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The Daily Beans
8647 Flag Flies High (feat. Brandon Brockmyer)
00:51:27
Today, Californian, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota head to the polls in the 2026 primaries; a federal appeals court rules that Hegseth’s order to boot transgender service members is unconstitutional; Donald Trump may be about to drop his $1.8B Slush Fund; Iran suspends talks over Israeli attacks on Lebanon sending gas prices soaring again, Hegseth Strikes Female and Black Navy Officers From the Promotion List, Scott Pelley Accuses CBS News Boss Bari Weiss of ‘Murdering’ ‘60 Minutes’, and a federal judge rules that anti trump protestors can continue to fly an 8647 flag near the national mall; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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A
Hello, Martin Sheen here. And it seems to me that no day of the week is without its endless barrage of bad news, even on Sunday. For God's sake, let's change that. What do you say? Together, let's make Sunday immune to bad news. Available now every Sunday. Season three of the Martin Sheen Podcast with yours truly, Martin Sheen has begun. Yeah. 10 brand new episodes are already underway. So join me, Martin sheen, for a 20 minute journey as I share my personal stories, a bit of poetry, and insightful reflections that will encourage you to take a deep breath and enjoy a relaxing moment. Of course, it's important to know and understand what's happening in the world, but I also believe there's nothing wrong with taking a step back to find strength and clarity. And Lord knows we need that now more than ever. A moment of thoughtfulness and calm may be rare these days, but it doesn't have to be. So what do you say? Say you want to take back your Sundays. So do I. And guess what? I've already done it with the Martin Sheen Podcast, Season three. Available now. Don't mess with my Sunday. And thank you for listening.
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B
MSW Media.
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C
Beans. Daily beans.
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D
Daily beans.
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C
Daily beans.
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B
Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Today, California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota head to the polls in the 2026 primaries. A federal appeals court has ruled that Hegseth's order to boot transgender service members from the military is unconstitutional. Donald Trump may be about to drop his $1.8 billion slush fund. Iran suspends talks over Israeli attacks on Lebanon, sending gas prices soaring again. Pete Hagseth strikes female and black Navy officers from a promotions list. Scott Pelley accuses CBS News boss Barry Weiss of, quote, murdering 60 Minutes. And a federal judge has ruled that anti Trump protesters can continue to fly an 8647 flag near the National Mall. I'm Alison Gill.
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D
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
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B
Ha. So they can fly their flag. I love that.
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D
I also love that. That just adds to the selective prosecution for Comey.
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B
Doesn't it, though?
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D
It really does.
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B
Stupid seashells thing. Like, come on.
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D
Yeah, as.
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B
As Joe Biden would say, come on, man. That's just ridiculous. Later in the show today, I'm going to be talking with Brandon Brockmire. He's the vice president of Pogo Investigates. That's a government watchdog group, and they filed a Freedom of Information act request for that double tap boat strike video in the Caribbean, and the DOD has denied it. So now they're starting to get into litigation a little bit because there's no reason to deny it because they published all these boat strike videos, but they don't want to publish that one because they say it's classified. It's, it's just bonkers. So we're going to talk to him later in the show and today Election day in six states. So I'm very excited about that. If you're local in San Diego, by the way, I'm going to be on panel in Studio at NBC 7 from 8 to 10pm tonight for results and analysis. So that's quite cool.
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D
Nice. I just want to give a shout out to my sweet mom who has been a poll worker through early voting and is continuing to has a very long day as you're listening to this today. And I'm just really proud of her. She wanted to learn more about how the system works, so she signed up to be a poll worker. It just, she impresses me more every day.
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B
That's so very cool and so very brave, especially in this climate, you know. That's amazing. So shout out to your mom.
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D
To my mom.
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B
I got to meet her. She is just an angel walking the earth, man. She's so awesome. She's just so awesome.
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D
I got lucky. I picked well. I chose well.
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B
You are a lucky lady. And I got a great mom, too. Hi, mom, if you're listening. Hey, Allison's mom. I hope everything's going good with all your paperwork. All right, we have a ton of news to get to today, so let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from the Associated Press, a Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service. That's according to a divided panel of federal appeals court judges who ruled on Monday. In another legal setback for Trump's sweeping agenda, the majority opinion by a three judge panel from the U.S. court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the Trump administration's policy, Kegseth's policy, was designed to exclude people from the military based on their gender identity. And so therefore, it's likely unconstitutional. The ban is expected to remain in effect for now. The U.S. supreme Court allowed the Pentagon to start enforcing it last year as litigation continues to play out. So this ruling doesn't change the fact that the Supreme Court still allows this block to go forward. Right, that makes sense.
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D
Yep.
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B
The panel's new ruling would keep the military from kicking out current service members named in the lawsuit, but it wouldn't allow new transgender recruits to join. The judges put their decision on hold, though, to Let the administration seek further review. The Appeals Court panel's 2 to 1 decision partially upholds a March 2025 ruling by U.S. district Judge Anna Reyes in Washington, D.C. that was an incredible ruling because Reyes concluded that Trump's executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. The administration appealed after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for several transgender people who are active duty service members and others who are seeking to join now. The appeals court majority decided that the injunction should be narrowed to the plaintiffs currently serving in the military, but not those trying to enlist. So that's what this did today, okay? Another lawsuit challenging the ban was filed in Washington State and led to a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs challenging the policy in that case, but it was blocked by the Supreme Court. In January 2025, Trump signed the executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life, and is harmful to military readiness. No, it's not.
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D
And to that I say, go fuck yourself.
