Expand The Court (feat. Mike Sacks)

Summary

The Daily Beans: “Expand The Court” (feat. Mike Sacks)

Date: May 21, 2026
Host: Alison Gill (MSW Media)
Guest: Mike Sachs (Congressional Candidate, NY-17)
Theme: Progressive news, legal and political analysis, with a focus on Supreme Court reform and the broader threats to democracy.

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Episode Overview

This episode explores recent headlines in progressive U.S. politics, major legal developments, and dives deep into the urgent topic of Supreme Court reform—centered around a detailed, thought-provoking interview with Mike Sachs, a Democratic congressional candidate and court expansion advocate. The episode is packed with news analysis, actionable insights into judicial reform, and the trademark witty banter and snark of The Daily Beans.

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Major News Stories (00:00–29:18)

Key Headlines Discussed

• Ballroom Provision Dropped from GOP Budget Bill: The billion-dollar funding earmarked for a new East Wing "ballroom" has been stripped due to lack of committee jurisdiction, with Senate parliamentarian's decision upheld. (03:00)
  • “Donald Trump’s gonna be very pissed about this, which… very happy.” – Alison Gill [03:23]
• DOJ’s $1.776 Billion “Weaponization Fund” for Jan 6 Defendants: Ed Martin, former DOJ official, predicted massive payouts for Jan. 6 defendants; the DOJ now has a staggering fund to settle claims of “government weaponization,” criticized as an unprecedented legal move and a political slush fund.
  • “We're trying to compensate people where the book was thrown at them… they were mistreated by the legal system.” – VP JD Vance [12:03]
  • "Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said anyone can apply—whether you’re Hunter Biden or a Jan 6 defendant." [12:20]
  • “Of course he wouldn't.” – Alison Gill on Todd Blanche declining to exclude a convicted child molester from eligibility [13:04]
• Broadview Six Grand Jury Controversy: Federal judge demands emergency closed-door hearing over redactions in grand jury transcripts; speculation of prosecutorial misconduct six days before trial.
  • “I don’t think that’s good news for the prosecutors in this case.” – Alison Gill [14:35]
• Iran War Regime Change Plan Revealed: U.S. and Israel had a secret aim to install hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran’s leader after an opening strike. The plan failed when Ahmadinejad was nearly killed and lost faith in the plot. [15:30]
  • “To say that Mr. Ahmadinejad was an unusual choice would be a vast understatement.” – Alison Gill [15:55]
• US Charges Raul Castro: 94-year-old former Cuban leader indicted for the 1996 shoot-down of exile planes. [17:00]
• Ex-Conversion Therapy Leader Arrested (FL): Alan Chambers of Exodus International faces charges for online solicitation of a minor. [18:00]
• Tennessee Man Wins Free Speech Settlement: Larry Bouchard, jailed for an anti-Charlie Kirk post, wins $835,000 settlement after wrongful arrest. [19:00]
  • “Happy $835,000 day to you, sir.” – Alison Gill [19:24]

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Deep Dive: Supreme Court Reform & Democracy's Peril (29:19–54:40)

Guest Interview – Mike Sachs, NY Congressional Candidate

Introduction (29:18–29:41)

• Emmy-winning journalist, lawyer, union member, and public school parent running for Congress in NY-17.

Discussion Highlights

• The Need for Court Reform (29:42–31:00)

  • Sachs and Gill agree: no meaningful policy can stick without Supreme Court reform; the current Court is “infected with corruption.”
    • “Any bill we pass will be gutted by this Supreme Court.” – Alison Gill [30:32]

• Court Expansion vs. Term Limits vs. Jurisdiction Stripping (31:01–35:22)

  • Sachs has long advocated for adding justices (“court packing”) to counteract minority rule and right-wing judicial activism.
  • The Court has acted as a “final boss” for right-wing anti-democratic policies.
  • Other reforms discussed: ending the filibuster, partisan gerrymandering, campaign finance limits, and restoring federal power.

• Congressional Power over the Judiciary (35:23–39:32)

  • Sachs details historical and constitutional pathways for Congress to limit the Court’s reach, including jurisdiction stripping.
  • Congress can restrict Court review of specific legislation, as per Article III, Section 2.
    • “Congress has the power, if it wants to, ... to strip federal courts ... of jurisdiction to review our enforcement of campaign finance laws as existed before the Supreme Court got its hands on them.” – Mike Sachs [37:59]

• Recent Relevant Examples (Immigration, etc.)

  • Past legislation has limited judicial review; it’s time for bolder, democracy-saving applications of that power [39:51].

• The Perils of Future Elections With This Supreme Court (41:18–46:52)

  • Sachs and Gill discuss the risk of the Supreme Court enabling future coups (2028-2029) by refusing to enforce the lawful outcome of national elections, even if Democrats win outright.
  • The “ministerial” role of the Vice President under the revised Electoral Count Act may be rejected by future GOP VPs, with the Supreme Court punting on enforcement.

• Building a Mandate and Political Will (46:53–53:16)

  • Although no reform will happen under the current president, Sachs argues 2028 needs to bring a Democratic trifecta and a Congress dedicated to restoring democracy with bold reforms.
    • “We need people in the 120th Congress who see around these corners, ... [to] build the political will so that the forces against the Democratic will will not be able to entrench themselves in power.” – Mike Sachs [44:07]
  • The Supreme Court should be an “obstacle to tyranny, not a handmaiden to plutocracy.”

• Why Court Expansion Makes Sense (47:07–49:04)

  • Easier to add new justices than to force existing ones out.
    • “It’s easier to add people … than to make people leave and retire for senior status.” – Alison Gill [47:17]
  • Constitutionality of expansion is clear; refusal from the Court would be a blatant overreach.

• Congress Can Define “Good Behavior” (49:05–50:25)

  • Tightening ethics and disclosure standards for justices through congressional statute is possible, including penalties and removal mechanisms for misconduct.

• Call for Progressive Congressional Action (50:25–53:16)

  • Sachs urges voters to support candidates who will reform/remake the Court, end gerrymandering, filibuster, etc., to establish a durable progressive era.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "We're trying to slay zombie Reaganism. That's what we're trying to do." – Mike Sachs [51:08]
• "Everything ends up at the Supreme Court—who's on first, third base, that's what the Supreme Court is." – Alison Gill [53:40]
• “I was going to bring Scott Jennings on and just have superficial, stupid arguments, but I figured it might be better to have actual people talking about actual policy on the show.” – Alison Gill [54:47]
• “I hope that those listening found it a little refreshing to hear a political candidate getting down into the weeds of taking on the power and aiming straight at the Death Star.” – Mike Sachs [54:34]

Segment Timestamps

• Broad news rundown: 01:31–25:02
• Start of guest interview: 29:19
• Deep judicial reform discussion: 33:12–54:34

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Good News & Listener Feedback (55:52–68:33)

(Community updates, good trouble submissions, shoutouts, and pet photos.)

• Listeners encouraged to “reserve” tickets to Trump events as a disruption tactic [57:17].
• Utah Nature Security’s “Utah National Security” hat campaign to protest corrupt data center approval [58:00].
• Listener highlights Governor Polis’s progressive achievements [59:00].
• Stories of LGBTQ acceptance and resilience (esp. Linkin Park fans’ reaction to new vocalist) [62:05].
• Lighthearted pet photos and “good news” to end the episode on a high note.

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Conclusion

Episode Theme:
Framed by the urgent context of right-wing, anti-democratic power-plays, this episode underscores the existential importance of Supreme Court reform as a safeguard for all other progressive victories. Through news analysis and an in-depth interview with Mike Sachs, listeners are armed with workable solutions—court expansion, jurisdiction stripping, robust congressional action—and a rallying call for progressive organizing ahead of 2028.

