Refried Beans | Server Room Pool Party | Jun 5, 2023

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Daily Beans
Episode: Refried Beans | Server Room Pool Party (June 5, 2023)
Date Aired: June 7, 2026 (Refried classic re-broadcast)
Hosts: Allison Gill ("AG"), Dana Goldberg
Theme: A snarky, insightful recap of must-know political stories with a focus on accountability, corruption, tech, and good news—with just the right dose of humor.

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Main Theme or Purpose

This episode of The Daily Beans features a look back at significant news from June 2023, reflecting on stories that captured America’s chaotic political climate—the looming Trump indictments, bizarre Mar-a-Lago developments, Jared Kushner’s eyebrow-raising Saudi deal, scrutiny of Twitter under Elon Musk, and the death of notorious spy Robert Hanssen. AG and Dana deliver a blend of hard news, inside jokes, disbelief, and their ever-present hope for greater accountability.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump Legal Drama & Indictment Watch

[01:30 – 06:05]

• Meeting at the DOJ: Trump's legal team (Trusty, Rowley, Halligan—no Corcoran, no Parlatore) met with Special Counsel Jack Smith, desperately asking DOJ not to indict Trump regarding classified documents.

• Prosecutors see the investigation wrapping up; charges seem imminent.

• AG speculates indictments could fall soon, split between DC (espionage) and Florida (obstruction):
  “I think he's gonna be indicted this week, at least in the documents case… Espionage in D.C., obstruction down in Florida.” (Allison Gill, 02:45)

• Dana sums up long-felt frustrations and anticipation:
  “He's never going to be held accountable. There's leaks, there's breaks in the dam, and I really feel like it's coming.” (Dana Goldberg, 03:02)

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2. Mar-a-Lago Server Room Flood—Obstruction or Stupidity?

[06:05 – 08:52]

• Report that a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago “drained the resort swimming pool” and “ended up flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept”—key to the classified docs probe.
• “It's unclear if the room was intentionally flooded or if it happened by mistake… The incident… has caught the attention of prosecutors.” (Allison Gill, 06:41)
• Suspicion deepens due to timing and the maintenance worker’s earlier curiosity about tapes and their storage.
• Dana, on potential missing evidence:
  “And there's gaps. We don't know why there's gaps in the footage.” (08:10)
• AG derides the level of incompetence, noting the DOJ subpoenaed the software company for backup footage:
  “That's just the dumbest group of fucking idiots… like you can't recover info on wet servers. It's just so dumb.” (08:13)

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3. Twitter Under Elon Musk: Lawmakers Sound Alarm

[08:52 – 12:12]

• Four US Senators (including Elizabeth Warren) question whether Twitter is compliant with privacy obligations after mass layoffs and resignations.
• Lawmakers cite the departure of the head of trust and safety as a red flag; fear Twitter may violate FTC consent orders.
• Dana, with classic snark:
  “It went on to say, regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law and neither is the company he purchased.” (09:58)
• AG maintains skepticism that any due diligence was done:
  “No.” (10:45), then, “We're weaponizing the government against Elon because we want to make sure that Saudi Arabia doesn't have all of our private user data. What a bunch of dicks we are.” (12:12)

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4. Jared Kushner’s Saudi Billions—Corrupt or Coincidence?

[12:12 – 18:18]

• Vanity Fair’s report: Kushner’s private equity firm received $2 billion from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund despite the panel’s recommendation against it due to “inexperience” and high risk.
• Kushner’s relationship with Crown Prince MBS questioned—especially considering US foreign policy choices under Trump.
• The failed “Abraham Fund” contrasts with later Kushner (and Steve Mnuchin) deals: “Kushner and Mnuchin stand out for the speed of their pivots and for the sums they raised from foreign rulers they had recently dealt with on behalf of the United States.” (14:00–15:57)
• Law professor Kathleen Clark (quoted) calls it “corrupt” if not outright criminal:
  “The reason this smells so bad is that there's all sorts of evidence he did not receive this on the merits.” (16:33)
• Dana, on Trump-era corruption:
  “He and his entire family are now under a microscope. And I could not be happier about it.” (18:18)

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5. Death of Notorious Spy Robert Hanssen

[18:49 – 22:19]

• Hanssen, called “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history,” was found dead in Colorado supermax at age 79.
• “His actions were so damaging that two decades later, the FBI has a webpage explaining what he did and how they uncovered his ruse.” (Dana Goldberg, 18:49)
• Pun-filled, darkly comic reflection on how almost incredulous the news cycle is: “That you flooded the surveillance tape server room with the pool…” (Allison Gill, 20:12)
• AG prepares to discuss more with Peter Strzok, and compares Hanssen’s betrayal to the potential range of Trump’s classified doc crimes—from “giving Iran nuclear information to the Saudis” to “showing off his Iraq map to Kid Rock.” (21:31–22:19)
  • Dana: “Funniest example you could have possibly come up with. I'm telling you, it's like a weird fucking game of political Mad Libs.” (22:22)

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6. Good News Segment and Listener Submissions

[23:53 – 33:52]

• Pet stories, art, and small business plugs: Listeners share updates about pets (adopted, rescued, or in need), original art, and gratitude for the community AG and DG provide.
• Example: Julianne shares her art business, inspired by the concept of Kintsugi—mending with gold, tying in resilience and community healing. (26:18)
• “The process of ripping a heart, gluing it back together and mending it with gold is very therapeutic. It's even more therapeutic when done in a group.” (Julianne, via submission, 26:18)
• Urgent listener plea regarding two rescued stray dogs needing a home in southern California gets support:
  “If you know anyone that wants two dogs or a location that is not a kill shelter, please let me know.” (Anonymous, 30:25)
• Touching stories of Beans listeners randomly meeting the hosts at events or in public re-affirm the podcast’s personal touch and community.