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B
No, it is not. I helped build the medical sort of plan for the military for transgender folks that serve because I worked at the VA and I was the liaison to the Department of Defense, and the VA has been serving transgender veterans for so long. So we have a health care plan in place already. And so we were helping write the one for the dodge. And Trump, in his first term, tried to ban transgender people from the military. And General Mattis said, no, keep writing. Keep writing the plan. It doesn't harm readiness. He did multiple white papers on that matter, like, there's no evidence at all to back up that statement, that bullshit statement. And in response to the order, Kegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service. Gender dysphoria is the distress that a person feels because they're assigned gender and gender identity match. The medical condition has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts. The policy, quote, appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group, persons who identify as transgender. That's Judge Robert Wilkins writing for the majority here in the appeals court decision. Wilkins was nominated by Obama. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Justin Walker said judges lacked the power to second guess the decisions to exclude transgender troops. Quote, we have neither the expertise nor authority to decide whether the military can exclude the plaintiffs from its ranks. Right. So you leave it alone.
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D
Neither does Kegseth, by the way.
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B
Right. The Constitution assigns That authority to Congress and the commander in chief. Okay? That's what Walker wrote. Who was nominated by Trump. Now, Judge Judith Rogers, who was nominated by Clinton, joined Wilkins majority opinion, but also partially dissented. Rogers wrote that she would also have allowed new transgender recruits named in the lawsuit to join. So that's where we are in that case right now.
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D
All right, thank you so much. This one's from the Times. In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, pos Defense Secretary Pete Kegseth recently blocked the promotions of at least seven Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior Navy admirals. The net result of Mr. Kegseth's intervention is a slate of 22 nominees to be one star admirals that bears little resemblance to the broader force. These officers will help lead. At least two of the officers removed by Keeth from the promotional list, they're women and two are black men. An additional three happen to be white men. Now, Keth's actions, which appear to violate the rules governing a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit based, were described by four current and former defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personal matters. No female officers, zero, were included on the new one star list, which was released publicly in late May. Despite the fact that women make up 21% of the active duty Navy, the list appears to include only two non white officers, even though sailors who identify as racial minorities make up 38% of the active duty Navy. This guy is just a racist piece of garbage and misogynist racist piece of garbage.
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B
Let me be clear, and I guarantee you those three white officers that that got cut were probably part of some sort of DEI force, you know, or worked on groups to improve or rumored to be gay.
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D
I mean, we don't know.
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B
Who knows what it is. But anyway, thanks for that story. What a piece of shit. Next up from Politico, A federal judge has ordered the National Park Service not to interfere with a liberal organization's display of an 8647 flag at its ongoing demonstration near the National Mall. Rejecting the contention that the phrase was meant as a coded call for violence against President Trump. U.S. district Judge Randolph Moss issued a two week restraining order Monday at the request of the Accountability now usa, which has been protesting Trump for months at a site in front of the federal courthouse on Constitution Avenue. Moss concluded that the group intended to advocate for Trump's removal from office via impeachment and that 86 is not an unambiguous call to political violence and certainly not the kind of imminent violence that would be necessary to justify restrictions on speech. And the court does not doubt this is a quote, that political violence is on the rise and that it poses a grave threat not just to the targets of those threats, but to the country as a whole. But the enormity of that problem does not change the meaning of the plaintiff's speech, which by any reasonable measure merely advocated for the President's impeachment and removal from office. That is, quote, to throw them out. That's what Judge Ross Moss wrote. He's an Obama appointee and he appended a Merriam Webster definition of the term 86, which defines it as a 1930s soda counter slang meaning to throw out or to get rid of.
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D
I just, I can't with these people.
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B
I know, I know, I know.
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D
All right, thanks so much Ag. And big fucking surprise here. This is from NBC. Iran on Monday suspended high stakes negotiations with the United States states to protest Israel's expanding military offense in Lebanon. This is according to government aligned media, complicating efforts to end the three month war. Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that the U.S. and I quote, bears direct responsibility both for the violations of the ceasefire against Iran and for the violations committed by the Zionist regime against Lebanon. On Monday afternoon, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu that and representatives from Hezbollah. He said that no troops would go to Beirut and I quote, a very productive call with the Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel and there will be no troops going to Beirut and any troops that are on their way have already been turned back. That's what he wrote. He didn't write that. There's correct grammar in that and commas used correctly. Likewise, through highly placed representatives. I had a very good call with Hezbollah and they agreed that all shooting will stop, I.e. israel will not attack them and they will not attack Israel. The Lebanese Embassy in Washington issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon noting that Hezbollah had accepted the terms of a US proposal for a mutual cessation of attacks and said under the proposed arrangement, Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs would cease in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from attacks against Israel. This is what the embassy said in the statement. The ceasefire would then be expanded to encompass all Lebanese territory. The Embassy also said in the statement that Trump had contacted the Lebanese ambassador to the US to tell her that Netanyahu had agreed to the arrangement. Well, Trump also claimed on true social without any Evidence that talks are continuing at a rapid pace with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Trump earlier told NBC News that he had not been informed of the decision to suspend negotiations ahead of time. But that, and I quote, I think it's fine if they're done talking. Despite the truce, Israel has been pressing ahead with a military offensive in Lebanon with its forces marking their deepest incursion into the country in 26 years. Over the weekend on Monday, Bibi Netanyahu ordered attacks on the Hezbollah controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, signaling further escalation. Not de escalation, no.
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B
Yeah. So translation, BB's still attacking Lebanon.
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D
Yeah.