Essential Quotes:

• "Any bill we pass will be gutted by this Supreme Court." – Alison Gill [30:32]
• "The Supreme Court has almost always been the handmaiden of power and privilege and plutocracy in this country." – Mike Sachs [37:34]
• "We can create a new political era ... let the political pendulum swing." – Mike Sachs [52:36]

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Listen For:

• Explosive new details on DOJ funds for Jan.6 defendants (04:49–13:06)
• Insights on Congress’s constitutional tools for reining in the Supreme Court (35:23–39:32)
• Proactive steps for the next wave of progressive organizers and candidates (46:53–53:16)

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Overall Tone

Earnest, wonky yet accessible, with trademark Bean’s humor and a direct call to action for listeners who care about protecting democracy.

Find out more:

• Mike Sachs for Congress
• Daily Beans Podcast

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For listeners: This episode offers a master class in why and how to reform the Supreme Court—complete with practical tools for advocacy and action.

Transcript

[Martin Sheen]

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.

[Alison Gill]

MSW Media.

[Mike Sachs]

Beans.

[Dana Goldberg]

Jelly beans.

[Mike Sachs]

Jelly beans.

[Dana Goldberg]

Daily beans. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Thursday, May 21, 2026. Today, the billion dollar ballroom provision has been officially stripped from the Republican budget bill. Former weaponizations are. Ed Martin told a friend in February that January sixers were definitely going to get government payouts. The judge in the Broadview Six case has called for a closed door briefing over grand jury transcripts. An early goal of the Iran war was to install hardline leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The US Announces charges against Raul Castro in Cuba. A former federal prosecutor has been indicted for stealing copies of volume two of Jack Smith's final report. A former gay cure ministry leader has been arrested for soliciting a minor. And the guy arrested in Tennessee for his Charlie Kirk post has won an $800,000 settlement from the sheriff that wrongfully threw him in jail. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Beans. Happy Thursday. So happy it's Thursday. Shit, shit, shit. Dana's out. Dana's out. Today it's just us. So thanks for hanging in with me. And get this. Former Justice Department prosecutor has been charged with sending herself copies of an unreleased volume of special counsel Jack Smith's report on his investigation into Trump. This is volume two. This is the classified documents volume that people have been trying to sue to get released. The only special counsel report in history that's never been released to the public because it's supposed to be under law. Now, Carmen Lineberger, who's 62, she pled not guilty to four charges related to stealing and concealing the report in West Palm beach on Wednesday. She apparently sent copies to her Gmail and Hotmail accounts disguised as chocolate cake and Bundt cake recipes. This is something I totally would do. Andy and I are going to cover this on this Sunday's episode of Unjustified. So you make sure you tune in for that. And the ballroom. Billion dollars for the ballroom. It's gone. As I predicted, there was no jurisdiction by either committee for them to put this provision into the budget reconciliation bill because Judiciary and Homeland Security don't cover the building of the East Wing. That's environment and something else. And one of the chairs of one of those committees is Senator Whitehouse. And they sent someone to argue to the parliamentarian that the billion dollar provision for the ballroom would have to be stripped. As we talked about yesterday, Trump pressed John Thune to fire the parliamentarian for that. But it didn't matter because today, on Wednesday, they actually pulled the language out of the budget reconciliation bill. They are following what the parliamentarian said. Donald Trump's gonna be very pissed about this, which very happy. All right, later in the show, I'm going to be talking to a candidate running against Republican Mike Lawler In New York, 17th district, Mike Sachs. And he's for court reform. He's for adding seats to the Supreme Court. So we're going to talk about that because, you know, I've been on a court reform kick lately. So I'm looking forward to speaking to him in the Flip it blue segment later in the show. All right, we have a ton of news to get to, per usual, so let's hit the hot notes.

[Alison Gill]

Hot notes, notes.

[Dana Goldberg]

All right, first up, from our good friend and former guest here on the Daily Beans, Ryan Riley at NBC. Earlier this year, not long after the Trump administration official Ed Martin was stripped of his role as head of the Justice Department's weaponization Working group that targeted the president's political foes, Ed Martin sat down for breakfast in an upscale spot near the White House. I'm going to break in here. You'll remember if you listen to the Unjustified podcast, Andy and I called Ed Martin the wackadag paw. The weapon. The weaponizations are associate deputy attorney general, pardon attorney. And he was stripped of everything but the pardon attorney thing. And now he works off site out of main justice in the pardon attorney's office. So anyway, that's the Ed Martin we're talking about here. Back to the story inside the Peacock Lounge at the Willard. Why do they always like to crime at the Willard? At the Willard intercontinental in Washington, D.C. ed Martin dined with Republican operative Norm Coleman. The two touched on the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. D.C. federal grand juries and former special counsel Jack Smith, according to two people with direct knowledge of their conversation, which must have been people listening in, or maybe Norm Coleman himself. Martin also predicted the Justice Department would dole out millions of dollars to those charged and then later pardoned in the January 6, 2021 ride at the Capitol. Even if it took until the end of President Donald Trump's term. Martin estimated it would be something like $40 million, according to the people. But the pot ended up much, much larger. This week, as we know, justice department announced a 1.776 billion with a B dollar fund using taxpayer money to provide payouts for those, quote, who suffered weaponization and lawfare at the hands of the government. The money comes as part of a settlement with Donald Trump. It's not a settlement who sued the executive branch that he oversees, an unprecedented legal move, according to experts. Trump, his sons and the Trump organization filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the tax return leaks. And he made other claims of damages in connection with the search of Mar a Lago in 2022 and the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. As part of an agreement to drop all those claims, the fund was born. Responding to an email asking about his discussion with Martin, Coleman, a former senator from Minnesota, wrote the People quote, must have taken part of a conversation totally out of context, he said, and he interest in discussing snippets of breakfast conversations with a friend. So I guess Coleman's not the source here. Martin did not respond to requests for comment, and the White House referred requests for comment to the Justice Department before the fund was announced. Justice Department spokesman said that Martin, quote, did not make these remarks, though they did not say which aspect of the comments was in dispute. Now, Ed Martin has been one of the biggest supporters of January 6th defendants and the Trump administration. The conservative activists called for die hard true Americans to work until their last breath to stop the steal of the 2020 presidential election in a speech at the Capitol on the eve of January 6th. Now, Martin got to know Trump when he hosted fundraisers for Capitol siege defendants on Trump properties. Martin was the named interim top federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, where he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of January 6th cases and the firing of or demotions of dozens of prosecutors who worked on the case. It was his support for January Sixers that cost him the backing of Senator Thom Tillis, who blocked Martin's confirmation to hold the post permanently. He told a conservative podcaster that Tillis asked him if he favored reparations for January 6th rioters. Quote, we should do it. We shouldn't be afraid. That's what Martin said in May of 2025 in an interview. You're damn right I want to pay January Sixers. If you got wronged by the government, then you should be made right. That's America. After the fund was announced Monday, Martin praised the decision in a post quote to the survivors of political weaponization, the lessons of the last few days is never stop fighting, never stand down, never disarm and follow the lead of President Trump, who never stops fighting. Ah, sounds like he's gearing up for the 2029 coup. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, testifying before Senate Appropriations on Tuesday, said that anyone can apply to receive a payout, though decisions on who or how much they receive will be made by a commission made up of five members, four chosen by Blanche himself, one chosen by Blanche in consultation with Congress. Trump can remove anyone he chooses for any reason. Justice officials didn't say whether Martin would be one of them. Wouldn't it be interesting if Ed Martin ended up on the Truth and Justice Commission? Blanche said there was a broad lane for anyone to apply who felt they were victims of a weaponized government, quote, so whether you're Hunter Biden or whether you're an individual who believed you were a victim of weaponization, they can all apply, he said, referring to the son of former President Joe Biden, who was convicted of gun charges in a case he decried as political. Applying doesn't mean a guarantee of money, he said, and he insisted January 6th riders weren't automatically going to be paid out, quote. Does it mean they're going to get money? No, he said. It just means they're allowed to apply. That's not how rioters see it. Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Jan. 6 in a failed effort to stop the certification of Biden's win, and more than 140 police officers were injured and millions of dollars in damage was done. Five people died, including Ashley Babbitt, who was shot and killed as she jumped through a broken window leading to the House speaker's lobby. The Trump administration settled with her estate last year. Five million bucks. Vice President J.D. vance said Tuesday the requests would be evaluated on a case by case basis including possibly those accused of harming police. Quote, we're trying to compensate people where the book was thrown at them. They were mistreated by the legal system. That's what Vance said. The president has described the rioters as peaceful protesters. During his 2024 campaign, he began to suggest he would pardon some of the 1500 people charged by the DOJ in the largest single prosecution in the department's history. On his first day back, he pardoned the majority while erasing punishments for a handful of others. There was already a growing legal effort to win civil settlements, but until news of the fund was made public, the Justice Department had been defending January 6th related lawsuits. It's not clear whether those lawsuits will still be defended. It may not matter. Two lawyers who were involved with the legal effort and say they represent more than 400 January 6 rioters said Tuesday that they expected their clients to apply through the fund rather than to continue with litigation. Martin has been a critical player in the effort, according to People. Even after he was pushed out as head of the Weaponization Working Group, Martin has maintained influence in the Trump administration. He's frequently seen at the White House. He continues in the role of pardon attorney, advising the president on clemency actions, quote, Ed's a real trooper for us, said one of the January 6th lawyers, Mark McCloskey, a St. Louis based attorney behind one of the legal efforts. And McCloskey and another lawyer, Peter Tickton, who attended the New York Military Academy with Trump, said they've been lobbying the White House for payouts on behalf of their clients. In an interview Monday after the announcement of the fund, McCloskey said he was pretty darn excited about it, calling it very similar to what they'd been suggesting. Quote, it's a program we've been lobbying for for the past 13, 14 months, and I couldn't be happier that it's finally coming to fruition, he said. It was kind of shocking to me with all the other things going on that he would do this right now. I thought his mind would be occupied elsewhere, but I'm very pleased he paid att. Tickton, who had criticized Blanche for not taking action for the January 6th defendants sooner, credited Trump with pushing forward with the fund. We're moving in the direction that the president had originally wanted to go ticked said for some reason it wasn't happening in the DOJ under Todd Blanche and now it appears to happen under Todd Blanche. I think it's because he's looking for the position of attorney general. So now he has to show that he can perform. Blanche has repeatedly denied that he's auditioning for the job, and Trump has repeatedly denied he had anything with setting up this fund. Now, the news of the fund, which is expected to be challenged in court, drew immediate scrutiny from Democrats, who described it as a slush fund for Trump allies and some Republicans, quote, not a big fan, said John Thune, Republican. He said that on Tuesday.