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7. Notable Quotes & Humor

• “It's just the dumbest group of fucking idiots… like you can't recover info on wet servers.” (AG, 08:13)
• “That's a beautiful Frenchie, by the way.” (Dana, 30:20)
• “Funniest example you could have possibly come up with. I'm telling you, it's like a weird fucking game of political Mad Libs.” (Dana, 22:22)
• “I've always paid attention to the news, and I know that there's corruption in this country, but to actually be reading about it every day and having it being investigated…” (Dana, 18:18)
• “I don't know if it's criminal, but it's certainly corrupt.” (Kathleen Clark, quoted by AG, 16:33)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:30 — Show open, rapid fire headlines
• 02:45 — Trump’s lawyers beg DOJ, AG’s indictment thoughts
• 06:05 — Mar-a-Lago pool/IT/server room “accident” and obstruction possibilities
• 08:52 — Congressional scrutiny of Twitter/EU’s privacy concern
• 12:12 – 18:18 — Kushner’s Saudi deal, ethics, “Abraham Fund” failures
• 18:49 — Robert Hanssen spy case recap, death in custody
• 23:53 – 33:52 — Good News, listener stories, rescues, shoutouts, community
• 34:46 – End — Listener encounters with hosts, show outro & gratitude

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Overall Tone and Takeaways

True to The Daily Beans style, the episode mixes outrage, disbelief, and sharp political commentary with levity and personal engagement. Frustration over corruption and repeated scandals is united with the hope that accountability is (finally) coming, and listeners can always count on some snark, a laugh, and a sense of community—even when the headlines seem unreal.

If you missed it, this episode lets you revisit a moment in time when political chaos, accountability anxieties, and darkly comic absurdity collided—and the Beans crew was there to make sense of it, laugh at it, and help listeners through it.

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Listener Call to Action:
Have good news, need support, or want to shout out a cause? Submit to dailybeanspod.com via the “contact” option.

Transcript

[Frances Collier]

Hi, I'm Frances Collier.

[Angela V. Shelton]

And I'm Angela V. Shelton.

[Frances Collier]

And we're Frangela.

[Angela V. Shelton]

You know what, you mean in your life. The Final Word podcast.

[Frances Collier]

Yes, you do. That's right.

[Angela V. Shelton]

It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we

[Frances Collier]

make real news, real funny, where we

[Angela V. Shelton]

inspire you so you can resist.

[Frances Collier]

Subscribe and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear. That's right.

[Angela V. Shelton]

We think you need to hear it. Okay.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah.

[Frances Collier]

It's what we say. So.

[Angela V. Shelton]

That's right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our hysterical podcast, Idiot of the Week.

[Frances Collier]

We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to.

[Allison Gill]

Okay? All we do is give. MSW Media. Hey, everybody, it's Ag. And welcome to Refried Beans, where we play an episode of the Daily Beans podcast from the same week either one, two, or three years ago, so we can see how far we've come. So please enjoy this episode from days gone by and note the date in the intro.

[Ag]

Refried beans. I like refried beans. That's why I want to try fried beans, because maybe they're just as good. And we're. We're wasting time.

[Allison Gill]

Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Today, Trump's lawyers met Monday with special counsel Jack Smith and other DOJ officials to ask them, please not indict Trump. CNN reports that the maintenance worker who asked the Mar A Lago IT guy about the surveillance footage accidentally flooded the server room where they were kept. Jared Kushner's 2 billion Saudi check appears even more criminally and comically corrupt than previously thought. US Senators are questioning Twitter's privacy compliance under Elon Musk and former spy convicted of spying on the US For Russia, Robert Hanssen has been found dead in his prison cell in Colorado. I'm Allison Gill.

[Dana Goldberg]

And I'm Dana Goldberg.

[Unidentified Guest]

Yay.

[Allison Gill]

Dana's back. Hi, Dana.

[Dana Goldberg]

I am back.

[Allison Gill]

Hi.

[Dana Goldberg]

This is such a weird hodgepodge of news. Like, if you just read these headlines, you're like, what the fuck is going on?

[Allison Gill]

Like, Trump's gonna be indicted. Former spy dies. Kushner is comically corrupt. Twitter's privacy, it's all over the map today. It really is.

[Dana Goldberg]

It is indeed.