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B
He's like, yeah, sure, we promise ceasefire, but he's still brutalizing Lebanon. And that is what is causing these talks to fall apart, which is again sending gas prices way up, I think six bucks a barrel so far today. Jeez. Also from Politico, President Trump is retreating from plans for his $1.8 billion anti weaponization slush fund after fierce backlash from congressional Republicans, according to two people granted anonymity. White House officials communicated the move Monday to top Republicans on Capitol H. The Justice Department, which was set to administer the fund, also indicated Monday it would abide by the court's ruling to halt progress after a federal judge in Virginia on Friday temporarily halted any payouts or other work to establish the fund. But the White House has not stated publicly yet whether it would move to make changes to the fund or kill it altogether or seek to revive it after the two week stay expires or if Trump changes his mind. The fund has emerged as a roadblock for advancing Republican immigration enforcement bills. That's the budget reconciliation package. A planned Senate vote on that bill was abandoned last month after the DOJ announced the creation of the fund, which could be used to pay Trump allies who'd been prosecuted under prior administrations, including those who attacked the Capitol on January 6th. Now, Democrats pledged to force votes on amendments related to the fund, creating a serious political dilemma for congressional Republicans. A vote on the package has not yet been rescheduled because they're still fighting about this. And asked on Monday about the possibility Democrats could still force Republicans to take politically tough votes to, you know, related to the fund, Senate Majority Leader John TH Told reporters, quote, if the administration effectively shuts it down, makes that very, very clear, then to me, that should answer the question, hopefully, at least for most Republicans. You know, what bullshit. Yep. You're telling me that aside from the Republicans we know, like Lindsey Graham loudly complaining about this, there's at least 25, maybe even 50 other Republican senators who are against this. You're not going to make them go on the record. You're going to let them be private. Yep. Jesus. Now he added, by the way, John Thune, that the administration needs to make it clear that if it drops the fund, it won't try to bring it back in the future. He goes, that would be the ideal outcome. You're like, yeah, thanks, John. The DOJ in his statement Monday afternoon, defended the fund, but it was silent on its future and a hearing on the Virginia lawsuit is set for June 12, while several other legal challenges, including mine. Hello. Are pending.
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D
Thanks so much, my friend. All right, from the time CBS News faced a fresh wave of turmoil on Monday after Scott Pelley, the 60 Minutes correspondent, laced in the show's newly hired executive producer during a staff meeting and accused Barry Weiss, the network's editor in chief, of murdering the long standing Sunday news program. In an extraordinary exchange, Mr. Pelly, his newscasters baritone, sometimes shaking in anger, told Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, that he had, and I quote, slender qualifications for his new job and questioned the network's commitment to the future of the program. This is according to a recording of the meeting obtained by the New York Times, the 10am gathering held at the program's midtown Manhattan headquarters. That was intended as a former introduction to Mr. Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker who was appointed last week. As part of a major shakeup to 60 Minutes, CBS fired Tanya Simon, the previous executive producer and her deputy, along with Sharon Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, two of the show's correspondents and an m bent that Mr. Helly referred to as Black Thursday. He said broadcast is an ice cube that is melting. Okay, this is what Mr. Bilton said, saying that the show had to adapt. Barry loves this institution, he added. She loves 60 minutes.
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B
Does she?
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D
Or does she just love trump all that? Mr. Pelly interrupted. By the way, and this is Pelly, she is murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and she's doing exactly that. Mr. Pelly pressed Mr. Bilton repeatedly on why CBS had fired Ms. Alfonsi and Ms. Vega. Now, Mr. Bilton said those decisions predated his hiring. Mr. Pelly asked Mr. Bilton why he had accepted a position at a program and I quote, knowing that you will never be welcomed here.
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B
Jesus Christ. Pelly not holding back?
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D
No. And apparently, Bilton responds, I have no problem taking a job in a place that I'm not welcome in. I don't think that will be the case. That's what he added. He said, I have been a journalist for 25 years, Scott. I've sat across from incredibly powerful people like you have, and none of it intimidates me. Okay, so you're not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people. I want that to be clear. Now, Mr. Bilton went on to say, I care so deeply about this institution. And then Pelly interrupted and goes, oh, please. At one point, Charles Farrell, a top deputy to Ms. Weiss, urged Mr. Pelly not to act rud toward Mr. Bilton. I know. Pelly responded, I'm not being rude. You know what was rude? Black Thursday was rude. The 60 Minute staff applauded Mr. Pelly after Mr. Bilton departed. I mean, I know she was brought
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B
in to kill it, and that's exactly what she's doing. You're very slender credentials. Oh, man. Man, I want to hear that recording because, you know, I've watched Pelly do the news before. He's got that really deep, kind of newsy voice.
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C
Baritone.
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B
Yeah. Anyway, thank you for that fascinating reporting, fascinating meeting, and boy, I'm not afraid of working where everybody hates me. Oh, so you acknowledge everybody hates you. Cool. Have a good day. All right, everybody. We're gonna be right back with Brendan Brockmire from POGO Investigates about his FOIA request for that double tap boat strike video from the Pentagon. And then we'll do the good news. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack and hydration sponsor. IQ Bar is the better for you. Plant protein based snack made with brain boosting nutrients to refuel, nourish and satisfy hunger without the sugar crash. And right now, IQ Bar is offering you an exclus deal. 20% off all IQ Bar products, plus you get free shipping. Just text daily beans to 64,000. One of the ways IQ Bar stands out is that it gives you options for different parts of the day instead of asking one product to do everything all day long. With more than 20,000 5 star reviews and counting, a lot of people are already using IQ Bar products and hydration mixes and mushroom coffees. All of it to keep up with their busy schedules, me included. Your ultimate sampler pack is the best place to start because it includes all three of those things. Nine IQ bars, eight IQ mix sticks for hydration, and four I IQ Joe sticks for coffee. So you can try them all and see what works best for you. The bars are my favorites. They're Made up with plant protein, packed with fiber, they have no added sugar and that puts them in a different category from a lot of grab and go snacks. And everything is clean, label, certified and free from gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, and artificial ingredients. So it's great what you're putting in your body. Plus they have added ingredients like magnesium and lion's mane to help boost both your mind and your body. And one reason I keep coming back to IQ Bar is how easily it all fits into my schedule. IQ Joe is an easy morning move. IQ Bar is great when I need a pick me up in the afternoon, and the IQ mix sticks are perfect when I need hydration without overthinking it. And in flavor options like mint chocolate chip, blueberry, pomegranate and vanilla spice, it gets even easier to stay consistent with your wellness plans. So right now, IQ Bar is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQ Bar products, including the Ultimate Sampler Pack, plus free