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Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 Today, Judge Xinis orders expedited discovery in the contempt proceedings for the Abrego Garcia case; a whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data; a top Kegseth advisor was escorted out of the Pentagon after an investigation into agency leaks; a University of Columbia student was arrested by ICE AT his citizenship appointment; a federal judge has blocked Trump from revoking legal status of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela; Harvard stands up to the Trump regime and is hit with a freeze of $2B in federal funding; the Ninth Circuit appears poised to dismiss Trump’s motion to vacate the restraining order preventing trump from defunding lawyers assisting unaccompanied children; dozens of Democrats are seeking to join Senator Van Hollen in a congressional delegation to El Salvador; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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- [00:00]
Alison Gill
MSW Media hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Today, Judge Sinis orders expedited discovery in the contempt proceedings in the Abrego Garcia case. A whistleblower's disclosure details how Doge may have taken sensitive labor data. A top KEGSETH advisor was escorted out of the Pentagon after an investigation into agency leaks. A University of Columbia student was arrested by ICE at his citizenship appointment. A federal judge has blocked Trump from revoking legal status of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Harvard stands up to Trump and is hit with a freeze of $2 billion in federal funding. The 9th Circuit appears a poised to dismiss Trump's motion to vacate the restraining order preventing Trump from defunding lawyers that are assisting unaccompanied children. And dozens of Democrats are seeking to join Senator Van Hollen in a congressional delegation to El Salvador. I'm Alison Gill.
- [01:17]
Dana Goldberg
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
- [01:23]
Alison Gill
Hello, my friend. Happy taint of the week to you.
- [01:25]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, and to you as well. We are getting through another one. Before we get into all the crazy news, I just want to let everyone know if you're in the LA area or around the LA area. I'm performing this Saturday at the Regent Theater. It's not my long show but I'm opening up for another incredible comedian named Gina Yashere. She was on Bob Havishola, several other things, Star Trek and she lost her house in the Altadena fire. So if you want a good laugh and you want to support an incredible human being, go get a ticket. There's still a few left. You can go to my website, danagoldberg.com hit appearances. It's the first option. It's the first show listed. So I'd love to see you there this Saturday, the Regent Theater in Los Angeles.
- [02:05]
Alison Gill
Yeah. Hell yeah. Like we said with Paula Poundstone, get out there. Go support. Get out there live comedy. Be be amongst like minded people and laugh for a little bit. I have a correction from yesterday's show. My mom. Hi mom, who I don't think ever listens to the show, somehow heard it yesterday or somebody told her about it and wanted me to point out that she is not in fact 80 years old yet. She is 78. Oh my God. She called me to tell me and so I wanted to pass that along. Love you, mom.
- [02:41]
Dana Goldberg
I love that one of my comedy shows years and years and years ago, I shouldn't say that it was last year. So that way I don't age. I told all these jokes about sex toys and love and all the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And my mom comes up to me, she goes, dana, that was a fantastic show. But did you have to say I was 67 on stage? I think it just runs in the blood of our mothers.
- [03:02]
Alison Gill
It does. Sex toy jokes, fine. Totally fine.
- [03:05]
Dana Goldberg
But, yeah, not that. Not that. Don't out me on stage. How dare you?
- [03:09]
Alison Gill
So, yeah, happy belated birthday to my mom who did not turn 80 this past February. Thank you. It's like when I was like, you're. You're 50. You're like, no, I am 49.
- [03:22]
Dana Goldberg
How dare you?
- [03:23]
Alison Gill
How dare you? Also, Trump announced today tariff bailouts for farmers now, so we can add that to the exemptions for microchips and semiconductors and iPhones and cars and laptops. I mean, why not aim first and then shoot?
- [03:39]
Dana Goldberg
That's not what they do. Because that's not what they do.
- [03:42]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And, and I've heard five small businesses are actually suing the administration. Like people who. Small businesses rely on imports, like a pipe fitting company and stuff like that. Good for them. I hope, absolutely hope. There's more of that aoc, who's just killing it. She just pulled a massive fundraising hall. She got $10 million in three months, y'all. Nice. She smashed her own fundraising record and she's a big fundraiser. So brilliant. I don't know why she isn't in more party leadership positions. She can, she can raise money and so hats off to her. And what, like, God, 20,000 people in Utah or something with the Stop the Oligarchs tour.
- [04:24]
Dana Goldberg
Amazing. And I just want to repeat, no matter what you think about, Listen, and I know this is. Don't write in. But people have polarized views of Bernie Sanders. But no matter what you think of him, you know when people are being like, I can't believe that he's going to try and run again. No, Bernie is doing this so someone can run again in the next presidential election. There's no. I would put my beans that he will not throw his hat in the ring. He knows that it's. It's past his time.