[Allison Gill]

I mean, I could talk for an hour about what's going on with the DOJ and Donald Trump, but I'm just gonna briefly go over that. Of course you can listen to everything in depth with me and Andy McCabe on this weekend's episode of Jack the Podcast. If you're not listening, now would be a good time. I think he's gonna be indicted this week, at least in the documents case. Now, there's two grand juries, there's one down in Florida. I think what's happening is that the espionage would be charged in D.C. and the obstruction would be charged down in Florida. I don't know.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, God, it's just so good. Just something happened. I love these people. He's never going to be held accountable. There's. There's leaks, there's breaks in the dam, and I really feel like it's coming. You know, Stephanie Miller asks me all the time, what do you think? What do you think? And I'm like, I think that AG's right on this one. We've waited a while, but I think this is going to happen. Cool.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. Love Steph. I'm a Steph head for sure, Mama.

[Dana Goldberg]

Me, too. Yep.

[Allison Gill]

No Zoom Happy hour this week. On Friday, I'm gonna be in dc. I'm going there to see if I can, I don't know, hang outside the Prettyman courthouse and see if any grand jury people will tell me whether or not they indicted Donald Trump. But I may try to throw together a quick meetup in D.C. with patrons. So keep an eye out on your Patreon email account for that. If you're a patron of the beans or, you know, clean up or Jack, whatever, Like all of them, I'll just. Whatever, we'll set it up. It'll be great. Drinks, you, me, do it. D.C. possible indictments. All right, we do have a lot of smorgasbord of news to get to, so let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. Huge news hits in the classified documents case today. First up from the Times, lawyers for the former guy met on Monday at the Justice Department with officials, including the Special counsel Jack Smith himself, two weeks after requesting a meeting to discuss their concerns about Mr. Smith's investigations into Donald. That's according to two people familiar. The meeting did not include Attorney General Merrick Garland or Lisa Monaco, the DAG Deputy Attorney General. And it's unclear what precise subjects were discussed. But the visit came amid indications that prosecutors in the Special Counsel's office are approaching the end of their inquiry into the former guy's handling of classified documents. And it also comes at a time when Trump's advisors have concluded that there might be not much more time to stave off charges. Now he, Hugo Lowell, has followed up and said they did ask the DOJ not to indict their client during this meeting and that there were some other things discussed, like what the Trump lawyers consider to be prosecutorial misconduct on behalf of Jack Smith and his team. So the DOJ has said the meeting was unproductive.

[Dana Goldberg]

Imagine.

[Allison Gill]

According to Hugo, though. So the lawyers, Jim, trustee John Rowley and Lindsey Halligan. Remember, Corcoran's off the case cuz he's probably a witness now because of all of his notes. So he's not representing Donald on the parlatore resigned because he apparently hates Epstein's guts a lot. Epstein's not on this one either. They questioned him, the doj, for two full days, but not in front of the grand jury. And he might have proffered something. So we just have trustee Rowley and Halligan. They spoke for nearly two hours to the Justice Department.

[Dana Goldberg]

It's the worst law firm ever.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, totally. They declined to speak to reporters, though. Shortly after the visit, after two hours, man, Trump posted a message on his social media platforms suggesting that they've been. They discussed that he could possibly be

[Dana Goldberg]

indicted and he went bat gonna crazy. I can't say batshit anymore because everyone corrects this thing and it's like, bats don't have shit. It's gone.

[Allison Gill]

Or whatever it's called Guano. Bat guano crazy.

[Dana Goldberg]

Bat guano crazy.

[Allison Gill]

Mm. So I'm on a plane to D.C. tonight because the grand jury hearing the documents case is also set to meet this week and the Florida grand jury is going to be hearing from a witness later in the. So maybe they've flipped somebody in the obstruction case. Like maybe the guy who helped Walt Nauta move boxes and then spoke to the IT guy and then flooded Oops. Accidentally the server room where the surveillance tapes were kept. That's this next story. It's crazy shit. The employee at Donald Trump's Mar A Lago drained the resort swimming pool last October and ended up flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept, according to sources familiar with the matter. It's unclear if the room was intentionally flooded or if it happened by mistake. The incident occurred amid a series of events that federal prosecutors found sus. At least one witness has been asked by prosecutors about the flooded server room as part of the federal investigation into Trump's handling of the classified documents. The flooded room, as well as conversations and actions by Trump's employees while the criminal investigation bore down on the club, has caught the attention of prosecutors. They're looking at like, obstruction, conspiracy. Right. The circumstances may factor into a Possible obstruction conspiracy case. Multiple sources tell cnn, as investigators try to determine whether the events of last year around Mar A Lago indicate that Trump or a small group of people working for him took steps to interfere with the Justice Department's evidence gathering. Prosecutors from the Special Counsel's office have focused their obstruction inquiries around Trump, Trump's body man, Walt Nauta, and a maintenance worker who helped Nauta move the boxes of classified documents ahead of federal agents searching the property last summer and potentially others. The sources say that the maintenance worker is the person who drained the pool that led to the flooding of the IT room where the surveillance footage was held. So this guy, in a previous report from the Washington Post, this is the guy who called the IT guy at Mar A Lago and was like, where do you keep those surveillance tapes? How long do you hang on to him? Tell me more about the surveillance tapes. And his lawyer, John Irving, was like, totally innocent. That's just, you know, he's just curious about surveillance tapes. Then he drains the pool and floods the fucking server room.