shipping. So to get your 20% off, text the word Daily Beans all one word to 64,000. That's Daily Beans to 64,000. Text Daily Beans to 64,000. Message and data rates may apply. See Terms for details. All right, so one of the funniest parts of having cats is how quickly they act like food critics with a personal grudge against me. Now they can reject something with one sniff, walk away like they're making a statement. So when I put Smalls cat food down and saw actual enthusiasm instead of suspicion and side eye, I was immediately on board. I was so happy. Now this podcast is sponsored by Smalls. Your cat's health and longevity starts with what they eat. Try smalls. You'll get 60% off your cat's first order, plus free shipping and free treats for life when you go to smalls.com dailybeans now I first started looking into Smalls because I wanted something better than the usual cycle of mediocre food and consistent energy. Cats who clearly were not impressed. Hairballs, all that stuff. Now Smalls fresh cat food is made with preservative free 100% human grade ingredients and it's delivered right to your door, which makes life easier and better on your little friends. Now there's a huge difference. After the switch for me, I noticed they had more energy, better looking coats, not as many tangles. They even looked healthier. Just overall. It's not surprising when you think about it. Cats use protein as their main energy source and Smalls is built around high protein and improved hydration, which supports strong bones, tone, muscles and more sustained energy. They eat better than me. With Smalls. I also appreciate the food is gently cooked and easier to digest because that has benefits for everything from fewer hairballs, like I said, to reducing that litter box smells. It is better food and the results really back that up. And if you're worried that your cat might reject it, don't worry because Smalls gives you a risk free trial. If they won't eat it, you get your money back. No problem. So stop serving your little carnivore a bowl of processed shortcuts for a limited time. Because you're a Daily Beans listener, you get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com dailybeans that is 60% off your first order, plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com dailybeans hello,
- [24:24]
A
Martin Sheen here, and it seems to me that no day of the week is without its endless barrage of bad news. Even on Sunday. For God's sake, let's change that. What do you say? Together, let's make Sunday immune to bad news. Available now every Sunday, Season three of the Martin Sheen Podcast with yours truly, Martin Sheen has begun. Yeah, 10 brand new episodes are already underway. So join me, Mark machine for a 20 minute journey as I share my personal stories, a bit of poetry and insightful reflections that will encourage you to take a deep breath and enjoy a relaxing moment. Of course, it's important to know and understand what's happening in the world, but I also believe there's nothing wrong with taking a step back to find strength and clarity. And Lord knows we need that now more than ever. A moment of thoughtfulness and calm may be rare these days, but it doesn't have to be. So what do you say? You want to take back your Sundays? So do I. And guess what? I've already done it with the Martin Sheen Podcast, Season three, available now. Don't mess with my Sunday and thank you for listening.
- [25:36]
B
Hey everybody. Welcome back. So we've been reporting here on the Daily Beans and on other podcasts as well on MSW Media for a long time about these potentially illegal boat strikes in Venezuela. And there's a group called Pogo Investigates, that's the Project on Government Oversight. And they had filed a Freedom of Information act request to get the video of that second boat strike. And recently, in a potentially illegal move, the Pentagon denied that FOIA request. And to discuss today, we have the Vice president of investigations at pogo, Brandon Brockmire. Hi, Brandon. Welcome to the Beans.
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C
Hi, Alison. Great to be with you.
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B
I'm so glad to talk to you about this because, I mean, aside from WTF and everything that's going on with this potential double tax strike, Freedom of Information act request used to be a great way to get information from the government, and now it's just denied. Denied. I think I have four or five, maybe six Freedom of Information act requests out there for stuff pertaining to anything from DOGE to the Epstein files to Elon Musk's phones, and it's always attack, attack, attack, deny, deny, deny. Before we get into the details of this FOIA request that you filed on behalf of pogo, can you let us know what POGO is, what you all do? Sure.
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C
The Project on Government Oversight is a government watchdog organization, a nonprofit we've been around for 45 years. Started out as a sort of waste, fraud and abuse watchdog, focused on the Pentagon, which obviously is relevant for this foia. Over time, POGO sort of expanded its scope out. We look at the federal government sort of writ large now, and I run our investigative journalism division.
- [27:09]
B
Oh, that's very amazing. So I imagine you probably have. Are probably juggling multiple Freedom of Information act requests specifically from this Pentagon. Absolutely. Given everything that they're, you know, everything they're doing and everything they're spending and kind of not telling us about, there just doesn't seem to be. Even though they claim to be the most transparent administration in history, they are actually probably the least transparent administration that I've run across or reported on in my short time here on Earth. But talk a little bit about this particular Freedom of Information act request, because this was huge in the news for a long time. It's kind of. They're still bombing boats in the Caribbean, but it's just kind of dropped off the radar a little bit. But talk about this double tap and why you wanted to get that video.
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C
Sure, I'm happy to. Yeah. I mean, as you mentioned, this. This has kind of fallen off in the. In the coverage, but just yesterday, the New York Times reported that the administration has killed nearly 200 people in boat strikes across the Caribbean and the Pacific without congressional authorization. And it's that sort of lack of oversight that is. Is part of why we filed the Freedom of Information act in the first place. What's interesting about this particular strike is the administration has released, proactively, in a lot of cases, many, many boat strike videos, but not from this second strike attack. And so that really piqued our interest. So we filed this FOIA request late last year. This strike took place on September 2nd off the coast of Trinidad on an alleged drug boat. There was a first strike on the boat which they thought was carrying drugs. Just 30 minutes later, there was a second strike, which is sometimes called a double tap strike. And while we haven't seen the video, the reporting from folks who have seen it, because there were congressional briefings on the video said that it showed two survivors who were clinging to the hull of the boat, trying to climb back on, trying to flip it over. And then that's when this second strike occurred. And so from those congressional briefings which took place, I think that was also late last year, we members of Congress came out of that kind of, with different ideas of what they had just seen. You had several Democrats saying these were very disturbing videos. You had Republicans coming out and saying this is a righteous strike. And so our position with this FOIA request was, well, let's let the public make their own decision about what they're seeing. Right. Let's release the video. From almost the day we filed the lawsuit, which is in January, the DoD has just delayed and delayed and delayed. So. So, you know, at first they told us there was consultations they needed to do. They told us that these were, these videos were technically difficult to release. And keep in mind, this is while they are proactively releasing on X and elsewhere, other boat strike videos. And so, again, the question for us was, what is it about this video that has already been shown to senior members of Congress on the relevant committees, Intelligence and Armed Services? What was it they saw that they don't want the public seeing?