[Alison Gill]

I'm not exactly sure how they would

[Dana Goldberg]

use it, but yeah, I don't see a purpose for it. Sky Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, a national legal group formed in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, said there's no legal authority for it. The group has demanded the Trump administration officials preserve their internal communications over the decision, a sign of an upcoming legal challenge. Unlike a civil lawsuit where a federal judge adjudicates claims, evidence is gathered and legal arguments are made in open court, the Justice Department's fund will have no other oversight aside from the commissioners and the Justice Department. There will be little ability to scrutinize how the taxpayer money is spent or to whom the money is awarded. Last year, one January 6th defendant, Andrew Paul Johnson, posted online he was expecting restitution for January 6th defendants. Months later, after he was arrested on charges of child molestation, law enforcement officials said Johnson tried to bribe a victim with the money he expected to get from the Trump administration. At the Senate hearing Tuesday, Blanche tried to slough off any knowledge that the January 6 rioters had been seeking what they have called reparations and said the fund would be doled out on a case by case basis, but would not say whether rioters would be allowed to partake. Quote, you're asking me to speculate on the possibility of something, yeah. Senator Chris Van Holland, exasperated, asked whether Blanche could say that Johnson, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison this year, would be barred from receiving money from the fund. Blanche said he found the details of the case disgusting, but he wouldn't say whether Johnson was eligible for the money. Of course he wouldn't. Of course he wouldn't. All right, next up from the Chicago Sun Times, the judge presiding over the case against the remaining members of the Broadview Six demanded Wednesday that prosecutors involved in the redaction of controversial grand jury transcripts appear personally in her courtroom for an emergency closed door hearing today. Thursday. The surprise order from Judge April Perry demands the appearance of any assistant U.S. attorney, quote, who participated in the decision to redact portions of the grand jury transcripts, whether on the trial team or at the supervisory level. The judge also wrote that, quote, due to the anticipated discussion of grand jury materials. These proceedings are going to be conducted under seal, private, not public. It's unclear what prompted Perry's order, but it seems like bad news for prosecutors six days before the trial is set to begin. Charged in the case former congressional candidate Kat Abu Ghazale, Oak Park Village Trustee Brian Straw, 45th Ward Democratic Committee person Michael Rabbit and Andre Martin, who served as a member of Abu Ghazale's campaign staff. Now each is charged with misdemeanor count forcibly impeding a federal agent. Charges against two other people previously indicted in the case were dismissed, and the transcripts in question have been a point of controversy for weeks ever since prosecutors announced their intention to drop the felony conspiracy charge previously leveled against them. While that seemed to signal good news, their attorneys suspected it was a ploy to avoid disclosing an unredacted version of the transcript to the judge. Now defense attorneys made a narrow request in April to review only the portions of the grand jury transcripts that showed how prosecutors explained the conspiracy law to the grand jury. Alternatively, they suggested prosecutors turn transcripts over to the judge so she could conduct her own review, and the judge agreed to give them a look, and prosecutors filed the transcripts under seal of grand jury appearances from Oct. 9, Oct. 16 and Oct. 23. The feds filed the transcripts April 23, but the next day the judge entered an order scheduling a hearing April 29, and she also told prosecutors to bring the hearing fully unredacted versions to bring to the hearing fully unredacted versions of the transcripts that they'd filed under seal, as well as a copy of any presentations or documents shown to the grand juror summarizing the law, the conspiracy law, the charge that they dropped. But moments into the 29th hearing in April, Assistant U.S. attorney William Hogan said the feds are going to drop the conspiracy charge. You don't need to see what's under those redaction bars, and we're going to file a new charging document. Judge Perry wound up denying the defense motion for grand jury transcripts as moot and concluded there was no reason to read the transcripts now. But defense attorneys who continue to push for disclosure of those transcripts in the weeks since. Straw's attorney Chris Parente urged Judge Perry on Monday to simply look at the unredacted version, arguing that the prosecutors may be hiding something that could have tainted all of this. And Perry agreed after the prosecutor said they had no objection. In fact, prosecutors have accused defense attorneys of speculating histrionically about what might be in the transcript, insisting there's nothing nefarious about what happened. But she read them and she's called a hearing for today. So I don't think that's good news for the prosecutors in this case. I'm not sure we'll learn anytime soon what happened here, but we may see motions filed under seal from the defendants to drop the case altogether. Perhaps if something nefarious happened in the grand jury room that's currently hidden behind redaction bars. We'll see. We'll keep an eye on it for you. All right, next up from the Times, this is, this is insane. Days after Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader and other top officials in the opening salvos of the war, Trump mused publicly that it would be best if, quote, someone from within Iran took over the country. Well, it turns out the United States and Israel went into the conflict with a particular and very surprising someone in mind, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his hardline anti Israel and anti American views. But the audacious plan developed by the Israelis and which Mr. Ahmadinejad had been consulted about, the plan quickly went awry. According to US officials who were briefed on it, Mr. Ahmadinejad was injured on the war's first day by an Israeli strike at his home in Tehran that had been designed to free him from house arrest. He survived the strike, they said, but in the near miss, he became disillusioned with the regime change plan. To say that Mr. Ahmadinejad was an unusual choice would be a vast understatement. While he had increasingly clashed with the regime's leaders in Iran and had been placed under close watch by Iranian authorities, he was known during his term as president from 2005 to 2013. If the name Ahmadinejad sounds familiar, he was known for his calls to wipe Israel off the map. He was a strong supporter of Iran's nuclear program, a fierce critic of the United States, and known for violently cracking down on internal dissent. How Mr. Ahmadinejad was recruited to take part as the installed regime leader by the US And Israel is unknown. The existence of the effort has not been previously reported until this. It was part of a multi stage plan developed by Israel to topple Iran's theocratic democratic government. It underscores how Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu went into the war, not only misjudging how quickly they could achieve their objectives, but also gambling to some degree on a risky plan for leadership change in Iran that even some of Trump's aides found implausible. Some American officials were skeptical, in particular about the viability of putting Ahmadinejad back into power. That American and Israeli officials saw Mr. Ahmadinejad as a potential leader of a new government in Iran is further evidence that the war in February was launched with the hopes of installing a more pliable leadership in Tehran. Mr. Trump and members of his cabinet have said that the goals of the war were now narrowly focused on destroying Iran's nuclear missiles and military capabilities. So the original plan was to get Ahmadinejad in, but he, he bowed out. And the Ayatollah Khomeini's son took leadership straight. A Hormuz closed, wrong guy in the driver's seat. And so Trump's just been pretending that this was the plan all along. Oh my God. Oh my God. All right. Anyway, I don't even know what to say about that. That is just bananas. Next up from the Associated Press. Federal prosecutors Wednesday announced charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro in that 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami based exiles as the Trump administration escalates pressure on the island' socialist government. The indictment was related to Castro's alleged role in the shoot down of two small planes operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro, who's now 94, was Cuba's defense minister at the time. The charges include murder and destruction of an airplane. As to what lengths American authorities would go to bring Castro to face charges in the U.S. blanche said, well, there's a warrant issued for his arrest. We'd expect that he'll show up here on his own or by another way. Another way like when you indicted Maduro and then invaded Venezuela to capture him like that? How many wars has he started now? Anyway? Next up from WFTV 9 in Orlando, Florida, a former leader of an Orlando based ministry that claimed for years that it could cure homosexuality has been arrested in an underage sexting, according to an Orange county arrest affidavit. Alan Manning Chambers, he's 54, was arrested Tuesday in Winter park and booked into the Orange county jail without bond. He's expected to appear in front of a judge for the first time Wednesday afternoon, which is yesterday. As you're listening to this now, Chambers is charged with solicitation of a minor via computer, transmitting harmful material to a minor and unlawful use of a two way communication device. Chambers is the former leader of Exodus International, the Orlando based organization that promoted so called conversion therapy and claimed for years that people could change their sexual orientation. So this guy got caught soliciting minors and from the Times, this good news story. The Tennessee man who was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post he shared after the killing of Charlie Kirk has agreed to an $835,000 settlement with the sheriff who detained him. The fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist, last September set off an avalanche of social media commentary across the country. With it came firings, resignations and a debate about the boundaries of free speech. But Larry Bouchard, the man arrested in Texas, was perhaps the only person charged with a felony after his posts about Mr. Kirk's death. In the post, he shared memes that accused Mr. Kirk's organization, Turning Point USA, of perpetrating hate and another that included past comments from Trump about moving past a school shooting. The sheriff's office in Perry County, Tennessee claimed with those posts he was threatening violence. He wasn't. His bail was set at 2 million. He remained in jail until the charge against him was dropped. In a statement, Mr. Bouchardt said he's been vindicated. Quote, the people's freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to healthy democracy, he said. I'm looking forward to moving on and spending my time with my family. So happy $835,000 day to you, sir. All right, everybody, we've got good news. But first I'm going to talk to a Democrat who's running to get Mike Lawler's seat in New York's 17th district. It's Mike Sachs. We're going to talk about court reform and much more. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.

