment at the nominee for Secretary of defense. And what I see in this is exactly what we predicted, which is a slow moving dismantling of our federal government. So the first step is to put in political lackeys who have expressed views consistent with Trump's views about, uh, essentially tearing these agencies down. Um, you put them, you install them as the heads of those, uh, agencies. Then you have your political lackey there. Um, but what you need with a political lackey are, uh, other political lackeys who will do the work. And that's where Project 2025 and Schedule F comes in. And so if he then implements an executive order of Schedule F, he can, and he can have all of these new political lackeys at the top of these agencies fire thousands of career government servants, experts, uh, the ones who make our government run. And he can replace them with more political lackeys who are unqualified and incompetent. And, and that is the real danger, because then those agencies are operating at Donald Trump's whim. And we know from his first administration that his whims are lawless and they're anti constitutional, uh, and they are all about him and not about the country. Uh, and that's where the danger starts to really materialize. Um, so these picks are dangerous because of what I see as the ensuing process to completely undermine our government, uh, out of his own retribution and revenge.
Right. And the only thing that I can think to do, you know, as citizens, now that we're in the position that we're in, I mean, we had, as citizens, we had the vote, and now we're beyond that. So, you know, I'm thinking that perhaps, you know, I spoke to Andrea Pitzer and a few other people, maybe Mark Elias over at Democracy Docket that are, the thing that we do now is to help fund these legal groups that can sue to try to slow this down. With Schedule F, for example, you know, I know Biden had already strengthened the, uh, merits of civil service, um, situation that makes it more difficult to fire civil, uh, servants. But that can just be, you know, written off with the stroke of a pen. And so all of us are sitting here wondering what can we do now, uh, that we're beyond November 5th to help at least slow this down until we can get maybe to 2026 and flip Congress.
Yeah. Um, there's a lot we can do, and I get this question a lot, and I think it's important that, uh, we not be Too discouraged. As Nancy Pelosi always says, uh, don't agonize, organize. And. But I think it will be a little different this time than it was in the first administration. First of all, we know a lot more about Donald Trump now. Uh, we know that he likes to flood the zone with craziness, but only one out of five things is something that he actually carries out. Um, so part of what we have to do is not overreact to every crazy thing he says and focus much more on the things that he is doing or trying to do. Uh, two, we have to be a little bit more strategic and, uh, intentional about how we oppose some of his actions. I think the courts will be an even more important avenue. I, um, know that there, uh, are attorneys general, state attorneys general all around the country who are gearing up to, uh, push back on some of, uh, the worst aspects of Project 2025. Um, and there certainly are many lawyers, ah, who are, um, invested in this and interested in this. And I would encourage, I know you have a lot of lawyers who listen to your podcast. I would encourage them to reach out, you know, to their local, their state ag, their local bar association. There are a lot of groups that are sort of popping up to help in this effort. But let's not minimize the power of our voice. Um, you'll remember obviously in the first Trump term, uh, he tried to repeal the Affordable Care act, and there was a massive, massive grassroots movement opposing it. And Adi Barkin was leading that at the time, and ultimately he failed. John McCain famously, uh, gave it a thumbs down and he was unable to repeal it. We have an even slimmer majority in the House. We have a very, very slim majority in the House. For the Republicans, um, it may be in the first part of next year that they only have a one vote majority, meaning every single member vote is determinative of whether something passes. And that's true with reconciliation, which they are going to try to do up front, uh, which has to relate to the budget.
Right?
But with these picks, these nominees, um, the ones that are really dangerous, we need to be vocal, we need to be calling senators, we need to be, um, writing letters, we need to be organizing in opposition to them. And we need to be putting a lot of pressure now and for the next two years on Republicans in the House and the Senate because they take an oath to the Constitution, uh, they don't take an oath to Donald Trump, and they have an obligation to uphold the Constitution. And if they are now fully in the majority, they can't Blame the Democrats for whatever happens under the Trump presidency because they have control. So we need to be ratcheting up pressure on them to resist the unconstitutional, uh, instincts of Donald Trump and to make sure, as you pointed out at the beginning, that advice and consent in the Senate is preserved and every Senate nominee goes through the normal process and has an FBI background check, um, that kind of a thing, that where the Senate needs to stand up and so our voices will really matter, um, especially as we get in the House, at least especially as we get on into legislation.