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B
Yeah, and it's also interesting that they try to use the argument that this video might be classified in some sort of way, which seems to be at odds with the fact that, like you said, they've released other videos. Why is this one classified and the others are not? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe it's illegal to classify documents on the sole basis of keeping something embarrassing or politically charged out of the public eye. This happened with the. The perfect phone call to Vladimir Zelensky when they tried to stash it in the nice code word classified system to put fewer eyes on it. You can't do that. Am I correct?
- [30:41]
C
Yeah, that's right. What they've told us and told the New York Times in a related but slightly different case is they're withholding this video under Exemption 1, FOIA Exemption 1, which, as you say, is the, you know, this is secret information in the interest of defense and security. Right. And, and you can imagine lots of examples where such an exemption makes a ton of sense. It's really important for national security and defense. But just as you say, in this case, we've cataloged 50 instances now where they've released boat strike videos or videos of attacks on fighters in Africa, other things that would sort of have the same kind of parameters around them, and they've just proactively released it. And so again, you kind of have to ask, what is it about this specific video they don't want getting out? Now, you're right, it is illegal to withhold a video just because it's embarrassing, you know, if it doesn't have national security or defense implications. And that comes from an executive order from, from 2009, basically saying exactly that. You can't, you can't withhold it just because it's going to be embarrassing. I think, you know, our, our guess on this lawsuit is that they, that is exactly what's happening, is they know there's going to be backlash. We know members of Congress have seen the video. There's a real question about whether they, it was a crime to engage in a second strike or not.
- [31:53]
B
Not.
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C
And I think that they don't want the public to be able to make that choice for themselves, to make that determination. Themselves.
- [32:00]
B
Oh, yeah. I mean, of course not. And, you know, we know Donald Trump is very super careful with classified information, as I put my tongue directly into my cheek as I say that. But, you know, to say, you know, he's waving around Iran, Iran attack things at, at a golf club in Bedminster, and he's storing actual classified information in his ballroom in Mar a Lago, which of course, he also, that investigation calls a conspiracy and is criminally investigating the people who undertook that investigation and participated in it. But aside from that and all of the other examples we can give of Donald Trump not really giving a care, if you will, about classified information showing people, you know, strikes on Syria at his club in Mar a Lago on his phone with everybody looking on, you know, things like that, sharing that, that satellite photo that he wasn't supposed to. Well, I mean, he got, I guess he can do what he wants. He's the president. He can declassify things as he sees fit. But to classify things that you don't want to get out, which he tends to like to do, I can see why you would want to file this Freedom of Information act request. So what other obstacles have you come across? Did you try to do an expedited briefing and were denied and all that.
- [33:16]
C
Yep, that's exactly right. So we, the again, this strike took place in September. Some of the reporting around the Congressional briefing that took place right after came out in sort of November, December. It became very clear right away that some of the members who had seen it were disturbed by what they saw. And so we put our FOIA request in. In December of 25, we requested expedition, which for listeners who may not know, that's sort of a separate part of the FOIA process where you say this is a, this is a matter of great public interest. It needs to come out now, let's move around, let's move along the processing as quickly as we can. The DOD ignored that entirely. And so in January we filed our lawsuit and we've been sort of going back and forth with them ever since with various delay tactics.
- [33:58]
B
Nick, can you describe for us what the legal remedies are for a corrupt example, a potentially corrupt Department of Defense trying to hide things where they deny your FOIA request, Where do you go from there? Is that what this lawsuit is generally about? Because you can take it up through the courts.
- [34:16]
C
That's right, yeah. I mean, this is about getting another branch of government involved ultimately, at the end of the day, right, there's. The FOIA requires the government to basically make a determination within 30 days. Obviously, that doesn't happen in many, many cases just because of the number of FOIAs that are being filed. But eventually, if they don't hit that deadline, it goes to the courts, the courts. Courts mandate that an agency starts producing or that they explain why they can't produce. And again, in this case, ever since January, we've been going back and forth to the Department of Defense. They've delayed, they've said we have to do consultations. They've said there was a technical challenge. So basically everything they could do to delay right up until four days before they told us they just weren't releasing anything. They were still telling us, we're going to get back to you, we're going to get this to you. And then they told us, actually we're withholding this under, under exemption one. And so the next step is to get the, the courts involved again. We filed an opposition obviously to there. They stayed the case after they said we're not giving you this video, they said, we want to just pause all this while this gets worked out. We filed an opposition. In a couple days, we're going to file another legal brief called a joint status report, where we, we remind the Court that once again, this is, you know, this is, has not been resolved and we think there's really no grounds for the exemption or for the stay. And then, then we'll just have to wait for the judge to rule. But again, this is about getting another branch involved.
- [35:35]
B
Yeah. Now, have, has the judge ruled on this case? Well, first of all, which judge did you get? And, and second of all, have, have, has the judge ruled at all on any of this or were they still getting briefing?