[Dana Goldberg]

And there's gaps. We don't know why there's gaps in the footage.

[Allison Gill]

It could just be. Honestly, it could just be glitches, right? But you know, they're looking into it because they didn't think the footage was complete. This DOJ did go to the source and, you know, submit a subpoena to the software company that, you know, probably keeps this shit in the cloud. That's just the dumbest group of fucking idiots that like, like you can't recover info on wet servers. It's just so dumb. All right, anyway, that's what's going on. Andy and I are going to go over all of this and the implications on the next episode, which comes out on Sunday. We record on Friday. So I don't know what's going to happen this week. Andrew Weissman is saying he'll be indicted this week.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, we'll find out. And ag. This is from Brian Fung at CNN. For U.S. senators. Well, they are scrutinizing Twitter's privacy practices and questioning whether the platform under CEO Elon Musk may have flouted consumer protection laws following widespread layoffs and resignations. It's an inquiry that could highlight vast legal risks Twitter and potentially for Musk himself. And I would say they probably did. In a letter dated Sunday and addressed to Musk and Linda Yaccarino, Twitter's incoming CEO, lawmakers cited last week's high profile departure by Ella Irwin, Twitter's former head of trust and safety, as the Latest source of concern about Twitter's compliance track record. Sweeping staff changes to Twitter, combined with a hasty launch of new products such as Twitter Blue, have repeatedly raised doubts about the company's ability to meet its legal obligations under two consent orders signed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2022 and 2011. This is from the lawmakers and this is a quote. Mr. Musk's behavior reveals an apparent indifference toward Twitter's long standing legal obligations, which did not disappear when Mr. Musk took over the company, said the letter, and a copy which was obtained by cnn. It went on to say, regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law and neither is the company he purchased. The letter was signed and by Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren because she's a badass. We got Oregon's Dem Senator Ron Wyden, Massachusetts Dem Ed Markey, and Hawaii Dem Sen. Mazie Hirano. Twitter didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawmakers asked Musk and Yakurino to respond to a series of questions about Twitter's FTC obligations and whether the layoffs and resignations have hindered its ability to comply. In particular, the letter asks whether Twitter conducted a privacy and security assessment of Twitter Blue, it's paid subscription service, before rolling it out earlier this year.

[Allison Gill]

No. Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

No. Under its 2022 consent agreement, Twitter is required to perform such assessments and I quote prior to implementing any new or modified product. The letter also asks whether Twitter has maintained a comprehensive cybersecurity program to protect user data since must take over, and whether Twitter has met various reporting requirements, including obligations to report any significant data breaches to the authorities. I would again imagine they haven't. Yeah. The lawmakers asked Twitter to respond by June 18th. Well, Twitter's already under investigation by FTC for its possible breaches of its consent orders. Now, the agency confirmed the investigation in a rare public statement last year. The probe is linked to allegations made by Twitter's former head of security, Pieter. Is it Pieter Mudge Zatko? Yeah. And a whistleblower report first disclosed by CNN in the Washington Post. Well, Zatko claimed, among other things, that Twitter did not implement effective security policies as required and was extremely vulnerable to penetration by foreign spies. Musk has some defenders in Congress. House Republicans have alleged that the FTC probe is intended to harass Musk and represents an example of the weaponization of the US Government. The FTC has said the investigation is intended to determine whether Twitter is complying with its legal obligations under the consent orders consistent with the agency's broader consumer protection mandate from Congress specifically,

[Allison Gill]

yeah, we're weaponizing the government against Elon because we want to make sure that Saudi Arabia doesn't have all of our private user data. What a bunch of dicks we are. All right, from Best Lemon at Vanity Fair Back in April, the New York Times reported Kushner's four years of Saudi ass kissing and murder excusing had paid off in the form of a $2 billion investment from the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund to his newly formed private equity firm. That struck a lot of people, ethics officials among them, as pretty shady given that far from having impressed would be clients with his investing prowess, the panel that performs due diligence for the Saudi fund concluded no one in their right mind would give the former first son in law a dime. Among other concerns, the panel noted that management was inexperienced, that the kingdom would be responsible for the bulk of the investment and risk that its fee seemed excessive, and that the firm's operations were unsatisfactory in all aspects. Given those reservations, that's a nice way to put Warned that the country's public investment fund should stay far, far away from Kushner's firm, a recommendation that was overturned by the fund's board, which happens to be led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. That is the guy who approved a plan to kidnap dismember a journalist with a bone saw and benefited from Kushner's unwavering support within the White House and reported insistence that the prince could survive the outrage as he had weathered past criticism. Again, just so it's abundantly clear the outrage and criticism were over a Saudi dissident and a US Resident being chopped up into pieces. So it wasn't that difficult for people to put two and two together and infer Kushner's firm seemingly got $2 billion to invest in at least 25 million to pocket regardless of performance.