[Mike Sachs]

We'll be right back.

[Dana Goldberg]

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[Dana Goldberg]

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[Rainy Day Rabbit Holes Host]

you did 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 when, 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.

[Alison Gill]

MSW Media.

[Dana Goldberg]

Hey everybody, welcome back.

[Alison Gill]

It's time to Flip it blue. All right, our next guest is running to unseat Republican Mike Lawler in a big field of Democrats in New York's 17th congressional district. He's an Emmy Award winning journalist, he's a lawyer. He spent 15 years covering political and legal affairs.

[Dana Goldberg]

He's a dad, he's a union member

[Alison Gill]

and a proud public school parent. So please welcome Mike Sachs. Hi, Mike. How are you?

[Mike Sachs]

Hello, Alison. Thanks for having me.

[Alison Gill]

I am so glad to talk to you. We've been talking offline, going back and forth a little bit, messaging each other, because last week and this week and all the weeks going forward, it's been Court Reform week here on the Daily Beans. And we were sort of going back and forth about the different ways to

[Dana Goldberg]

reform the court, whether it's term limits

[Alison Gill]

that come with senior status through statute and legislation, whether it's what Rep. Olschewski is doing, which we've had him on the show last week, which is filing a resolution for a constitutional amendment adding term limits, or whether it's adding seats

[Dana Goldberg]

to the court, which we have to

[Alison Gill]

come up with a better name for than court packing, because that doesn't sound very good. But regardless, you know, we've been talking. I think the thing we can agree on is no matter how we reform

[Dana Goldberg]

the court, it has to be changed.

[Alison Gill]

Otherwise, any bill we pass and any good bill we have that's still standing will be gutted by the this Supreme

[Dana Goldberg]

Court, whether it's voting rights, whether it's

[Alison Gill]

codifying Roe, you know, everything ends up

[Dana Goldberg]

at the Supreme Court.

[Alison Gill]

And as this Supreme Court stands, it's corrupt, it's infected with corrupt individuals who

[Dana Goldberg]

were bought and paid for to sit there.

[Alison Gill]

And so you were arguing, I think, the same argument that Ellie Mistahl was making, who was just recently on the show as well, for court expansion.

[Dana Goldberg]

So can you talk a little bit

[Alison Gill]

about your plans should you be elected

[Dana Goldberg]

to Congress for going forward with court reform?

[Mike Sachs]

Sure, Alison. And again, thanks for having me on. And Ellie Mystal is a good old friend of mine. We talk frequently. We came up in the law blogs together and I might have even been the first person to ever put him on camera back when I was a host at HuffPost Live, the short lived live streaming network that HuffPost had where we built it and not enough people came and then we all were sent off to our own respective ways. But, but yeah, let's get into this. So I've been calling for court packing, court expansion, whatever you want to call it, probably as long as Ellie has. When it became clear that this Supreme Court would be the final boss in the right wing's anti democratic edifice, that's when we really all started. All meaning the few of us at the time started saying we have to make sure we have a court that protects democracy rather than undermines it. And I remember sitting during, I guess the 2020 Democratic primaries where I mean there's five people in my primary, which seems pretty crowded, but there were like 18 million in the 2020 Democratic primary, two different nights of clown cars. And each of them kept saying things like I will have a wealth tax and I will codify Roe and I will restore voting rights. And each time I would tweet and scream at the TV and text Ellie, but what are you going to do about the Supreme Court? Because that is the only thing right now that matters. There are other things as well, like ending extreme partisan gerrymandering and ending the Senate filibuster so that there can be as much as most representative of a democracy as we can have as long as the Senate exists in this current, current form so that majority can have its will in this country when signed into law by a president who has won the popular vote as well. But even when that all happens, there's still this Roberts court lying in wait to tell us that we cannot self govern.