- [04:52]
Alison Gill
Yeah, he said that on a. I think maybe it was a 60 Minutes review. Somebody. Jonathan, Carl, actually, I think is who it was. He's like, are you going to run again? He's like, I'm not going to answer these ridiculous questions. I'm 83 years old. You know, like, he. Do you think AOC is going to run for Senate? Stop. Do you want, do you want to talk about the oligarchy? Do you Want to talk about the top 1/10 of 1% or do you want to ask me stupid questions? It was, it was pretty fantastic. Yeah.
- [05:18]
Dana Goldberg
He gets fired up, but the crowds that they are bringing in, the people are pissed and they want to have someone to help rally them. So I'm glad that people are showing up for these things.
- [05:29]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And again, no matter how you feel about Bernie, because he's, from what I can tell, passing the torch here for the Progressive Caucus to aoc, and so I think that's awesome.
- [05:42]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, I do, too. And I should say, no matter what you think about AOC too, because I'm sure not everyone has the same opinion. So I don't want to just single out Bernie. But I like her. I do. And I'm glad she's being vocal and the things she's saying at these rallies are true. And she's holding Trump to the fire. And I like to see it. I, I like to see it a lot.
- [06:00]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And, and, you know, hats off to all y'all. This is because of us. This is because of the people yelling, do something, please. Where's the leadership, you know, that caused. Tim Walls was the first person to be like, well, I'm going to go out and do town halls in red districts. And then AOC and Bernie set up their Stop the Oligarchs tour. And then now we've got. We're going to talk about this in a minute. At least a dozen Democrats in Congress that want to go, you know, take a congressional delegation down to El Salvador. We got Cory Booker doing his record breaking Senate floor speech. So they're, they, they hear us. So we have to keep, keep yelling so somebody, somebody says, stop yelling at the Dems. We're not, we're just trying to push our leaders to do better. And they are. And that's what is great about this party. So that's all I just wanted to say. All right, we have a lot of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. An update on the Abrego Garcia case. So there was a hearing Today on Tuesday, April 15, on Tax Day in the courtroom. First of all, we learned thanks to Roger Parloff at Lawfare, that her name, the judge is pronounced C Knees. Like, see with your eyes and your knees.
- [07:13]
Dana Goldberg
Okay, C. Knees.
- [07:14]
Alison Gill
Judge Sinis. And he directly asked a clerk for the judge. Hey, we're all wondering. I've been saying Jinnis or Sinis, but it's Sinis. So the judge said today, she just. A couple of quick Quotes. I'll remind everyone here that there are no business hours in this court. It'll be two weeks of intense discovery. And this is in response to. We know Abrego Garcia has filed a motion for contempt. Show cause. Right. And has filed a motion for expedited discovery. And today the jud was responding to the motion for expedited discovery, and she granted it. The Trump administration wanted to appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court. The motion for discovery and the discovery is to find out whether or not they are complying with the Supreme Court and Judge C's order about, you know, hey, answer my three questions. Where is he? What are you doing to bring him back? And what are you going to do to bring him back? Like, how. How are you facilitating his return? The government drew Ensign, or Ensign said, hey, we've provided that information. Did you see the press conference in the Oval Office?
- [08:25]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, dear.
- [08:26]
Alison Gill
Judge Sinis is like, yeah, I saw it. There was nothing in there. There was nothing, nothing in there to facilitate his return.
- [08:32]
Dana Goldberg
And I just want to point out, first of all, he lied about Abrego Garcia in that Oval Office. He's not a terrorist. He's never been proven to be a terrorist. He has no legal record. He has no criminal record. And Trump, I, I do believe put made him say those things. That's the only way. And I just want to point out, they're like, how, how are we supposed to get him back here? You took a plane from El Salvador to get to the Oval Office. You could have put him on it, right?
- [09:00]
Alison Gill
Well, no, I can't smuggle somebody back into the United States. And the judge pointed that out. If you, if, if, when the government said we should use the transcript of the Oval Office press conference, the judge is like, well, if you need to smuggle him back in, that means that the government and Trump are not removing obstacles, which is the definition of facilitate in the eyes of what the Supreme Court said. So, you know, she was like, no, we're not going to appeal this to the Supreme Court. Every single day that Abrego Garcia remains in cecoat, he suffers irreparable harm. So we're going to do fast discovery. I'm granting the motion for discovery. We're going to do it in two weeks. And in that two weeks, they are going to do depositions of four, up to six people from the Trump administration, definitely the four people who filed declarations in this case that said nothing. And then they can pick two more if they want. They're going to do requests for Information. Right. Like interrogatories, they're called, that can do up to 15.
- [10:00]
Dana Goldberg
Okay.