[Dana Goldberg]

Good list as a than you for

[Allison Gill]

being so good to a human rights abusing autocrat. And a news story from the Times suggests somehow even further shadiness than that. The papers Kate Kelly and David Kirkpatrick report Shortly before the 2020 election, Kushner unveiled a government sponsored program dubbed the Abraham Fund, which the Trump administration said would raise $3 billion for projects around the Middle east capitalizing on the Abraham Accords, which are the diplomatic agreements normalizing relations between Israel, the uae, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. As part of that endeavor, Kushner and then Treasury Secretary Steve Steve Mnuchin crisscrossed the Middle east in the final months of the administration on trips that included trying to raise money for the project. But the Times reported, quote, it was little more than talk. With no accounts, employees, income or projects, the fund vanished when Trump left office. The fund was overseen by Adam Bowler, at the time the head of a newly formed development finance agency and a college roommate of Mr. Kushner's. Mr. Boller joined Mr. Mnuchin on his Gulf visit in October and accompanied Kushner to Qatar and Saudi Arabia in December. Officials said the fund would invest in poorer countries that joined the accords, and its first projects were said to include upgrading checkpoints into Israel from Palestinian territories and building a gas pipeline between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Neither project went anywhere, nor did the efforts to enlist Gulf money. In January last year, Boler announced the only publicly disclosed investment in the Abraham Fund was a commitment of up to 50 million from Uzbekistan, a relatively low income country. Uzbek officials said at the time they sought to reduce poverty and foster regional cooperation. Long criticized for human rights abuses, Uzbekistan had begun a lobbying push in Washington to approve its image after a leadership change. Its new president also gave Mr. Trump a $2,950 silver replica of a historic building and his wife a $4,200 bed cover. But no money for the short lived Abraham Fund was ever delivered. Yet while the countries and the people who live there that were supposedly going to benefit from the Abraham Fund never saw a dime, Kushner and Mnuchin would soon be raking in the cash. As the Times notes, Mnuchin's newly formed commercial enterprise received $500 million in commitments from the Emiratis, Kuwaitis and qataris, plus the billion 1 of the billion dollars from the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund. Within a few short months of his time at the Treasury Department ending. And while Kushner took slightly longer to get things off the ground, his new firm reached an agreement for $2 billion of investment from the Saudis six months after he left the government. And while we would never suggest anything about this looks less than totally above board, others seem to believe it might be. An examination of the two men's travels toward the end of the Trump presidency raises other questions about whether they sought to exploit official relationships with foreign leaders for private business. In the weeks after the election, Kushner made three trips to the Middle east, the last for January 5 summit in Saudi Arabia. Leaders of the Gulf monarchies, Minutian Steve that day began a tour through the region that was planned to include private meetings with the heads of the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the Emiratis, Qatar and Kuwait, all future investors. The path from public service to private investing is well trod by members of both parties. The two treasury secretaries under Barack Obama later went to Wall Street. But Kushner and Mnuchin stand out for the speed of their pivots and for the sums they raised from foreign rulers they had recently dealt with on behalf of the United States. Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in Lewis who studies government ethics, said each fund raises different issues. For Kushner, quote, the reason this smells so bad is that there's all sorts of evidence. He did not receive this on the merits. But for Mnuchin, who was a successful investor before entering the government, the biggest question is whether he was burnishing relationships as Treasury Secretary that he knew would be useful to him in the near future. Ms. Clark says if he was, that's an abuse of his office. I don't know if it's criminal, but it's certainly corrupt. Kushner declined the Times request for comment. A spokesman for Steve denied to the Times that he had solicited investments while working in the government and claimed without providing any facts or specifics, of course, that some of the details were inaccurate. The spokesperson added, the firm has diverse backers, including US Insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and other institutional investors. So totally nothing shady.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, not at all. I mean, I tell you what, ag, like, I've always paid attention to the news, and I know that there's corruption in this country, but to actually be reading about it every day and having it being investigated in. And I mean, I know that the country went to shit when he got elected or when he stole the election, you know, the orange bag of bone spurs. But he also created a situation where he and his entire family are now under a microscope. And I could not be happier about it.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yes. A collateral beauty from the Shit show. Anyway, this is from Ben Brash, and Ben's at the Washington Post. Robert Hansen. Now, he's a turncoat American spy whose leaks to Moscow the FBI dubbed possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US History. He was found dead in prison Monday. Now Hansen, 79, was found unresponsive at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. This was about 6:55 in the morning. That's according to news release from the Justice Department. Medical staff tried and failed to save him. And that's also in the release. The former FBI agent was sentenced to life in prison for espionage in 2002. His actions were so damaging that two decades later, the FBI has a Web page. A web page explaining what he did and how they uncovered his ruse. And I love that they call it that. Such a. Hansen was arrested Feb. 18 of 2001 for spying on behalf of Russia in the former Soviet Union. That's according to the FBI. He used the alias Ramon Garcia with his Russian handlers, with whom he exchanged highly classified national security information for about $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. I'm telling you, the news stories, this bug in day, they all sound made up.

[Allison Gill]

It's all like, bad writers room.

[Dana Goldberg]

It really is there. Everyone would be like, pass, pass. All right.

[Allison Gill]

That you flooded the surveillance tape, server room with the pool.

[Dana Goldberg]

Come on. Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

After you spoke to the IT guy about where the surveillance stuff might be. No, it's too on the nose.