- [35:45]
C
They're still probably looking at the briefs. It's, it's Judge Cobb, and I think in this case, because it's such a narrow foia, in a lot of cases, the judge may come in and set sort of a production schedule and say, you get this many pages per month. In this case, DoD, even though they didn't respond to the FOIA request itself, once we were in litigation, they were saying, okay, just give us a little bit of time, we're going to get this to you. January turned into February, turned into March turned into April, and now here we are. And so the judge hasn't really had to do much to this point. And so we're confident that when the judge takes a look at this and says, wow, there are 40 plus videos of boat strikes out there, this logic of we can't disclose it doesn't really hold up, up. So. But we're waiting on that ruling.
- [36:30]
B
Yeah, it's a super narrow request. You know, a lot of my Freedom of Information act requests, like, some of them are pretty broad. Like I want emails and text messages and signal chats from, you know, in a date range. And then there's usually litigation about this is too broad, this isn't narrow enough. And can you please describe exactly how you would like us to search or we searched these terms and, oh, that's not good enough. You know, there's a lot of back and forth. But since this is so narrow and specific, like we want this video, I think they might be a little more hard pressed to defend the idea that it's too broad of a, of a request, which they tend to like to do. And that's, I think, why they hit you with the exemption one denial. Right?
- [37:11]
C
I think that's right. I mean, I, I, our decision to go after just this video was, was strategic. It was exactly for that reason. We knew that if we asked for, you know, let's say additional footage. Right. Or additional surveillance footage from the day or, you know, that that would drag this out. Right. Then we'd be going back and forth about how much we can get and when. But the idea here was, let's ask for the video we know they've already shown in congressional briefings. So it's already, you know, it already exists. It's already gone through some level of, you know, of review. It should be about the easiest thing they could produce that you could imagine to us. And so when we've had these delays where they've said, oh, we have technical challenges or we need to do more reviews, just, you know, it's sort of beggars belief. But that was, that was intentional. And it is a difference between this case and the other case that is currently going through the process now, because in that case, the requesters were asking for sort of additional footage. And so one of the arguments we made in our opposition to stay in this case was, you know, you may want to think about exemption one and how that fits in. You know, if you're asking for a lot of records and they have some relevance to national security or national defense. But in this case, case, we really are talking about one video. Most of what's in there has been described in public to, by reporters who've talked to people who are in that briefing. So there's really nothing for them to hide here other than what they don't want the public to see.
- [38:34]
B
Right, exactly. And I, you know, I, I wanted to ask you also, I recall Pete Hegseth making at least one remark about giving no quarter, and making that remark itself is a war crime. It's illegal to even say that. But do you mention that, do you bring that up in as any kind of a supportive evidence that this is a video of interest? I mean, aside from the fact that it's just being politically contested by senators on either side of the aisle saying that they saw different things. I mean, I think that's one of the best arguments right there. It's just like we've. Other people have seen it and, and there are long party lines arguing what's in it, and that's why we need to see it. But is there any place any in this lawsuit for the fact that Hegseth is a no quarter guy?
- [39:22]
C
Yeah, I mean, that's certainly been part of the initial reporting that was coming out before we filed the lawsuit. Right. I mean, I think that that notion that he, he gave sort of a verbal command to kill everybody was part of the, the reporting the Post did prior to us filing the lawsuit. So that was certainly on our mind. I mean, one of the things, if you, if you look at the way that people who are in those briefings describ other reporters what was on the video. They say it was very disturbing. So that was definitely in our mind now. You're right, it's been a little bit of a partisan divide, although not entirely so. For example, Roger Wicker, the Republican from Mississippi, is also the chair of one of the congressional committees, also questioned the logic behind the strike. And our point has always been, okay, there's a debate. These members of Congress saw the video. Let's let the public decide. That's why it's important that we put this out into the public record. And so, so, yeah, we definitely made the case in our lawsuit and in all our subsequent legal briefs that, you know, this has been a contentious issue for those who've seen it. So let's just get. Let's get the primary source out there. Let's let people see the video and make their own mind up.
- [40:29]
B
Yeah. And that's sort of the basis of the Article 3 adversarial courts. You know, unlike the Trump lawsuit against his own irs, which had no adversary, and, you know, generally, like the Supreme Court likes to take up cases where two different circuit courts have differing opinions so that they can resolve, solve that difference. And this is a public interest difference that we're seeing and people having differing opinions on a video they have seen, but we are somehow being prevented from seeing. So I want to thank you for all the work you're doing. I think this is a fascinating case. We're going to keep an eye on it. But can you tell everyone, first of all, where they can find and follow POGO to keep abreast of what's going on in this case, but also other cases that you're working on and how to support the project on government oversight?
- [41:15]
C
Sure, I'd be happy to. And it's been great to be with you today. You can follow our work@www.pogo.org. that's pogo.org investigates to find all of our investigative journalism covering the federal government.
- [41:28]
B
Awesome. Thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it. Vice President of Investigations at POGO Project on Government Oversight, Brandon Brockmire. It's been great to talk to you.
- [41:37]
C
Great talking with you too, Alison.
- [41:38]
B
All right, everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Thank you.
- [41:41]
A
Hello. Martin Sheen here, and it seems to me that no day of the week is without its endless barrage of bad news. Even on Sunday, for God's sake, let's change that. What do you say together, let's make Sunday immune to bad news, available now every Sunday. Season three of the Martin Sheen Podcast with yours truly, Martin Sheen has begun. Yeah, 10 brand new episodes are already underway. So join me, Martin sheen, for a 20 minute journey as I share my personal stories, a bit of poetry, and insightful reflections that will encourage you to take a deep breath and enjoy a relaxing moment. Of course, it's important to know and understand what's happening in the world, but I also believe there's nothing wrong with taking a step back to find strength and clarity. And Lord knows we need that now more than ever. A moment of thoughtfulness and calm may be rare these days, but it doesn't have to be. So what do you say? You want to take back your Sundays? So do I. And guess what? I've already done it with the Martin Sheen Podcast, Season three, available now. Don't mess with my Sunday. And thank you for listening, everybody.