Yeah. And I want to remind the listeners too, who might say, well, Donald Trump doesn't care if he's reelected because either he's going to try to illegally retain power or, uh, he'll term out, but members of Congress do. And so even, you know, the listeners who might say they don't care about their oaths, so dah, dah, dah, they care, they at least care about holding onto their seats. And so, uh, that might be the way that we're able to use our voices to get Republicans in Congress to fight back or to resist what Donald Trump does. I just want to, you know, remind everybody that they at least care about being reelected.
If nothing else, you gotta play to their self interest sometimes you have to.
Do that, which is why I'm glad on my side, it's people who actually care about people, but they have some interest, they have some self interest and self preservation in mind as well. Let's talk a little bit about. I want to shift gears before I have to let you go, because I am very interested. As you know, I host, uh, a podcast about the Jack Smith investigations with Andy, um, McCabe, and we are hoping that we'll be able to see Jack Smith testify, uh, before a committee at some point, at least before the new Congress comes in on 3rd January. But even after that, we're at such a close margin that I think that the hearings would be similar because we would still have Democrats in there asking questions. But is there any push right now to get Jack Smith? Does he have to finish his report? Does Merrick Garland have to release it before you can invite him to come to Congress? Can it be done? Do we have enough time to do it before the new Congress comes in?
Well, first of all, I don't actually think that the new Congress is going to make that much of a difference. Um, I don't think. Yes, I guess it could. It is possible for the Senate Democrats to call him in. But it's really Jim Jordan, who has expressed the most interest in, um, bringing him in to testify. And that can happen now or can happen next. Congress. Um, so I'm not sure the timing of it makes that much of a difference. But where the timing matters is it does not make sense to bring him in before he releases his report or reports. And I fully expect that he will release very detailed, exhaustive reports on both of his investigations, uh, outlining all of the evidence that he had. And I fully expect Attorney General Merrick Garland to release those reports in full, uh, subject to classified information, but just like he did with the Biden special report from Special Counsel her. So that should come before January 20th. M. And then the question is whether, uh, he comes in to testify. Uh, every single special counsel in recent memory has come in to testify, uh, about their report, um, starting with Bob Mueller and then moving on, um, to, uh, obviously her and Weiss. Uh, um. So, you know, I expect all these special counsels will appear. That's what is the ordinary course. Uh, and they're going to be questions about the reports. So, um, I do expect that he will. That he should come in. Um, I don't know what Jim Jordan will do ultimately. Um, and some of it will, I assume, depend on what's in the report.
Yeah. And if we're in the minority, if it happens after January 3rd, can Jim Jordan or Jon Thune block him from coming in? I don't know. I imagine that they'll want to beat up on him and bring him in anyway, but I don't know what you're. If there's a mechanism for Democrats to get him in, even if they're in the minority.
Well, we are in the House. We are in the minority now. Um, and so, you know, that doesn't change for us. It changes in the Senate. Um, but the Senate has not, uh, expressed as much interest in bringing the special counsels, uh, in front of the Judiciary Committee over there. Um, so. And I don't think the report is going to be done before January 3rd. So, um, Democrats will not be able to require him to testify. Um, it is possible that we would write a letter and ask him to come testify. And, uh, then Jim Jordan and John Thune or whomever would have to say no, that we're not allowing him to testify. Um, which would be very telling in and of itself. But I agree with you. I think they think that Jack Smith's prosecutions, uh, and investigations were politically motivated. And if that's the case, uh, bring him in so that we can figure out, uh, whether or not it was politically motivated. That's not going to be revealed in the report. So they have been making these allegations for, uh, years, uh, now. And, uh, if they're going to continue to make those allegations once the report is done, they have an opportunity to question him and to determine whether or not he was, uh, politically motivated in anything that he did. And I think the American people would want to understand whether or not the allegations that they have been making of a politicization of Jack Smith's investigations are true or not. And the only way to do that is to have him come testify.
Well, thank you so much, Congressman, for coming and talking to us today. I look forward to having you back on in the coming weeks and months so we can talk about what we need to continue to do to pressure our members of Congress to make sure that they do the right thing and resist what Donald Trump is trying to do, which is one thing mainly is dismantle our federal government. Uh, so I appreciate your time today. I hope everybody follows you. You're on blue sky now, which is incredible. Yep. Um, so come to, come to where the. Come to the good place and follow, uh, Rep. Goldman, representing New York's 10th. Uh, Congressman Goldman, thank you for your time today.
Thanks so much, Alison. Great to be with you.
Everybody stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news.
Who likes good news, Everyone?