[Dana Goldberg]

And the Onion is like, you're putting us out of a job.

[Allison Gill]

Oh, yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

This is a quote from the story. The information he delivered compromised numerous human sources, counterintelligence techniques, investigations, dozens of classified US Government documents, and technical operations of extraordinary importance and value. That's from the FBI about Hanssen. Now, the FBI wrote that his espionage activities began in 1985, and that was about nine years after he took his oath with the Bureau. The federal government established the Commission for the Review of FBI Security Programs in the wake of this huge scandal. Now it's in review of security programs. Published In March of 2002, the Commission described Hansen's espionage as possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history. And I can only imagine that might get overtaken with the Mar? A Lago documents case.

[Allison Gill]

It's like, I'm trying to pick the news stories today, and I'm like, all right, well, doj, like, possible indictments. Okay. Kushner's shady. Like, it's just all.

[Dana Goldberg]

It's so many to pick from.

[Allison Gill]

And it's all over the place. It's just. It's all. I'm going to talk to Pete Strzok because I think he has a. Probably a pretty good grasp on who this motherfucker is. This Hanson guy. I'm going to talk to him about that on Tomorrow's cleanup on L45 podcast. But, yeah, so found dead. And, you know, I think he was giving, like, tunnels and plans to Russia for the, you know, the FBI, which could have caused, like, lots of death. And I don't know how what he did compares to what Donald Trump may or may not have done with his classified documents. True. You know, we could be anywhere from, he was giving Iran nuclear information to Saudi Arabia so he could have golf games on his properties to. He just really wanted to show off his Iraq map to Kid Rock. Like we, we.

[Dana Goldberg]

It could.

[Allison Gill]

It could be anywhere in there, you know?

[Dana Goldberg]

Funniest example you could have possibly come up with. I'm telling you, it's like a weird fucking game of political Mad Libs. You're like, give me a noun, all right, Give me an adjective and a verb. All right, he wanted to show off his rack map to Kid Rock.

[Allison Gill]

He could be a washed up has been music star that really should change his name to man Rock.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, so good boy Rock God.

[Allison Gill]

What a dipshit. All right everybody, we need the good news today and it's gonna come right after this quick break. If you have good news, you can send it to [e-mail] just click on contact. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back.

[Unidentified Guest]

History is messy. It's weird, wild and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.

[Allison Gill]

Msw.

[Angela V. Shelton]

Everybody.

[Dana Goldberg]

Welcome back.

[Allison Gill]

It's time for the good news, everyone. Then good news, everyone.

[Dana Goldberg]

Good news, good news.

[Allison Gill]

And if you have any good news, confessions, corrections. Shout out to an adoptable pet in your area. If you can't pay pod pet tax, a local business, your business. If you're making or creating something. I know we got a lot of entrepreneurs here that listen to the program. Shout out to a loved one a wooby story. What the mutt, what the heckwine? Frog orgies, babies, whatever. Whatever you want to send to us. Light brighting.

[Dana Goldberg]

Republicans getting pegged. We love it.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, pegamaga. All right everybody. Send it to [e-mail] and click on contact. Production Correction. Kanae is fired edition.

[Dana Goldberg]

Dun dun dun.

[Allison Gill]

Yesterday's submission included references to they might be giants and a heartfelt shout out to her beloved Mimi Sora was actually from Patty, not Julianne. Patty sent in paintings of Mimi Sora and a picture of her son's stitchery assignment. We will fix the pictures in the show notes for you patrons and sorry

[Dana Goldberg]

about the mix up. And look at the painting. So glad I was absent on this completely catastrophic day.

[Allison Gill]

And there it is.

[Dana Goldberg]

That is a very little little glowing

[Allison Gill]

friend with the little glowing friend and the the bees Bees I love love.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh, it's one of my favorite songs ever.

[Allison Gill]

It's so good, right? It's just the perfect pop song.

[Dana Goldberg]

I do oh and here AG is the actual submission from Julianne and pronouns she and her excellent Dear Beans Queens, thank you for all you do to help us understand the craziness of our world. Having a deeper understanding of the issues helps relieve some of my anxiety about the current craziness. Knowing that there are talented, intelligent people working hard to educate, inform and show support to those being affected the most is heartening. I have been inspired by your repeated examples of reiteration that we can all make a difference in our own way. I've often felt helpless, wondering what I could possibly do to help move our society in a positive direction. You've inspired me to look at my talents and think about what I have to offer. I started an Etsy shop during the pandemic to sell small pieces of original art with inspirational messages. My best selling pieces are Kintsugi. Is that right? Mended Hearts and Arts Kits Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken things with gold. Transformation is not just about putting the pieces of one's broken life back together. It's about a reinvention of self in which our shattered pieces are alchemized into a beautiful, thriving masterpiece. Love that I know. For Pride Month, I've created Rainbow Pride versions of the paintings and art kits and I'm selling them at 25% discount. I'm especially excited about the Kintsugi Group art kits, which have everything needed for each person to create a beautiful ornament slash magnet to honor their strong, beautiful hearts, including a link to a guided meditation and video instructions. This is beautiful. The process of ripping a heart, gluing it back together and mending it with gold is very therapeutic. It's even more therapeutic when done in a group. We're going to put in a notes in the show Notes for that Etsy Links so you can go right to it now for Pet Tax, I'm including a photo of my daughter's three cats who are staying with us while she is in deployment with Army National Guard in Eastern Europe. Thank you for your service. Already I've only been able to get one photo with all three. They are everywhere.