- [10:00]
Alison Gill
And they're going to do all of this discovery of documents and things in two weeks. That is insanely fast. Discovery, including depositions, usually takes months and months. So she's doing it. She's doing it in an expedited manner. And then she says, after that, I will think about the contempt motion, which is what a bro Garcia, the show cause motion, filed a couple other quick notes. Enson said if Garcia presented at a point of entry, there'd be a declaration that said he'd be removed to a third country or back to El Salvador after the withholding of removal was removed. Because back in 2019, he was ordered removed and then he got a withholding of removal order which allowed him to stay in the United States. And so if he had gotten his due process and was deported, you know, by the law with due process, they could have set, you know, argued that they rescinded his withholding document. The thing that kept him there, they. We could rescind that by saying he is a member of MS.13 and then sent him to a different country, any country, but El Salvador would have been legal. And so. And then the government tried to say, well, because we said that today, that should count as what we're doing to bring him back home. She's like, that's not how you bring someone back home. And so they said, yeah, we're going to do that. And so she's like, have you done it? Have you brought him back? Because if you haven't, that. And then you're being speculative. The Supreme Court has spoken. There is, in my view, nothing to appeal. So in my view, she said, we do discovery. She said, I keep going back to what SCOTUS said was squarely in my power. And my view that you have not fulfilled the mandate that I've issued. Discovery will bear that out because the affidavits you've submitted are insufficient. Depositions will be compelled and completed by Wednesday, April 23. Those are the interviews. And she said, because they were like, well, we don't know who's going to be deposed yet, and we don't know if they'll be available. And she says, quit it. Cancel vacations, cancel appointments. I'm usually pretty, you know, good about that kind of thing, but not this time. So that's what she said. Oh, and by the way, also this afternoon, the Trump administration has fired Rouveni, the original lawyer on this, because, remember, he admitted.
- [12:25]
Dana Goldberg
Yep.
- [12:26]
Alison Gill
That. That it was illegal To. To do what they did with Abrego Garcia.
- [12:30]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah. My goodness. All right, Allison, thank you. This one's from Axios. And I like to see this. Two members of House Democratic leadership, this is Robert Garcia and Maxwell Frost, who are both fantastic, are trying to send an official congressional delegation to El Salvadorian prison where, as we know, Donald administration is sending deportees. Dozens of House Democrats have privately expressed interest in participating in such a trip to protest the Trump administration's deportation policies. This is what have told Axios. But while lawmakers could travel to the Central American country informally, Jim Comer's approval is needed to send an official congressional delegation, which would provide the members with crucial oversight powers and security resources. That's going to be harder to get. The letter comes after Senator Chris Van Hollen, he's the Democrat from Maryland, requested a meeting with El Salvadorian President Bukele to discuss the return of Abrego Garcia. And as we know, he's a Maryland resident. Now, Van Hollen said he plans to travel to El Salvador this week if Obrego Garcia is not sent back to the United States, which Blue Kelly and Trump have refused to do to this point. Senator Cory Booker. He also is looking to lead a trip to the country and is still trying to iron out details of timing and who's going to join. Multiple sources familiar. This is what they're telling Axios. So, you know, there's something about going over there, but how much access are they going to give them to this prison? Because Bukele I know, doesn't want anyone in there, so.
- [13:59]
Alison Gill
Yeah, except for Kristi Gnome. So she can pose and.
- [14:01]
Dana Goldberg
Exactly. With her Rolex and her gun and her.
- [14:04]
Alison Gill
Yeah, her $50,000 Rolex or whatever. Yeah, exactly. LARP. LARPing as an ICE agent. Good for them. This is, this is excellent. I doubt Jim Comer is going to grant them a congressional delegation, but they can go without one. But like you said, the congressional delegation affords them more oversight and gives them some security. Next up from npr. According to an official whistleblower disclosure shared with Congress and other federal overseers that was obtained by npr, subsequent interviews with the whistleblower and records of internal communications. According to all that, technical staff members at the National Labor Relations Board were alarmed about what Doge engineers did when they were granted access to the internal NLRB systems, particularly when those staffers noticed a spike in data leaving the agency. It's possible that the data included sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases and corporate secrets. Data that four labor law experts told NPR should almost never leave the nlrb. And that has nothing to do with making the government more efficient or cutting spending. Members of the DOGE team asked that their activities not be logged on the system and then appeared to try to cover their tracks behind them, turning off monitoring tools and manually deleting records of their access. Now this is fascinating because an interview I did back in January or February with that expert that got into the DNS servers of OPM.com saw the exact same thing.
- [15:42]
Dana Goldberg
Wow.
- [15:43]
Alison Gill
Employees grew concerned that the NLRB's confidential data could be exposed, particularly after they started detecting suspicious login attempts from an IP address in Russia.
- [15:53]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, look at that. All roads lead back.
- [15:56]
Alison Gill
And that was also in the interview I did months ago with this expert. So if you haven't heard that interview, it's on my sub stack. It's from a couple months ago, so you might have to scroll back. And I'm going to go further into this in a special B block today about the things to look for in the NPR reporting. So stick around for that after we get through with the hot notes.