[Alison Gill]

And there's something else going on too, Mike, because I know a lot of people are not only running on voting rights and codifying Roe and things like that, but also accountability. Criminal accountability for this regime is also stopped by the Supreme Court. And I know a lot of people like to blame Merrick Garland for the fact that Donald Trump wasn't tried and convicted and put in prison for his actions on January 6. But it was actually the Supreme Court that stopped that trial from going forward with their immunity decision. And then their weird way of handling what is immune by you having to come back to the Supreme Court and basically ask on a case by case basis what is immune for official acts and what is not, which would have

[Dana Goldberg]

gutted that case anyway.

[Alison Gill]

That Supreme Court was never going to let that case go to trial. So anyone running on accountability has to

[Dana Goldberg]

address court reform as well.

[Mike Sachs]

Agree. And this is a really big issue as well, because in order to overcome Trump versus the United States, which is a constitutional ruling, focus on the unitary executive theory in which Congress can do nothing to abrogate the court's ruling. Well, sorry, no, Congress can do something to abrogate the court's ruling. It's a law that was, or a bill that was put forward towards the end of last Congress called the no Kings act act, which strips the Supreme Court of jurisdiction to review criminal prosecutions of former presidents who were. Who've allegedly crimed while in office, official acts or not.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah. And let's start there.

[Alison Gill]

Let's start with jurisdiction stripping and then we'll get into court expansion versus term limits.

[Mike Sachs]

Yeah, I'd love to. Because this is something that beyond expansion, you can never guarantee that a court, even when with seats added of your own sympathetic party, you can never guarantee that that court will not still keep trying to grab power from the people. The way to take the power back is for Congress to take its power back. And there has been a long history in this country going back almost to the founding of the public and members of Congress and even the framers saying there's no way a court should have the power to review the constitutionality of an act of Congress. The act of Congress is, is the people's understanding of our Constitution. And that should have the final word.

[Alison Gill]

But the Supreme Court gave itself the final word. And what, Marbury v. Madison.

[Mike Sachs]

Yes. In 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall, who himself was put into office by John Adams, as in one of the midnight appointments to zombify and preserve the Federalist Party well past its political expiration. Sound familiar to the Republican Party right now with all the justices there on the Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall in Marbury had a line that said, it is emphatically the duty of the judicial department to declare what the law is. But he was only saying that in service to his own political jiu jitsu, to try to win a political fight with his hated distant cousin Thomas Jefferson. The very next year, the very next year, in another case, Chief Justice John Marshall said, and I don't have this verbatim memorized, but it is the duty of the judiciary to fairly interpret what Congress has intended and execute their intentions or give respect to their intentions. The exact opposite thing that he'd written the year before and in fact consistent with how the Supreme Court then conducted itself all the way until 1857, when for the first time since 1803, the Supreme Court struck down an act of Congress, the Missouri Compromise, in order to entrench slave power in Dred Scott v. Sanford. And it wasn't until, say, the 1920s, where the Supreme Court. You don't often get these conversations with political candidates, do you? It wasn't until the 1920s when Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who wanted to entrench plutocratic will into our Constitution against the rising progressive movement, decided with what the then very conservative ADA decided to make a hero out of John Marshall and Marbury, when no one was talking about John Marshall and Marbury at that point, and then for various reasons, for whomever's political ox was going to get gored by the Supreme Court. Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans alike over the last century have gone back and forth saying, the Supreme Court will save us from the political whims of the majority. And you know what? The Roberts Court's proving all of that just a ruse and returning us to an understanding of the Supreme Court that has almost always been the handmaiden of power and privilege and plutocracy in this country. So I say all that to say that Congress has the power, if it wants to, say, overturn Citizens United or if it wants to overturn the Calais decision, or if it wants protect the pre clearance provision that the Supreme Court invalidated its formula in the Shelby county decision, to pass laws saying, oh, money is not speech, corporations are not people. Let's talk about Citizens United for a second. And yes, sure, the Supreme Court might disagree, but you know what? We're going to strip federal courts, all federal courts and state courts of jurisdiction to even review our enforcement of campaign finance laws as existed before the Supreme Court got its hands on them. And people might think, what? Wait, courts can do that or Congress can do that. Article 3, Section 2 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to make exceptions and regulations to the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction. And it can do whatever it wants with lower courts, which are creatures of Congress's creation. And then Supreme Court can also, or Congress can also deny, can refuse the way of sovereign immunity for the United States in suits from the states in the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction. These are all tools that Congress has at its disposal if it's so willing to use them.

[Alison Gill]

What was that second thing you mentioned in Article 3, Section 2? What was that second thing you mentioned?

[Mike Sachs]

Yeah, so this is actually one of the, I think Article 3, Section 1, but the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over certain cases.

[Alison Gill]

But I think that you said something about how they also the federal bench is a creature of Congress and we clearly have. Have proof of that in that there are senior status requirements or, you know, you don't get a vote when you go into senior status on the federal bench, et cetera. And is there anything in the Constitution that stops Congress from doing the same kind of thing with the Supreme Court and specifically allowing for jurisdiction stripping?

[Martin Sheen]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

Why they don't add that to their bills and say Congress has the final word on interpreting, I don't know, the 15th or 14th amendment on this. And so it's not reviewable, it's not justiciable. I mean, Donald Trump did it by saying my actions aren't reviewable by the court under. And he cited Marbury v. Madison on that, which just blows my mind in

[Mike Sachs]

that settlement for his corruption to duck and slush fund. Right. But no, like if you look at a major immigration reform bill in 1997 stripped the courts of jurisdiction to review determinations of the Secretary of State or the Department of Homeland Security. Now to review TPS status. And that's an issue before the Supreme Court right now. So it's not uncommon factor, uncommon tool used in federal legislation, but never recently used in ways that are commensurate with the threat we're now facing from the Roberts Court's actions against our democracy.

[Alison Gill]

That's what I wanted the Virginia legislature

[Dana Goldberg]

to do with the maps is to

[Alison Gill]

say that's real nice that you have

[Dana Goldberg]

an opinion there, Virginia Supreme Court.

[Alison Gill]

But we've interpreted the Constitution to mean this. And the original amendment we were trying to reform form wasn't posted for 90 days either. So we're going to use these maps. That's what I wanted them to do. But that is not what happened. They decided it would be a good idea to go to the Supreme Court and see what they thought. And now they have a no right. And I'm a veteran. I was in the military, and I learned a lesson in the military that it's always better to ask for forgiveness than permission. It's why the Donald Trump administration did not want Sidney Powell to sue in order to be able to grant Mike Pence the ability to throw out certified votes when he was counting them. Because they said, don't do that, because if the Supreme Court says no, we won't be able to pull off our little coup.

[Mike Sachs]

Yeah. Yeah. Actually. And that reminds me of something. I know we can digress a little bit from where we are, but we're talking about preserving our democracy. I think that's why we're both here today. That's why you do what you do. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. And I'm looking ahead towards the primary election here and the general election in the midterms, but I'm also looking ahead to the 2028 election and January 6, 2029, and say whoever is the Democratic nominee and whoever votes for that nominee, I would posit there will be millions more that will vote for that Democratic nominee than will vote for whoever will follow Trump. If Trump doesn't. Chooses to be followed. Let's say that that nominee and those voters are able to actually get an election through all the hoops and obstacles that Trump will put in the way and the Supreme Court will support, if not amplify and obstacles. The Supreme Court itself is put in the way, too. Let's say that all happens and the Electoral College, the count and the Democratic nominee wins. Do we think, think that J.D. vance or maybe if J.D. vance is president by then and Trump's gone and whoever's in the seat instead. But do we think that the Republican vice president on the rostrum on January 6, 2029, will do what Mike Pence did on January 6, 2021?

[Alison Gill]

No.

[Brian Caram]

No.

[Mike Sachs]

Because the litmus test now, and there

[Alison Gill]

will be a lawsuit that will go

[Dana Goldberg]

up to the Supreme Court.