[Allison Gill]

There they are.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh my God. They are really everywhere.

[Allison Gill]

This is so great. Thank you so much. And Kanai, you're not fired. You're never fired. Dude, we love Kanai, but I'm glad. Yeah, I couldn't. My life would not be able to happen without.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, he saved me on more than one occasion too.

[Allison Gill]

Totally. Absolutely one of the coolest people and so thank you. Thank you for straightening that up. Next up from Anthony F. Pronouns he and him Ag and dg. I want to say thanks so much for keeping all of us informed every single day. You two are incredible. Listening to the MSW family of podcasts keeps me informed and entertained and I tell everyone I can about all the good stuff that you two do. I'm paying a pet pod tax with our pup Cam. I won't ask you to play what the Mutt because he's a legit full blown mutt. I think he's literally a mix of just about everything. We got him from a rescue that helped him recover from heartworms. He's overcome that and some other health problems and is a big lovable goof who loves the cold weather and snow. We're happy to have this big lug in our lives. I'd also like to do a self plug embedded in a plug for a friend. Quiet City Books in Lewiston, Maine is owned by a friend. The store is a wonderful place that gives a platform to artists and creative types. I did my book release there a few years ago and I've participated in a few author reading events throughout the years. Quiet City is a welcoming, inclusive, safe place that is warm and welcoming to everyone and she ships to the lower 48. So if you're looking to support indie authors like myself, local artists and poets, or you're looking for homemade gifts or old books, check out QuietCityBooks Square Sight. Look at this fluff.

[Dana Goldberg]

Oh look at.

[Allison Gill]

Oh the happy baby with the arms folded.

[Dana Goldberg]

Gorgeous little ballerina feet. Love it.

[Allison Gill]

Thank you for that.

[Dana Goldberg]

Thank you for that indeed. This is from Beanie's mom Pronouns she and her hello, my favorite smart, beautiful and funny ladies. Thank you so much Beanie's mom. Thank you for starting my days with laughter and sanity. Ish. In these less than sane times, I adore you both. Meet my other joys. This is Bean Sprout. I call her Beanie. My amazing shelter veterinarian daughter. Mom bragged there by the way found us with this Frenchie angel. She is greatest addition to our empty nester life. Co starring in my life's adventure is my amazing husband cruising us through a 30 plus year love. And rounding out the fun is our Harley Davidson. For context, a game show prize is right, right?

[Allison Gill]

Yep.

[Dana Goldberg]

And for context, I've been the opposite of adventurous for my entire life. Fear of heights, worry about everything. Heck, I could never even ride a bike. Not who you would think of as a biker chick. But now I ride on the back of our Harley. I feel nothing but peace and tranquility. Makes no sense. And I love it. And now Beanie rides with us. Thanks for letting me share. I will send more pictures of Beanie's great adventures as we travel.

[Allison Gill]

That looks like a comfy Harley dog. Yeah, the with the doggles.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep. Oh, loving the doggles. Oh my God. This is really cute. You look very happy on the back of that bike, by the way.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, this is amazing. That's a beautiful Frenchie, by the way.

[Dana Goldberg]

Love it.

[Allison Gill]

All right, now we have finally well, nope, nope. We've got two. This is the penultimate from anonymous pronouns he and him Longtime listener, first time question asker I need your help. I recently found two stray dogs that were abandoned at Indio Hills park while I was cleaning. They had shoestrings tied around their necks and looked scared. I used pepperoni sticks to gain their trust and managed to get them out of the desert heat for hours. On Friday, I tried calling everywhere around my area to help these dogs find a shelter and all pet rescues are at full capacity. Every pet rescue directs me to the county Riverside, which euthanizes dogs when rescue services are full. Also, our share of animal control in our area is very unhelpful. Long story. I called shelters in Yucca, Banning, Idyllwild, Palm Springs, Cat City. All are at full capacity. Yucaipa Rescue wants to see pics of the dogs before accepting them or no vacancy. I checked with the animal hospital campus and both dogs have no chips. I don't know the type of dogs that they are. The little dog is female and extremely shy, but she can be held like a baby. She cries a little when I place her back on the ground. The small medium one is male and is also shy but friendly around dog snacks and stays by your side. I have no friends at all to help me. My co workers pretty much told me good luck with that. I might get fired for wasting company time helping these dogs. I don't know where to go or how I'm supposed to help them. I have no resources. If you know anyone that wants two dogs or a location that is not a kill shelter, please let me know. I thank you for your time and patience and I will forever vote blue. I only have a picture of one of them, so anyone in the Yucca, Banning Idlewild, Palm Springs, Cat City, Yucaipa area. Anyone at all. That's California. Reach out to us helloershirote.com and put dogs in the subject line. Rescue dogs or something in the subject line that. I know that that's what that is. So I can shuffle it up to the top of the pile and we'll see if we can help you out. That's a beautiful pupper.