- [16:19]
Dana Goldberg
All right, thanks so much. This is from the Harvard Crimson. And Harvard has given off Maine governor energy. And I love it. The Trump administration paused $2.2 billion in multi year grants and 60 million in multi year contracts to Harvard over its decision earlier today to reject the White House's demands. The this is a dramatic escalation in its crusade against the university. The move came just hours after Harvard President Alan Garber, I guess in the year of 1976 he graduated, issued a resounding rebuke of the Trump administration's demands, calling them coercive and beyond federal authority. Top Harvard administrators, they've told affiliates in private before the funding review was announced that they would not be opposed to leading a battle against the White House in certain cases. A Harvard spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment or whether the university was considering filing a lawsuit. Every time this happens, though, if this happened in mass, it would be a beautiful thing. I love that people are standing up and fighting back, whether it's the governor of Maine, whether it's Harvard University, for them to look at them and say, go fuck you and fuck your federal funding. It's a pretty beautiful thing.
- [17:32]
Alison Gill
It is. We saw it with a couple, a handful of law firms that didn't capitulate to Trump. And after Harvard stood up, MIT did, Cornell did. So it's a permission structure. Right. It's giving permission to stand up against Trump when you do it and really appreciate that all Right. Next up, you'll recall on April 3rd, we reported here on the Daily Beans that the Amica center for Immigration sued to block the Trump administration from cutting off funding for immigration support for unaccompanied minors. Right. Lawyers for unaccompanied minors. And a couple of days we had Michael Lukens from the Amica center for Immigration Rights on the show that was on Monday's Beans to discuss this case where it's at and Trump's appeal to the ninth Circuit. Well, today the ninth Circuit said, quote, the district court's temporary restraining order may not be appealable, meaning, Trump, you probably can't appeal this shit. It's still a temporary restraining order. That's how you paraphrase that. And then said no later than 5pm Pacific on April 16th. That's today. The appellants must file a statement explaining why I shouldn't dismiss your appeal. So, great news there. We'll keep you posted. I love this. Imagine wanting to take away legal representation for unaccompanied minors.
- [18:49]
Dana Goldberg
Just like, what the fuck, assholes. I don't know how else to say it. Yep. All right, everyone, this one's from the Guardian. One of the US Defense Secretary Pete Kegseth's leading advisors, Dan Caldwell, was reportedly put on leave and removed from the Pentagon on Tuesday following a Department of Defense investigation into leaks. Caldwell was escorted out of the Pentagon after being identified during the investigation and subsequently placed on administrative leave for a, quote, an unauthorized disclosure. This is what sources told Reuters. Now, Caldwell has played a significant role in Cagseth's advisor, with the Defense Secretary naming him as the best staff point of contact for the National Security Council as it prepared for the launch of the strikes against the Houthis in Yemen in that leaked signal chat published by the Atlantic last month.
- [19:41]
Alison Gill
Oh, I wonder if it was him. Yeah, yeah. So I wonder if they're doing polygraphs. Guardian said, Reuters said both said that they don't know if he was subject to a polygraph test or not, but this guy is. Worked with Hegseth, remember during the confirmation hearings, Hegseth ran a group called Concerned Veterans of America, and he was always drunk and had to be carried out of Concerned Veterans for America events, you know, just for being super shit faced. Well, I guess Caldwell worked with him at Concerned Veterans for America. So this is, this is a Kegsef pal. But apparently they probably strapped him down, gave him a polygraph, which he failed, and they fired him.
- [20:25]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, that sounds about right because they.
- [20:27]
Alison Gill
Probably think he leaked this, the signal stuff, or at Least some of the information about it. Because we know how the signal stuff got out. It's because Jeffrey Goldberg was added to the signal chat. So it's not, it's not like somebody leaked it.
- [20:44]
Dana Goldberg
Exactly. They that up all on their own.
- [20:47]
Alison Gill
Yeah. This just sounds like could be either a setup to. For a fall guy so that they could say they could put the signal chat thing to bed once and for all. But, you know, I don't know. Maybe they blame Caldwell for putting. Making a taking. Maybe. Maybe he took. Maybe he got Mike Waltz drunk and then when he was passed out, he drew a dick on his face and then also used his phone to add Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat. I don't know. I don't know, but we'll see. Next up from the Times motion Madawi, that's an organizer of pro Palestinian demonstrations last year at Columbia University, was detained by immigration officials on Monday after arriving for an appointment in Vermont that was a step toward becoming a US Citizen. It was a citizenship hearing. Not a hearing, but a, you know, they're called hearings, but it's like you and somebody from immigration and you sit down. So he was about to become a US Citizen. Hours later, Madawi's mother, older sister, and lawyers were scrambling to find him after his abrupt detention at an immigration center in Colchester, Vermont. His lawyers requested a temporary restraining order to prevent federal officials from transferring him to a more conservative jurisdiction like Louisiana or Texas, a tactic used in the detention and attempted deportation of at least four other college demonstrators. They want to move them to Texas so they can get 5th Circuit or Louisiana. So they can get 5th Circuit.