[Mike Sachs]

Right. Because there is a law that was passed in 2022, the Electoral Count Reform act, that says, Dude, VP, your role is purely ministerial. And I imagine that whoever is standing there as the VP will say, sorry, that law was unconstitutional and that will be expedited to the Supreme Court, as you said. And this Supreme Court will say, sorry, that is a political question. We do not have.

[Dana Goldberg]

Have.

[Mike Sachs]

We're not going to do a Bush v. Gore. Sorry, it'll serve their interest this time in Doing that, and then we are in a very bad and dark place.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah,

[Alison Gill]

well, we can't reform the Supreme Court before then, unfortunately, because any bill passed that, whether it expands the Supreme Court, whether it does term limits and senior status, or whether it strips jurisdiction, has to be signed by president.

[Mike Sachs]

Correct. But what we can do is build the political will and the political awareness towards what must be done leading up to, and then upon winning, and then upon defeating any type of design, towards getting the way of inauguration on January 20, 2029. And that is done through the 120th Congress. There need to be people in the 120th Congress who see around these corners, don't just see the threat as it is now, but see the threat that's coming around the corner and builds through the bully pulpit on the floor, out in the streams like these, on social, on the news, everywhere people are identifies the threats ahead and builds awareness through oversight hearings and identifying the bad guys who've been out to hurt us all. But also presents an alternative vision of what our country can be when we're all in it together. And uses the 120th Congress as a confrontational opposition branch to a ruling regime that will then require anyone trying to run for president in 2028 on Democratic side to promise to subscribe to the agenda that the 120th Congress, assuming it's going to be controlled by Democrats, or if it's just the House, fine, or just the Senate, fine, then they're going to be pushing forward for two years. That, to me, is the way to build the momentum and build the political will so that the forces against the Democratic will will not be able to entrench themselves in power no matter what we say come the next election. And then, so that when we do win, win, we'll be able to entrench our own democracy so that whoever fairly wins an election gets to do what they want absent clear constitutional constraints. And it's we, the people, who then decide whether we like that or not. You know, like Trump won. Right. He won reelection. And Republicans won the Congress in a trifecta in 2024. They did, right? They won. It wasn't the Electoral College that did it this time. He won popular vote, Electoral College and the House and Senate, all of those. But we're getting what the majority asked for now, and the majority does not want it anymore.

[Alison Gill]

Oh, no.

[Mike Sachs]

Trump's approval ratings in the basement. There's a blue wave coming for Congress to the extent the Supreme Court hasn't

[Alison Gill]

eaten into that lead.

[Mike Sachs]

Right? Yeah. So we're Seeing democracy at work when there's a deeply. When someone comes into power and pursues a deeply unpopular anti constitutional agenda to hurt people. So I see our job in Congress in the 120th, should we get a majority, to develop an agenda dedicated to helping people and then using that to entrench democracy so that the political pendulum can swing and it's not one party trying to use the judiciary to hold it hostage, to keep itself in power forever.

[Alison Gill]

Now, before I let you go, I want to ask you, because at first when you and I were talking, I was pro senior status with term limits as legislation. You were pro adding seats to the Supreme Court. I've always been pro adding seats to the Supreme Court.

[Dana Goldberg]

I just figured it would be easier

[Alison Gill]

to do it the other way. However, when I spoke to you and when I spoke to Ellie, I am now Team Expand the Supreme Court. I've always been expanded. We need 13 justices at least, so we can have. Have one as the administrative overseer of each circuit, federal circuit that we have in this country. I know Ellie wants 20 more, but, you know, however many it is, the thing that put me over the top was when Ellie explained to me it's easier to add people and send them in to do a job than it is to make people leave and retire for senior status. He says, because I don't think John Roberts is going to throw hands. No, if you just said, like, if they're like, if the. If you pass this law, law, it's signed by the Democrat, provided that we all get into the White House in 2029, and John Roberts of the Supreme Court, somebody sues, a Republican sue, and John Roberts says, no, you can't add seats to the Supreme Court because of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Then you say, that's too bad. They're coming in Monday and they just take their seats and start doing shit. I was like, yeah, okay, it's easier to do that than to force Roberts and Alito and. And who's the Thomas? And at that point, it would also be Kagan and Sotomayor to leave. It's harder to make them go away than it is to just add people to the mix. Just start their job Monday morning.

[Mike Sachs]

Yeah. And I want to be clear. Court expansion is the most constitutional of all the reforms. It's undoubtedly constitutional. It has a historical pedigree in this country. There's no question about its constitutionality. So if Roberts did say, you can't do that, there would be no ground to stand on whatsoever.

[Alison Gill]

He does that.

[Mike Sachs]

And of course, that doesn't stop him before.

[Alison Gill]

Right.

[Mike Sachs]

But beyond that, beyond court expansion, there is, when you're talking about senior status, there's a question of what good behavior means, because we assume that means lifetime tenure for Justice's absent impeachment and removal.

[Dana Goldberg]

Right.

[Mike Sachs]

But Congress can define what good behavior is.

[Dana Goldberg]

Right.

[Alison Gill]

And have teeth to those ethics.

[Mike Sachs]

Good behavior taking bribes.

[Dana Goldberg]

Right.

[Mike Sachs]

Is good behavior not recusing? And so is there a mechanism then

[Alison Gill]

to remove failing to disclose your financial shit on your financial disclosure forms that seems like it would be a end of good behavior, you're out situation.

[Mike Sachs]

So there are all sorts of ways that Congress can reassert its power to regulate the court absent saying you have to decide this way or that way, which Congress cannot do. And these are things that Congress must try to do. And in fact, on this day, people are listening to this. There's going to be a hearing. There is a hearing or has been a hearing at the House Judiciary Committee where the Republicans are trying to scaremonger about court expansion. And the Democratic witness, a guy, a professor named Nico Bowie at Harvard Law School, his testimony is really good and paradigm shifting in how we can understand the court and go back to how it had been understood historically as something Congress has the power, the obligation and the duty to put in place and say, no, sorry, we the people have the final say in what the Constitution means.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah. Well, we definitely need a Congress that's willing to stand up and fight for its own power as ascribed in the Constitution, because this one has completed. It's been. The Congress, in my opinion, has been giving up its power for a really long time, but it's been especially noticeable in the last Congress, this current Congress. So it's definitely important that, you know, we hear from candidates willing to make this fight and, you know, take the licks because it's not going to be easy. And that's why I'm super glad you came and spoke to us today. Tell us about when The New York 17th primary is and where they can.

[Dana Goldberg]

Where folks can find information on your candidacy and your campaign.

[Mike Sachs]

Sure. Early voting begins on June 13th and election day is June 23rd. The New York 17th district is the northern half of Westchester county, all of Rockland county, all of Putnam county, and a little sliver of southern Dutchess County. And my campaign website is mikesaxforcongress.com if you want to send us a little donation. It would help with our yard signs. It'd be wonderful. I would very much appreciate that. But if you want to spread the word to those you Know, if you don't live in this district, please do about what you heard today. But ultimately we're trying to slay zombie Reaganism. That's what we're trying to do. Because I think Trump is a symptom and a product of the Republicans attempt to suspend the animation of a political era that's long since should have expired. This is why we have the corruption, this is why we have the incompetence, this is why we have the criminality, is because all that's left is the putrefied remains of the Reagan era. And we've been kept on this one small, limited bit of terrain that we've been arguing over politically for way too long, punching at each other instead of punching up at those who've designed this divisive environment. If we're able to reform the Supreme Court, get them to step out of the way, let Congress do its duty through fairly representative elections without extreme partisan gerrymandering, a thumb on the scale, or the Senate filibuster, then we will be able to pass transformative progressive legislation that once enacted, is not repealed unless at the peril of the electoral politics of its political opponents. Like think Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act. Once they're put in place, they're unrepealable. That's why they capture the courts, to strike them down on elected officials. If we're able to actually transform and address issues that the filibuster has stopped or that extreme partisan gerrymandering has distorted, then we can actually get out of this moment we've been in. We can create a new political era where we can let the political pendulum swing. And if my side goes too far for the American public, then we can be voted out and we can have that dialogue again as opposed to one party just trying to keep its exhausted political program in power forever, no matter what we all say. That's how we got Trump, that's how we get this chaos. And it's time to turn the page.