- [42:54]
B
Welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone.
- [42:57]
C
Then good news, everyone.
- [43:12]
B
Good news, good news. And we would love it if you would send any little bit of good news into us. Maybe you want to shout yourself out or say thanks to us or some other folks in your community that are doing incredible, you know, community activism. Maybe you have a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one or a nonprofit you want us to know about. Maybe you just have a funny story, the kind of funny story that you tell when you're sitting around hanging out with friends. And it can, I mean, like, it can really just be anything. And if you've been thinking about it, if you've been on the fence about sending in your good news or your good trouble suggestions, today's the day, so send it to us daily beanspod.com click on Contact and just attach a photo to get your stuff read on the air. It can be a photo of anything. It can be your pet. It can be an adoptable pet in your area. Maybe we can find them a home. It can be a bird watching photo of a bird or you flipping the bird to a Trump building. It can be photos of your garden, your goats, your chickens, your, your art, you know, your. Maybe a nice sunset, maybe a funny, funny meme you want us to see. Or maybe you knitted something, crocheted something or quilted something, anything at all. Baby pictures, random animals from the Internet. Whatever it is, as long as it brings a smile to our face, you can send it to us dailybeanspot.com click on contact. First up is your good trouble. And this is central Oregon Daily. This is from an article. A popular international outdoor retailer is suing Central Oregon drag queen for trademark infringement and she's hitting back. Patagonia Incorporated filed a trademark lawsuit in January against Patagonia, who we've talked about here on the show, a Ben based drag queen and climate activist seeking $1 in damages and claiming trademark infringement, dilution and unfair competition. Patagonia, the company says it supports Patagonia's advocacy and shares many of her values. But after several years of trying to resolve the dispute outside of court, the company said ultimately it decided it needed to protect its brand. So we can let them know we would like them to drop their pointless lawsuit. Patagonia's contact number we have here in the show notes 800-638-6464. We've got customer serviceatagonia.com we have an email to the CEO, Ryan gellertagonia.com and then we'll have several more links in the show notes as well as a link to an article about this particular lawsuit, plus a link to Patty Gonia's Instagram so you can follow her.
- [45:31]
D
The wild thing is the amount of exposure that Patty is bringing to Patagonia is massive. And I don't understand. I, I don't know why they're doing this. I truly don't. I, I don't think it's hurting the brand in any way, shape or form. In fact, lesbians are the ones holding this brand up. Have you ever, have you ever been to an Indigo Girls concert? No, seriously, like the community has always supported and Patagonia has always stood for incredible things. You know, the. I know the old CEO, when the first Trump administration gave that million dollar tax break, she donated the entire thing to climate change, you know, to fighting the climate crisis. That's what they've always believed in. And Patty has been doing incredible things. So we'll keep covering that. Thanks for the good news. On to Michelle Pronouns. She and her. Hi, Dana. Hey, girl.
- [46:18]
B
Hey.
- [46:19]
D
Welcome back. We really missed you. Thank you very much. Michelle. The pod just isn't the same when it's just Allison. We love you both and we're happy to hear both of your beautiful voices.
- [46:29]
B
Good.
- [46:31]
D
My pod pet tax. Here are some pictures of our boys. They are now stinky teenagers, but were once adorable babies. Look at that trouble maker. Both of these dudes.
- [46:40]
B
Oh, yeah, look at that. Look at that. They're like he, he, he. They're up to something for sure.
- [46:46]
D
Absolutely. And I realize these are not. Yeah. Of our boys. So there we go. I Just want to make sure they are gendered correctly. So cute.
- [46:55]
B
Oh, man. Adorable. All right. From Twyla. Pronoun. She and her. Hi, Allison and Dana. I grew up in New Jersey, and I'm thus offering a small correction. Keen is pronounced Kane. Oh, okay. All right. Same goes for Kane University, which was Kane College when I was growing up. As I recall, the Kane family has been a long running political dynasty in my home state. Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago, Kane. Good to know. I'll probably screw that up again because there's. He's spelling his own name wrong.
- [47:24]
D
Wrong.
- [47:24]
B
If that's how you pronounce it. I'm sorry. Next up from Marty, there's a website that lists every member of congress and their contact info. If you go to congresscalllist.com on your phone, you can touch on their DC phone number and hit call. You don't even have to type the number in. It took a while, but I've called all 541 of them and I'm in the process of calling them a second time, begging them to save our country from the Trump regime and letting them know that I will do everything I can to replace every member who enables him. Pick up your phones. Attach is a picture of the yummy plum jam I make every year from the bounty of our plum tree. Ooh, yum. Marty. Thank you.
- [48:07]
D
I know.
- [48:08]
C
All right.
- [48:08]
D
This is from Kathleen. Pronouns she and her. And her. Excuse me. Hello, AG and DG. I'd like to share some good news that happened 59 years ago. You know, when the Supreme Court was still functioned properly. We're nearing the celebration of June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court. Supreme Court decision of Loving versus Virginia. On that date, the justices unanimously stated that laws against interracial marriage are unconstitutional. This is very personal to me and to millions of couples who are in interracial marriages and in this time when they are their efforts to take away marriage equality impacting interracial LGBTQ marriages, it's more important to celebrate and to teach the history. For more information about the loving decision and ways to celebrate, check out www. Lovingday.org. for my tax, I'm including one of our wedding photos. We've been married 22 years and still going strong. Happy pride to all. What a beautiful couple.
- [49:05]
B
Heck, yeah. Oh, stargazer lilies in the bouquet. I had those too. I had. I think it's. I think it's a requisite flower for brides. I'll tell you, 59 years is not long. Time is not a long Time ago.
- [49:19]
D
I know, I know.