- [22:09]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
- [22:09]
Alison Gill
A Vermont federal judge, William Sessions III, swiftly granted that restraining order, ordering that Madawi, an outspoken critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, not be removed from the United States or transferred out of Vermont until he orders otherwise. His lawyers said that as of Monday afternoon, they had confirmed that he was still in Vermont, but they fucking picked him up at his citizenship.
- [22:33]
Dana Goldberg
That's really gross because they can probably get a list of people that are doing this and just go in and interrupt these proceedings. It's just the cruelty is the point.
- [22:42]
Alison Gill
Yeah. To, to, to be like, oh, well, we're just going to invade everybody's citizenship. Like, before they get granted citizenship, we're just going to go snatch them.
- [22:49]
Dana Goldberg
Like, basically, that's it.
- [22:52]
Alison Gill
Sick.
- [22:53]
Dana Goldberg
Yep. Now we do have some good news. Thank God. This is from cbs. The Trump administration, it can't immediately revoke the deportation protections and work permits of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, all who entered the US Legally under Biden era program. This is what a federal judge ruled on Monday. U.S. district Judge Indira Talwani blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with its plan to terminate the legal status of those minorities on April 24. The administration had warned those affected by its announcement that they would need to self deport by that date or face arrest and deportation by federal immigration agents. But Talwani suspended the deportation warnings the government had sent and prohibited officials from revoking the legal protection known as immigration parole that the Biden administration granted to more than a half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Now, Talwani said that mass parole terminations could not happen without each case being reviewed, which is a beautiful thing. Stop out of it.
- [24:00]
Alison Gill
You mean due process?
- [24:01]
Dana Goldberg
Yep, that's exactly what that is.
- [24:04]
Alison Gill
Oh, wow. Due process.
- [24:06]
Dana Goldberg
Imagine the Constitution actually mattering.
- [24:08]
Alison Gill
Oh, that's weird. These judges all want their due process all the time. I can't figure it out. Anyway, thank you so much for that. That is some good news. I'm very glad to hear that. It was like 900, 000 people and people. There were people getting that shit by mistake because Doge is dumb and they were fucking sent. They probably got the wrong data set. So this is good news. All right, everybody, it's time for some good trouble. What are you guys doing? All right, first, I just wanted to congratulate each and every one of you listening to this program. You did it again. Your good trouble broke the DHS ICE tip line. Listen to what happened when I tried to call it this morning. And it, by the way, I tried like 20 times and it was fast, busy, fast, busy. Call failed. Call failed. Call failed. Call failed. And then finally, when I got through, this is what they had to say. Play the clip. You have reached the Homeland Security Investigations tip line. If you have a life or death emergency, please hang up and dial 91 1. Your information is very important to us. We are currently experiencing a higher call volume than normal. If you are receiving this message, please submit your information using the HSI tipline web tip form located at www.ice.gov tips so well done. Thank you very much. This is, I think, at least the fourth or fifth super successful Good Trouble bid that we've had here on the Daily Bean. So I appreciate you. So we can do this again today, right? Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is in partnership with our good friends at ALT fda. And if you're not familiar with the ALTGOV accounts, they're awesome. Alt State Alt National Park Service Alt FDA alt cdc. This is alt fda. The Department of Health and Human Services wants you to call and snitch on your neighbors who provide gender affirming care for their kids. Or as the Trump regime puts it on the HHS website, use this form to report a tip or complaint related to the chemical and surgical mutilation of children. So we have a link in the show notes to the online submission form. Please fill it out. Do not use your real details or you can call 1-800-HHS-TIPS. That's 1-800-447-8477. We I think this star 67 doesn't work. So you know, good just to caution use at your own peril. But blow it up. Let's blow it up. Let's fill out that online submission form and crash it again. I really appreciate you guys and congrats on taking down the DHS ICE tip line.
- [26:51]
Dana Goldberg
That's well done. I love our people.
- [26:53]
Alison Gill
So amazing. Y'all did it. All right, everybody stick around. We'll be back with a special B block. I'm going to give you more information on that NPR reporting about what Doge is doing exfiltrating data from the National Labor Relations Board. And then we'll have the good news. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
- [27:10]
Dana Goldberg
We'll be right back.