Then good news everyone. Good news good. And if you have any good news confessions, corrections. You want to play what the mutt M Find the cat opine on the bovine. What the hell is in that shell? What's the model of your oxalotl? What the hecine? I can guess horse breeds too. Send us any animal photo, especially your pod pets. We can guess the breeds in your shelter pup if you want. Or if you don't have a pod pet, you can send us an adoptable pet in area. And if you don't have any animal photos, you can send us baby pictures. We absolutely love baby pictures. Whether it's you as a baby or your babies or a random baby on the Internet. Just send baby photos, animal photos. We love them. Send them in along with your good news stories. We also love shout outs. Whether you have a shout out for a loved one. Um, a shout out for a small business in your area or your small business, a ah, self shout out. We love those as well. Uh, also we're, we're doing bird watching right now, which means we want to see all your photos of you flipping the bird the one finger salute to Trump properties and Trump signs. This is going so well and it really lifts my spirits. So send in your bird watching photos and then of course shout outs to government programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, which is also known as the Affordable Care Act. Tell your MAGA relatives who are excited about keeping the Affordable Care act, but getting rid of Obamacare. Maybe Section 8 or SNAP, right? Food stamps, Wiccan, Head Start, uh, Section eight, anything, any government program. Great VA health care you've received. And of course we want your student debt relief stories. I send those to the White House. They read them, they love them. Send it all to us by going to DailyBeansPod.com and clicking on Contact. First up, Tom from Cincy, longtime listener. Love you guys. I was in Columbus for your first show. I hope someday you make it to Cincinnati. Here's another bird for your collection. This bird was in Chicago 2015 before he was considered a legit candidate. The pod pets are sugar and honey. A Havanese Pekingese, which is a Havapeak and a Shih Tzu. We bought honey from a no kill shelter. A breeder donated her as a fundraiser. As her tongue is too long for her tiny snout and her eyes are wonky. We think that's what makes her super cute. I agree, Tom. Um, the other picture is Coco and Rudy, our boss cat and box cat. I'm sure based on the pictures, you can guess which is which. That is all. Keep up the fantastic work. Excellent Chicago. One finger salute to the Trump Tower there. These puppies are so fucking cute. Oh my God. And yes, I can tell which is which of the kitties. And the little mustache is lovely as well. Thank you very much. Tuxedo cats are the best. This one's got all white whiskers. My tuxies have one eyebrow white, both whiskers white, but the other eyebrows Black. So it looks like they're. And this is identical. They're identical on both cats. This eyebrow pattern. So it looks like they're both missing eyebrows. Eyebrow whiskers, I should say. Anyway, thank you so much for the photos and the bird to the Trump Tower. Next up from Jared, he and him. Hi, Bean's team. I wanted to shout out a fellow Bean. Lizzie Bentham, author. She has written a murder mystery trilogy recently and I was lucky enough to win a copy. So thank you, Lizzie, and good luck. It's called Murder in Her First Degree Red Brick Mysteries, Book one and we will have a link in the show. Notes to this for pod Pet Tax. Please visit dogstrust ie and we'll have a link to that. They're an Irish charity that rehabs and rehomes in Ireland and they do great work. P.S. they're also in the us@dogstrustusa.org so go there, check out what they've got for adoptable furry friends and also, you know, maybe give them some, uh, throw them a little scratch, give them some support. Next up, Shawn and noho. She her this submission is long overdue, but perhaps really important now in our Pre dystopian nightmare 2.0, music is the closest thing I have to religion and it's been there for me in good times and bad. I'm a visual person and I love seeing the artifacts of this thing. I love in person. I've loved going to various hard rock cafes. I also enjoy the Rock and Roll hall of Fame Museum. Yes, I know this organization is hella sketchy. Uh, it's unbalanced. Not enough women, not enough people of color. But for the longest time, a true dill weed was calling the shots. But they're trying to improve. A fantastic example is the current exhibit left us Revolutionary Women in Rock. My wife indulged me and we traveled from LA to Cleveland just to see this exhibit. It's amazing. So many contemporary and foundational women, queer women, women of color, women from the vast spectrum of musical genres. So much amazing stuff is featured in this exhibit. If anyone in the Cleveland area hasn't seen this exhibit, do yourself a favor and go. Supporting, uh, exhibitions like this will prompt more exhibitions like this. That's very true, Sean. It really did my heart and soul good to see all of this amazing history and remind myself of all the vital women making fantastic music today and providing such a necessary escape and solace as we approach four very dark years. My love and gratitude to AG&DG for all the work that the MSW team does and to all the wonderful people in the Laguminati. We will get through this all together for Pod Pet Tax. You've seen them, but I love them. My Star wars dogs, Leia and Mando. Hi, babies. Oh, they're