[Alison Gill]

Well, I appreciate your time today.

[Dana Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Alison Gill]

Have nice things is step eight of my, of my eight point plan. Flip the House, flip the Senate, then block all Republican SCOTUS nominations For the

[Dana Goldberg]

next two years, hold the Senate, elect

[Alison Gill]

a Dem, POTUS in 2028, kill the filibuster, pass HR1, then expand the Court, and then have nice things.

[Mike Sachs]

That's great.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah, because everything ends up there. I always compare it to who's on first with Abbott and Costello. Everything ends up with, I don't know, third base and that's what the Supreme Court is. Absolutely everything that we do, whether it's certifying the elections, whether it's banning gerrymandering, overturn Citizens United, getting our bodily autonomy back, passing voting rights, making sure everyone has a say in our democracy.

[Dana Goldberg]

All of it, yeah, all of it

[Alison Gill]

ends at the Supreme Court, including holding members of this regime criminally accountable.

[Dana Goldberg]

And then somebody might say, oh, he's

[Alison Gill]

just gonna pardon everybody. Yeah, but if you wanna challenge those pardons, you don't wanna do it in

[Dana Goldberg]

front of this Supreme Court. So anyway, thank you so much for joining us, everybody.

[Alison Gill]

Check out Mike Zaks wherever you find and follow your political candidates and see what he's all about. And it's been really nice to meet you face to the name and talk to you today.

[Mike Sachs]

Oh, likewise. This has been a very big pleasure and I hope that those listening found it a little refreshing to hear a political candidate getting down into the weeds of taking on the power and aiming straight at the Death Star.

[Alison Gill]

Well, I was going to bring Scott Jennings on and just have superficial, stupid arguments, but I figured it might be better to have actual people talking about

[Dana Goldberg]

actual policy on the show.

[Alison Gill]

So thank you so much, everybody. Please stick around.

[Dana Goldberg]

We'll be right back with the good news.

[Brian Caram]

I'm Brian Caram and I've spent decades covering politics. Now I'm taking you behind the scenes one interview at a time.

[Dana Goldberg]

Join us as each week Brian confronts

[Mike Sachs]

the issues that matter, posing the questions

[Dana Goldberg]

you wish you could ask. No filter, no agenda, just the truth.

[Brian Caram]

We're not here for sound bites. We're here for substance. Join me, me, Brian Caram, every week as we cut through the noise and get straight to it. This is just ask the Question for curiosity will lead us to the facts.

[Mike Sachs]

Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and remember, when you want answers, all

[Brian Caram]

you have to do is just ask the question.

[Dana Goldberg]

Everybody, welcome back.

[Alison Gill]

It's time for the good news. Who likes good news?

[Dana Goldberg]

Everyone?

[Mike Sachs]

Then good news, everyone.

[Dana Goldberg]

Good news, good news.

[Alison Gill]

All right, if you have any good news or good trouble suggestions, maybe it's a shout out to a loved one

[Dana Goldberg]

or a government program or a self shout out, anything at all that'll bring a smile to our faces. Even if you just want to say hi or thanks, we want to thank you. And so send us all of your Good news to DailyBeansPod.com click on Contact. And all you got to do to get your submission on the air is attach a photo of anything, really. It can be your pet. We can try to guess the breeds in your shelter pup or your cat or your turtle or your cow or your horse. Whatever it is, you can send random animal photos off the Internet. Adoptable pets in your area. We can see if we can help find them a home. You can send photos of what you're making and creating, what you're growing in your garden, what you're crocheting, knitting, painting. Are you writing some music? Do you want everyone to hear about it? Did have you made a tabletop role playing game that you want people to check out? Whatever it is, it can be photos of the last no Kings rally you went to. It can be pictures of you and your friends writing postcards for election season. Whatever it is, send it to us dailybeanspod.com click on contact first up is your Good Trouble. Good Trouble today comes from Anonymous Pronoun she and her Trump's coming to Rockland County Friday in Suffern, New York. People can reserve up to two tickets per phone number. We'll have a link in the show notes. Anonymous says I got my tickets. Don't plan on showing up everybody else. You can reserve your tickets too. We'll have a link in the show notes.

[Alison Gill]

He's coming to Suffern, which I know

[Dana Goldberg]

about because I watched Sex and the City all those years ago and Aiden had a cabin in Suffern, New York. So anyway, reserve your tickets to Rockland County. Trump visit using the link in the show notes. Thank you. Two per phone number. Appreciate that Anonymous.

[Alison Gill]

Wonderful.

[Dana Goldberg]

Good trouble. Next up from Anonymous in Pittsburgh. I think many of us have already seen the clip of the young ladies from Utah trolling Kevin o' Leary for attacking them. They're fighting back against that massive data center project and their video is hilarious. Well, after watching the full clip on YouTube, I realized the one circulating on Blue sky on Instagram is clipped. The end is important because it shows they're wearing hats that parody Kevin's Utah National Security hat to say Utah Nature Security. And they're selling them to help the effort. @utahnaturesecurity.com we'll have a link to the full YouTube video of them in the show notes and including an image of their hat as my tax from the Utah Nature Security website. A proposed 40,000 acre AI data center was approved in rural Utah by a board riddled with undisclosed conflicts of interest. The house speaker owns 25,000 acres nearby. The senator who wrote the enabling law owns land four miles from the site. $135,000 PAC donations to Utah Senate President Stuart Adams PAC seven days post approval, the governor's family owns the fiber roots. These are the documents that you need to fight back and the instructions to use them. So we'll put A link to UtahNatureSecurity.com in the show notes Utah Nature Security. There's the hat. Wonderful. Thank you for that information. Next up, from Emily Pronoun. She and her hello, I have a request. I live in Colorado, born and raised. Please stop saying recall Polis. He's been a wonderful governor. He passed infrastructure legislation, an equal pay mandate, a 2,000 foot perimeter, new oil and gas near homes and schools, paid family leave retirement savings for corporate employees, red flag laws, pardoned nonviolent marijuana convictions, protected abortion access, abolished the death penalty and mandated free full day kindergarten and preschool statewide. He also has a lovely family and leads by example like Obama did. Should he have pardoned Tina Peters? Fuck no. But one has to wonder, wonder why? Why did he do it? It isn't like him. And he said no for a long time. So what's the rest of the story? One poor decision is not the only thing we should judge someone on. There's already so much hate toward him for being gay and a Democrat. So thank you. Please enjoy a photo of my litter mate brother babies George, black and white. Levi, orange. So very orange. And Enzo, AKA Ninja Thunderpaws. Second photo is a Christmas goat I made for the family white elephant. So much love to you both and all the amazing folks behind the scenes. Emily, thank you for that information. I really appreciate it. That was a good one of my favorite lessons from Ted Lasso about being judged on your one bad thing that you've done. But you know, everyone's free to make their own choices, right?

[Alison Gill]

And I have said here on the

[Dana Goldberg]

show that it's important to consider that and consider why was he being pressured?

[Alison Gill]

I still wanted him to come out

[Dana Goldberg]

and say, hey, I'm being extorted by Donald Trump. But again, I am not a Colorado pattern. So I leave it up to you. Emily. Thank you for that beautiful little crocheted. Is that an Axolotl Christmas goat?

[Alison Gill]

It's a goat.