- [27:13]
Alison Gill
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Use Daily Beans to save. Today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions apply. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. All right. I have a special story here. This is from npr. It's in addition to the very long reporting that they put out earlier today on Tuesday. And this is a story about five takeaways about NPR's reporting on the whistleblower report about Doge and the National Labor Relations Board. So this comes from Morning Edition. Jenna McLaughlin, when a team of advisors from President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency Initiative arrived at the headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board, it employees at the small independent agency quickly became worried. According to a whistleblower declaration filed with Congress and shared with npr, the NLRB investigates and adjudicates complaints about unfair labor practices. Its databases store reams of potentially sensitive data, from confidential information about employees who want to form unions to proprietary business information. And I'm going to cut in here because we also know that DOGE seemingly at least we don't have a, you know, hard evidence of this, but they broke into the payment systems, and we do have evidence that they stopped allowing people to automatically deduct union dues from their government paychecks. So they are really attacking unions here. All right. Back to the story. The DOGE employees, who were effectively led by White House advisor and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, appeared to set their sights on accessing the NLRB's internal systems, removing sensitive data and covering their tracks. And this is a quote. I cannot attest to what their end goal was or what they were doing with the data, said the whistleblower. That's Daniel Baroulis, and he said this in an interview with npr. But I can tell you that the bits of the puzzle that I can quantify are scary. This is a very bad picture. We're looking at Tim Beerse, the NLRB's acting press secretary, denied that agency granted Doge access to its systems and said DOGE had not requested access to the AGENC systems. Baris said the agency conducted an investigation after Baroulis raised his concerns, but quote, determined that no breach of agency systems had occurred. Notwithstanding the NLRB's denial, the whistleblower's disclosure to Congress and other federal overseers provides evidence of Doge's access and the activities. NPR's reporting across the federal government also makes it clear that Doge's access to data is a widespread concern. A representative for DOGE did not respond to requests for comment, and Here are the five takeaways from NPR's report. Doge appeared to ignore standard security practices Baroulis said he was told by colleagues that Doge employees demanded the highest level of access what are called tenant owner level accounts inside the independent agency's computer systems. Those offer essentially unrestricted permissions to read, copy and alter data, and that's according to Baroulas's disclosure to Congress. Now, when an IT staffer suggested a streamlined process to activate those accounts in a way that would let their activities be tracked in accordance with NLRB security policies, the IT staffers were told to stay out of Doge's way. That's what IT says in the disclosure. For cybersecurity professionals, a failure to log activity is a cardinal sin and contradicts best practices. Quote that was a huge red flag, said Baroulis. That's something that you don't just do. It violates every core concept of security and best practice. According to the disclosure, someone had disabled controls that would prevent insecure or unauthorized mobile devices from logging onto the system without the proper security settings, there was an interface exposed to the public Internet, potentially allowing malicious actors to access their systems. Internal alerting and monitoring systems were found to be manually turned off. Multi factor authentication was disabled. Baroulis tracked sensitive data, leaving the agency's NXGen Next Gen case management system's nucleus inside the NLRB system. Then he saw a large spike in outbound traffic leaving the network itself. That kind of spike is extremely unusual, he explained in the disclosure, because data almost never directly leaves from the NLRB's databases. Quote if he didn't know the backstory, any chief information security officer worth his salt would look at a network activity like this and assume it's a nation state attacking from China or Russia. That's what Jake Braun said, a former White House cyber official. In fact, in the minutes after Doge accessed the NLRB's systems. Someone with an IP address in Russia started trying to log in. According to Baroulis's disclosure, those attempts were blocked, but they were especially alarming. Whoever was attempting to log in was using one of the newly created DOGE accounts and the person had the correct username and password. According to Baroulas, the NLRB's data is extremely sensitive and has little to do with doge's cost cutting mission. That's number two here in the five takeaways. Doge's intentions with regard to NLRB data remain unclear. Many of the systems DOGE embedded itself in across the rest of the government have payment or employment data information that DOGE could use to evaluate which grants and programs to halt and whom to fire. But the next gen case management system at NLRB is very different. It houses information about ongoing contested labor cases, lists of union activists, internal case notes, personal information from Social Security numbers to home addresses, proprietary corporate data and more information that never get published openly. Access to that data is protected by numerous federal laws, including the Privacy Act. Quote, there is nothing that I can see about what DOGE is doing that follows any of the standard procedures for how you do an audit that has integrity and that's meaningful and will actually produce results that serve the normal auditing function, which is to look for fraud, waste and abuse. That's what Sharon Block said, the executive director of Harvard Law School center for labor and Just Economy and a former NLRB board member. Next up, number three. Elon Musk's businesses are the subject of NLRB investigations. Ding, ding, ding. There are multiple ongoing cases involving the NLRB and companies controlled by Elon Musk after a group of former SpaceX employees lodged a complaint with the NLRB. Lawyers representing SpaceX, some of whom were recently