- [49:21]
B
Think of all the people still alive before Levin. You know, like, man, just the. The racism. This systemically rooted racism in this country is still very, very fresh.
- [49:34]
A
Yeah.
- [49:35]
B
And it's still going on today. All right, Next up from Joanne. May 31, 2021. I was lucky to snap a couple of photos of a doe with her new fawn in our backyard here in Vermont. So sweet. That's a fancy tale the mama has by.
- [49:52]
D
Seriously.
- [49:53]
B
Oh, they're so cute. Thank you. And Anonymous in Minneapolis. She and her. I think this might be up the alley of some Daily Beans fans. So much art was created during and following the ice occupation of Minnesota. The Rebel Loon archive has created an art book with approximately 200 pages of paintings, poetry, photography, textiles, and more speaking out against the 2026 ICE occupation of Minnesota. They're also working to preserve and archive this art. And their Kickstarter just went live. So we're going to have a link to the Kickstarter in the show notes. And as a self shout out, I just found out that my poetry will be included in the book.
- [50:30]
D
Nice.
- [50:31]
B
Congratulations, Anonymous. As my pod pet tariff, I'm including a picture of a recent LEGO project. These kits just keep getting more and more realistic.
- [50:40]
D
That's so funny.
- [50:42]
B
It's Le Chat orange Lego thing, and there's an actual orange cat in the.
- [50:47]
D
That's amazing. Love it. All right, this is from Carolyn. No pronouns given. Hello, Beans, Queens. I had to see this monstrosity for myself, taking up half of Lake Union in this behemoth of a boat belonging to Mark Zuckerberg. In the words of Bill the Cat. Ack. All of us in this cheap seats gazed upon it, stunned in silence. But I had to laugh when I saw the sentiment left by someone who shared my feelings. What I didn't know was the yacht travels with an equally huge boat to carry all the toys named Wingman. Unbelievable. Podpet, tx, Sandy. Love you both. A sweet kitty. And then Zuck.
- [51:30]
B
These super yachts, I swear to God, I call them like, like just Turduckens of excess because it's a boat and inside the boat is another boat. And then on top of the boat is a helicopter, and then inside the littler boat is another boat. It's like Christ Russian nesting dolls. And of excess. Ugh. It's so gross. But I like that Zuck right there on the dock. Yeah. All right, next up, Cole pronouns they and them. Oh, these dogs. Good morning, Ag and dg. I was able to see Dana in Rochester, and the Experience was as magical as the last time she performed at the Carlson. I wrote in a few years ago about how safe my wife and I felt in public at her show, and I wanted to say the same thing this time. I'm so grateful for the bubble that her shows create and how it allows us to all breathe a little bit lighter, even if it's only for a little while, if we can breathe at all with how hilarious her jokes are.
- [52:24]
D
Oh, Cole bumps.
- [52:26]
B
Cole, nice. Nice. I hope the otters make the trip okay. I had a lot of fun making them. Pss. My pod tariff is my parents, two dogs and their PJs waiting for Santa Paws. Okay. Adorable. Cole, thank you for that. What an amazing thing. Great submission.
- [52:47]
D
Awesome. It was awesome meeting them again, actually. It was really wonderful. I did not make the connection, and thank you for making the connection for me, Cole. I really appreciate it and these words. I want to find a place to put them. I want people to know how my audience feels. It is such a compliment, and it's one of the reasons why I do what I do. So I can't thank you enough. You just made my day.
- [53:09]
B
That's so great. Just that shield of awesomeness and protection and love that comes along with that. And plus, if we can breathe at all with how hilarious the jokes are, is a good rim shot there. So I love it. That was one of the really funny things about when you and I did that fundraiser with, like, Jean Smart and everybody. Rufus Wainwright, Lisa Loeb, that whole thing. Andy Richter was that there's a. There was a house band behind us as we did this whole show. And whenever Dana would crack a great joke, she'd get a. She'd.
- [53:39]
D
I would point back to the drummer. I wouldn't even turn around. I would just point back to the drummer.
- [53:42]
B
Boom. And get a rim shot.
- [53:44]
D
Yeah, I loved how. I loved that. Like, it's so nice to be in sync with, like, a house band like that where we don't even have to turn around. We just point, and they know exactly what to do.
- [53:54]
B
So fun. Yeah. All right, everybody, that's the Beans. Today, send your daily Beans good news to us. Daily beanspod.com click on Contact. Thanks to Brandon Brockmire for all the work he's doing at Pogo. And we're going to be watching that case closely as his Freedom of Information act request moves its way through the court system, though probably eventually up to the Supreme Court, who will then say Trump could do whatever he wants because they're a bunch of dicks. But I'm gonna keep a positive attitude about it for now and we'll see you over on Beans Talk. Do you have any final thoughts, my friend?
- [54:23]
D
Not today.
- [54:24]
B
All right, everybody, we'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family. I've been ag. I've been dg and them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle 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 Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit mswmedia.com msw media
- [55:06]
A
hello, Martin Sheen here, and it seems to me that no day of the week is without its endless barrage of bad news, even on Sunday. For God's sake, let's change that. What do you say? Together, let's make Sunday immune to bad news. Available now every Sunday. Season three of the Martin Sheen Podcast with yours truly, Martin Sheen has begun. Yeah, 10 brand new episodes are already underway. So join me, Martin sheen, for a 20 minute journey as I share my personal stories, a bit of poetry, and insightful reflections that will encourage you to take a deep breath and enjoy a relaxing moment. Of course, it's important to know and understand what's happening in the world, but I also believe there's nothing wrong with taking a step back to find strength and clarity. And Lord knows we need that now more than ever. A moment of thoughtfulness and calm may be rare these days, but it doesn't have to be. So what do you say? You want to take back your Sundays? So do I. And guess what? I've already done it with the Martin Sheen Podcast, Season three. Available now. Now don't mess with my Sunday and thank you for listening.