beautiful. Oh, look in the sunshine. Oh, hi, puppers. Oh, yep, I've seen this. I remember this tongue. Thank you so much, Sean, for sending that in. I'm so glad you got to see that exhibit. Now I want to go. All right, next up, anonymous pronoun she and her. This dog is so great. Hello, Beans queens. After your reporting on the legality surrounding trans teens in Tennessee, I wanted to shout out the Seed Theater in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are a theater, but so much more a uh, support community and home base for LGBTQIA people in the community and their families. One of my friend's daughters is trans and the support of the Seed Theater community has been invaluable for their family. If anyone would like to support the trans community in Tennessee and doesn't know how the Seed Theater is small and donations help keep it afloat, go to the seedtheater.org they have information about the community and a link to donate. We'll have it in the show Notes the Seed S E e d the seedtheater.org thanks so much for all you do. Hearing your heartfelt thoughts alongside concrete news reporting helps me feel less alone as a blue dot in a red sea where I live as Pod Pet Tax here's my sister's dog who my children claimed as their own as well. She has since crossed the rainbow bridge but continues to hold a special place in our hearts. And she's amazing with this shirt, uh, and her face. She looks like she's in the garden, right with the flowers, eyes closed, snout up, just, just taking it all in. That's fantastic. Anonymous thank you and everyone, that's the seedtheater.org all right, next up, Justin pronouns he and him hi Ag, DG and all the Leguminati. This good news dropped a couple weeks ago, but I haven't seen many mentions outside of Indian country and I thought you might be interested. In 2016, the Osage Nation, which is the tribe which was the focus of the book and the film Killers of the Flower moon, purchased a 43,000 acre bison ranch from a media mogul, the media mogul Ted Turner, and began the process of bringing the land into federal trust for the Osage Nation's benefit. The tribal lands which are held in federal trust, cannot be sold or hampered by any legal or financial burdens, but only preserved for future generations. Unfortunately, the environmental impacts resulting from more than a century of oil and gas production on the ranch were so profound that the federal government refused to accept the land in trust because of liability concerns. Flash forward eight years and the Osage Nation has taken significant steps to catalog the oil and gas impacts and devise a plan to clean it all up. Based on this work, the US Government has agreed to accept the land in trust with all the benefits this entails. The Osage Nation will now have criminal jurisdiction over the land, another important step toward tribal sovereignty. Before it was privatized. The, uh, 43,000 acres were historically original Osage allotments. And before they were allotments, it was land purchased by the Osage from the Cherokee. It's 43,000 acres of tall grass prairie, a beautiful vanishing ecosystem. And it's now the Osage. Finally have it back. Here are some pics that I took over the last couple of years while my coworkers and I have been working on the environmental cleanup plans. You were working on this, Justin. You didn't mention that till the end. That is called a buried lead, Justin. You got to put that up at the top there. Here, uh, are some pics that we took from the coworkers and I working on the environmental cleanup plans. They don't do it justice. Thanks for all you do. Oh, this is beautiful. Oh, that is such good news. I hadn't seen that. Justin, thank you so much for bringing this, uh, to our attention. That just warms my heart. So what a great piece of good news. And everybody, send your good news in, um, and your bird watching photos of you flipping off Trump properties. Send, uh, it all to us dailybeanspod.com and click uncontact. All right, everybody, I will be back on your ears tomorrow. Dana will be back Monday. There will be an episode of Jack this weekend. Uh, it might just be all questions if we don't have a report to get to. So send us your questions. You can do that if, uh, you have a question for Annie McCabe. And it could have to do with the Jack, uh, Smith investigations, dismissals of cases, what the report could look like, uh, maybe some. Something that, um, Representative Goldman said earlier might have, uh, you know, triggered a question for you. And the way that you send those questions is to go to the Jack podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. And in the show notes, there's a link to ask and submit your questions. We're also looking for name ideas for the show going forward because Andy and I are going to be doing a whole new show. We're, uh, going to be keeping an eye on the Justice Department and reporting on what happens at the Justice Department in the intelligence community, um, to make sure that everyone stays informed about what's going on, because information is key anyway. All of that can be done by clicking on the link in the Jack podcast show notes. So thank you so much again. I'll be back in yours tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourself, 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 and 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 McFarland with art and web design by Joel Reeder 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 them msw media.