hired into government jobs, filed a lawsuit against the nlrb. They argued that the agency's structure is unconstitutional. Trump and Musk during an interview with Fox News, Sean Hannity said Musk would recuse himself from anything involving his companies. Quote I haven't asked the President for anything ever, he said. I'm getting a sort of daily proctology exam here. You know, it's not like I'll be getting away with something in the dead of night. However, Doge has been granted high level access to a lot of data that could benefit Elon Musk, and there has been no evidence of a firewall preventing misuse of that data. Quote it's not that he's a random person who's getting information that a random person shouldn't have access to. That's what Harvard Law's Block said. But if they really did get everything, then he has information about the cases the government is building against him. Doge is, whether they admit it or not, headed by somebody who is the subject of active investigation and prosecution of cases. It's incredibly troubling, she says. Number four, Doge has a pattern of seeking sensitive data and not protecting it. In over a dozen lawsuits in federal courts around the United States, judges have demanded that Doge explain why it needs such expansive access to sensitive data on Americans, from Social Security records to private medical records and tax information. But the Trump administration has been unable to give consistent and clear answers, largely dismissing cybersecurity and privacy concerns. The Trump administration could be trying to codify Dodge's practices into how the government shares information. That's Kel McClanahan, the executive director of nonprofit public interest law firm National Security Counselors, who is representing federal employees in a lawsuit concerning the Office of Personnel Management's use of a private email server. Full disclosure Kel McClanahan is our lawyer in our lawsuit against Doge for Freedom of Information act request violations. Weeks after Doge staffers descended on federal buildings across D.C. trump issued an executive order urging increased data sharing by eliminating information silos in what is seen by experts like McClanahan as an attempt to give Doge engineers further top cover in accessing and amalgamating sensitive federal data despite laws concerning privacy and cybersecurity. Quote, the entire reason we have a privacy act is that Congress realized 50 years ago that the federal government was just overflowing with information about normal, everyday people and needed some guardrails in place. That's what McClanahan told NPR. The information silos are there for a reason, he continued. And finally, labor experts fear the release of this data could hurt organized labor. Yeah, accessing the next gen data would make it easier for companies to fire employees for union organizing or keep blacklists of organizers illegal activities, by the way, under the federal labor laws enforced by the nlrb. But quote, people get fired in this country all the time for the lawful act of trying to organize a union, said Block. Now, having a list of key organizers and potential members of a union would make that easier, as would having a copy of the opposing counsel's notes. As companies prepare for legal challenges, it's not just the employees who might suffer if this data got out. Companies also sometimes provide detailed statements on internal business planning and corporate structures in the midst of unfair labor practice complaint proceedings. If a company was attempting to fire someone who it alleged had disclosed trade secrets and was fighting an unfair labor practice complaint based around that decision. Those trade secrets might come up in NLRB's investigation. That information would be very valuable to competitors, regulators and others. So let's say Ford had some sort of a a trade secret dispute before the National Labor Relations Board about electric cars. I wonder if that would come in handy for Elon Musk. Overall, the potential exposure of the NLRB's data could have serious implications. And here's a quote I think it's very concerning. That's what University of California Berkeley labor scholar Harley Shaken said and went on to say it could result in damage to individual workers, to union organizing campaigns, and to unions themselves. You can check all this reporting out, including the full report@npr.org thank you so much everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. This podcast is sponsored by Peak Peaks Radiant Skin Duo combines Sun Goddess Matcha and BT Fountain electrolytes for the ultimate in beauty and wellness. This powerful duo supports glowing, hydrated skin while boosting energy, gut health and Overall Vitality. Get 20% off on the Radiant Skin Duo plus a free starter kit at PeakLife.com DailyBeans so for years I dealt with uneven skin tone, low energy, fine lines and wrinkles, no matter how much I tried to fix it. But then I found the Radiant Skin Duo from Peak Life. It has been a game changer. The dynamic duo Sun Goddess Matcha and BT Fountain has given me the glowing skin and lasting energy I've always wanted. So the BT Fountain is my secret to hydrated youthful skin. With clinically proven ceramides, it reduces the fine lines and wrinkles while keeping my skin soft and supple. It's vegan, no added sugar, no artificial ingredients. So I know I'm putting only the best ingredients into my body and the Sun Goddess Matcha. It's unlike any matcha I've ever tried. It's packed with L theanine for calm focus and EGCG antioxidants that firm and brighten my skin. It also supports gut health, which I love. It's helped reduce bloating and helped my digestion. And together, these two products work wonders. They protect my skin, strengthen its barrier and keep it deeply hydrated for that lit from within glow. The pre measured sachets make it easy to stay consistent. Just dissolve in hot or cold water. So if you're looking for a simple way to elevate your skin and energy, the Radiant Skin Duo is it ready to transform your routine. Right now you can get 20% off the radiant Skin Duo, plus a free starter kit, which includes a rechargeable frother and a glass beaker. With my exclusive link, it's peaklife.comdailybeans that's P I Q U E life.com dailybeans don't miss out. Glow naturally into 2025 while supplies last. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. And if you have any good news confessions corrections. You want to give a shout out to somebody that you love, whether it's, you know, your spouse, a kid, a parent, yourself, Right? We love self shout outs.
- [41:55]
Dana Goldberg
We sure do.