[Dana Goldberg]

You told me. Okay, Christmas goat. Love it. And then, hi kitties. Hello kittens. Oh, I like George. He's very tall. They're all adorable. Orange cats are the best. Enzo's adorable as well. Anyway, thank you so much for this. Really appreciate that. Other side.

[Alison Gill]

Next up from Trisha Pronoun.

[Dana Goldberg]

She and her me at the Mayday protest in Salem, Oregon. Turns out I was the only person who showed up in a costume. And I couldn't see very Well, I got swarmed by a bunch of little kids who seemed to think I was a cartoon character at Disneyland. Ha ha. Adorable.

[Alison Gill]

But I couldn't see.

[Dana Goldberg]

I was afraid I was gonna fall over on one of the kids. So I ditched the inflatable costume. It was still a great day. This rainbow winged unicorn, I believe they're called Pegasus, is absolutely a fantastic inflatable costume. I know Dana would love it. I'll make sure she sees it.

[Alison Gill]

Next up from he Him.

[Dana Goldberg]

Anonymous hello. Fabulous. Let's see. Fab. Say fabique. Queens. I don't know what that word is. It must be Latin for beans. I want to tell you about my favorite band. Many of y' all have heard of Linkin Park. They've been around a while.

[Alison Gill]

We thought they were gone when in

[Dana Goldberg]

2017, Chester Bennington lost his battle with depression in 2024, they made a very vague post with a countdown clock that went to zero and then began counting forward. Sure enough, that was followed by a live event where they introduced a new vocalist, Emily Armstrong, former lead singer of Dead Sarah. She also happens to be a lesbian. A female that has taken a former place of a male vocalist. She makes all the fragile men cry. Lol. This was something new and a major shock to all of us. I was aware of her and feared my fellow fans might have an issue with her as a member of the LGBTQ community, but I should. I should have known better. By and large, they fully embraced her. We call ourselves Lincoln Park Soldiers and not only stand for the band's push for mental health, empathy, and unconditional love, but also women's rights and LGBTQ plus rights. When the people you look up to and admire is hated and othered, it's different than just saying we must respect others. I lived in a red area and grew up in a very conservative Christian community. I was an adult before I knew for sure that I'd met someone of the LGBTQ community. Since then, I've made many friends in the community, and if I can grow and change, then others can too. Also, we as Linkin park fans should now have a second reason to stand up. Chester's son Draven has transitioned and now goes by Violet with she her pronouns. By the way, the band is bigly successful once again. Their new album From Zero debuted at number one in 14 countries, number two in the U.S. but on Billboard, all the songs on the album simultaneously swept to the 1 through 10 spots. The single the Emptiness Machine is already the band's 10th most streamed song, and it's headed to a billion streams on Spotify. Who says women can't lead? Emily fucking Armstrong is one of talented badasses and as fans, we love her as much as we love Chester. I'll leave y' all with this quote from Chester Bennington. One thing can't be defeated is love. You can conquer hate by ignoring it. You can destroy it by loving the person next to you. I want everyone here tonight to look at the person standing next to you and just tell them you love them or you're happy that they're here with you tonight or having a good time listening to music and celebrating life. We don't care what you look like. We don't care where you come from. We don't care what you believe in. We love every single one of you out there and nothing will ever change that. With that said, let's sing some songs together. Now go find your favorite LGBTQ artist and follow them, stream all their music like all their videos, buy some merch, go to their concerts, and bring your family to to my pod Pet tax is a nest of mocking bird chicks in our rose bush. Oh, hi little baby birds. That's a wonderful submission. Thank you for that. Thank you for that. Anonymous all right, next up for Mia pronouns, she and her hi ladies. I was wondering about Shitler's $1.776 billion huge, huge ripoff. Could individuals or class actions apply for reimbursement from the fund for the for the damage the Biden administration did by failing to justly prosecute and imprison President Douchebagus Maximus in a timely manner?

[Alison Gill]

The mental, emotional, physical, financial, patriotic and

[Dana Goldberg]

ideological damage has resulted from the pus bags. Administration is huge. Is there a way to tie that all up in court with pro bono hero lawyers?

[Alison Gill]

Can we just inundate the disbursement committee

[Dana Goldberg]

with claims for the failure of Merrick Garland to do his job in an apolitical manner? His not wanting to prosecute dumps crimes because it would look political actually makes it political. They should make it a valid claim. What do you think? I leave you with random baby miniature horse from the Internet. Oh my God, I love the miniature horse. Mia anyone can file a claim to this $1.7 billion slush fund. I have filed a claim. I'm gonna show you my claim over on Beans Talk. However, Merrick Garland didn't fail to prosecute Donald Trump. He indicted him twice. He had two trials ready to go well before the election. It was the Supreme Court court that stopped them. Merrick Garland never said he wanted to not look political. He never said that he started actually investigating Trump. We have new reporting, more recent reporting from the New York Times. He started investigating Trump In June of 2021, just a month and a half after he got there. He did a bunch of work. I think he should have appointed a special counsel sooner and I think he should have come out and told us what he was doing. He was a little too quiet. Quiet. In fact, he was just quiet. He didn't say really anything. However, they did have a trial for January 6th. It was supposed to be in March of 2024 and the Supreme Court stopped it. So I like to blame the Supreme Court for that because no matter who the attorney general was or when Trump was indicted for January 6, the Supreme Court was never going to let him go to trial for that. Just some food for thought. But yeah, yeah, you can file a claim. Apparently child molesters can file a claim. If that's the case, if people who

[Alison Gill]

beat cops on January 6 can file

[Dana Goldberg]

a claim, as Todd Blanche said, you can certainly file a claim for whatever you want. Now, we're not going to get it, obviously, but I would like to inundate them with claims just to make their lives miserable. So thank you for that.

[Alison Gill]

Next up, Dusty Pronoun. She and her Good morning queens of the beans.

[Dana Goldberg]

I'm currently out of commission for protests as I did the cliche old woman thing and took a fall this spring. My right side is pretty funky, but I'm healing. I'm hoping the retina reattaching surgery is the end of corrections. I am in full PTSD reaction with all this news, especially our country being put into absolute financial ruin. Are they done yet or are there more surprises to come? Dusty, I'm afraid they're not done yet. Last week I got a visit on my balcony. This red tailed hawk is immense and had no fear of my approach. Also, also one more photo of my driving partner on the bunk in the truck. Thanks for your delivery of the news. The cursing lets me know I'm not the only very angry person out here. Oh, the red tailed hawk is beautiful. Is it? Did you say red tailed hawk? Duh duh duh duh duh.

[Mike Sachs]

Duh.

[Dana Goldberg]

Red tailed hawk.

[Alison Gill]

Yeah.

[Dana Goldberg]

Now we've got a red shouldered hawk that hangs out in my backyard and he will let you get pretty close before he flies away. Okay, the dog again. I remember this. I remember this dog frog. Absolutely adorable. Thank you for that everybody. Thank you so much for your good news. Please send it all to us dailybeanspot.com click on contact. I'm going to tell you about my

[Alison Gill]

claim for the 1.776 billion dollar slush

[Dana Goldberg]

fund over on Beans Talk and I'll be back in your ears here tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourself, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family. I've been ag and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive

[Alison Gill]

produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com MSW Media.

[Amanda Sturgill]

It's no surprise that newsmakers try to manipulate the audience. They want you to believe that they are the one holding the line, and they'll use any trick they can to get you there.

[Dana Goldberg]

But don't let them fool you.

[Amanda Sturgill]

Get Unspun I'm Amanda Sturgill. I've been a reporter and today I teach future reporters to cut the spin and think critically about what newsmakers say. My podcast, Unspun, shows you how to know when you're being manipulated by the news, learn to spot the tricks, and how to make up your own mind about what's true. So if you're tired of being fooled by the news, subscribe to Unspun today. Unspun because you deserve the truth.