[Dana Goldberg]

I know. They look really sweet. They look awfully sweet. I really hate people sometimes.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. And anonymous, if you don't get. If we can't find anybody or you don't find any help, just reach out to me directly. Helloershiroad. I mean, I'm in this. I'm sure I can help find somebody at least to foster these dogs. I know a couple of great foster folks, so we'll get in touch. But thank you. Thank you for that submission. All right, you got a short one at the end here.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah, short but sweet. This is from Anonymous. Pronoun. She and her. I wanted to share my peaceful spot where I listened to the beans. Thank you, ladies, for your piece. Oh, and it is gorgeous. I mean, it really does look peaceful. That little lantern there is a moon. I know. I mean, I don't know, but I know it looks like it's overlooking water. It looks very sweet.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, it looks like maybe there's a bay and the lights across the bay. You know what I mean? Like, there's that black spot in between.

[Dana Goldberg]

I love when you call me bae.

[Allison Gill]

Hey, bae.

[Dana Goldberg]

Hey, bae. Yeah, Looks very nice.

[Allison Gill]

That makes me super chill. I'm, like, super chill right now.

[Dana Goldberg]

I love it.

[Allison Gill]

I love it. Just staring at this photo. Thank you for that, everybody. Send your stuff in. Happy places. What the mutt? If you need help with something, shout out for your business, anything at all. Send it to [e-mail] and click on contact. I'll be back in yours tomorrow. You're gonna be out? Yeah. You're here tomorrow. We have to have to work out a time once I land in the. In the. In the District of Columbia.

[Dana Goldberg]

Indeed we do. And a little good news. This is just more of like, another beans meeting moment. I was at a concert last night. I'm in New York for the week, and someone came up and said, dana? And I said, yeah. They said, dana Goldberg. And you have to remember, we're on the podcast. Like, not many people, unless they go into a deep dive, know necessarily what we look like. So it's not like she heard my voice and she was Like, I'm a beans listener. I can't believe it. She was. And I want to keep her, you know, anonymous, but she was at a concert with her son and has taken him to four or five. The same concert with this particular with the Indigo Girls. And I just love that she was there with him. And Alec is a teenage boy, and they were just. It was a beautiful night, but she came up and said hi. We took a picture, and anyway, it just made my night, so. Another beans listener. I know you're out there. You say you listen every day. I want to keep you anonymous, but it was such a pleasure to meet you. So always come say hello. It really makes my day. And I mean it. You're never bothering me. Never bothering me.

[Allison Gill]

Oh, that's so cool. I know. Samsies, right? I remember I was at a coffee shop, and, you know, somebody was like, what name should we put on the cup? And I'm like, just put. Just put ag. And somebody was like, ag.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yep.

[Allison Gill]

Motorsy Road. And I was like, why, yes. And they're like, oh, my God. I was like, oh, my God, you. And then we had a hug, and it was great. And we talked about the cross stitch that was for sale in the. In the shop. It was a lovely, lovely encounter. Always loved that.

[Dana Goldberg]

Wonderful.

[Allison Gill]

All right, everybody, we'll be back tomorrow. Until then, I don't, like, can it get weirder? What's the news tomorrow?

[Dana Goldberg]

I don't think. I don't fucking know. I'd love an indictment. I'd rather go from weird to fuck. Yeah.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah. I have to. Like, I'm traveling, so I can't take my bottle of Vuv with me, so I'll have to, you know, fork over the extra. For the extra expensive shit. When you know that you pay. You know, the markup you pay at hotels if something happens while I'm away.

[Dana Goldberg]

Nah. Instacart something.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah, you know what?

[Dana Goldberg]

That's cheaper than a hotel bottle of champagne. Trust me, you can instacart something to your hotel and you can just celebrate.

[Allison Gill]

Good effing call. All right. I don't. I don't know why I abbreviated fucking, but good effing call, all right? We'll be back in your ears tomorrow with who the fuck knows what. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health.

[Dana Goldberg]

Vote blue over Q, and take everyone you know with you. I've been AG and I have been

[Allison Gill]

dg, and them's the beans.

[Ag]

Refried beans.

[Allison Gill]

I like refried beans.

[Frances Collier]

Hi, I'm Frances Collier.

[Angela V. Shelton]

And I'm Angela V. Shelton.

[Frances Collier]

And we're Frangela.

[Angela V. Shelton]

You know what you need in your life? The Final Word podcast.

[Frances Collier]

Yes, you do. That's right.

[Angela V. Shelton]

It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we

[Frances Collier]

make real news, real funny, where we

[Angela V. Shelton]

inspire you so you can resist.

[Frances Collier]

Subscribe and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's right.

[Angela V. Shelton]

We think you need to hear it. Okay.

[Allison Gill]

Yeah.

[Frances Collier]

It's what we say, so.

[Dana Goldberg]

That's right.

[Angela V. Shelton]

And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our hysterical podcast, idiot of the Week.

[Frances Collier]

We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to.

[Allison Gill]

Okay. All we do is give.