- [41:56]
Alison Gill
A small business in your area that could use a boost. Your small business let us know what you're making or creating. We love to hear about that. And also we do shout outs to government programs that have helped you or a loved one. Whether it's Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, Section 8, great VA health care, something from the PACT Act. And of course if you have any student debt forgiveness stories we want to hear, even if it happened a year and a half ago, we want to hear about this. Those if you haven't sent them in yet, all you got to do to get your submission read on the air is pay your POD pet tax, which means one Attach a photo of your pet. If you want us to guess the breeds, include the breeds. Number two if you don't have that an adoptable pet in your area, you can attach that. We'll see if we can find him a forever home number. 3. Bird watching photos which can be an actual bird or you and your family and friends flipping the bird to Trump and Musk Properties. Or anybody else. I mean, maybe Daryl Isaac, maybe you're flipping off Daryl Isa at the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. That's not even in his district where he charged $2,500 a plat. Dickhead. Any bird watching photo we love. We love to see those. And if you don't have that baby pictures, please send in your baby pictures. Do it all daily beanspod.com click on contact a correction to start with thanks for all you do on this morning's Good Trouble. You mentioned dialing star 67 to hide one's number from a hotline with a toll free number. Unfortunately, that has not been the case for as long as I've worked in telecommunications. Star 67 will not block your number when texting or calling a toll free number or emergency numbers.
- [43:22]
Dana Goldberg
Now I understand. So it worked when I was trying to bl and call my ex girlfriends when I was very young. Yeah, just answer. But not a toll free number. Understood.
- [43:31]
Alison Gill
Now that makes me want to get a toll free number. All right, everybody, keep up. Keep up the needed work. They say the anonymous person who sent that correction in. And I'll do this other one real quick. From anonymous pronoun she and her. Just a quick note on the pronunciation of Judge Sini's name since she's coming up hot lately in the news. It's cnis. Like, see your knees. That's how she describes it. Thanks for all your work and reporting. And we have a clip to play. Judge saying her name correctly at her nomination hearing in 2015.
- [44:00]
Dana Goldberg
Ms. Zenith Cena's.
- [44:05]
Alison Gill
Thank you, sir. And it's okay. My brother got our last name wrong for the first 15 years of his life. Everyone gets her name wrong, including Maryland senators and even her own brother.
- [44:18]
Dana Goldberg
Wow.
- [44:18]
Alison Gill
Who, yes. Has the same name. So that is really great. C. Now we know.
- [44:26]
Dana Goldberg
All right, thank you, Allison. Oh, this next one's from Maude. Pronouns she and her. It's a quick one. You wanted birds. Okay. Count the owls. Hint. It's not just one.
- [44:37]
Alison Gill
Okay, I see the one at the bottom.
- [44:39]
Dana Goldberg
I do, too. Look how cute.
- [44:41]
Alison Gill
Resting his little chin on the owl house. I want to pet them and give them hugs. Do you know they can sit crisscross applesauce. And they have pants. Yeah. Yeah.
- [44:51]
Dana Goldberg
I didn't know about the pants.
- [44:53]
Alison Gill
Yeah.
- [44:54]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my God. Hey, can I put you on the spot and give a shout out to a small business?
- [44:58]
Alison Gill
Yeah.
- [44:59]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my God. Okay, listen, everyone. I never do this, but I have known this person since I came out when I was 18, underage at the gay bars.
- [45:08]
Alison Gill
She. Nine years ago.
- [45:10]
Dana Goldberg
That's right, nine years ago. She's got a small business in Arizona. In Gilbert, Arizona. Now, for those of you that like sweets, and for those of you that like marshmallows specifically, they are the best marshmallows I've ever had because they do not have corn syrup in them. Right. So now we're going to put a link. Maybe they'll let me put a link in the show notes. She has no idea I'm doing this, but it's a quick link. It is shop.The ToastedMellow M A L L O W.com Again, it's shop.thetostedmallow.com Go buy something if you feel so inclined. She is a Hispanic lesbian small business in Gilbert, Arizona, and she has no idea I'm doing this. I think it'd be really funny if.
- [45:54]
Alison Gill
They she just gets a bunch of orders.
- [45:58]
Dana Goldberg
And if you can walk in if you want, if you're near Gilbert, you can get it delivered, but you can also order online. And the S'mores marshmallows are my favorites. They are some of the best I've ever had. So, Allison, thank you for letting me do that again. She's been busting her ass with a small business for years and I would love to see her get a little bit of a push.
- [46:17]
Alison Gill
Hell yeah. Fill your Easter baskets if you do that right with these mallows.
- [46:22]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, they're so, so good.
- [46:24]
Alison Gill
Fantastic. I feel like we need to whisper.
- [46:26]
Dana Goldberg
Since we don't tell her I sent you. But if there's a little note, it's like any special delivery, you can also say that I sent you. That would be hilarious. Okay.
- [46:36]
Alison Gill
Amazing.
- [46:36]
Dana Goldberg
Do you want me to take the next one? Because I snuck that in. You want to take it?
- [46:39]
Alison Gill
I'll grab this one. It's Anonymous Pronoun she and her Dear Beans Queens I saw a clip of Janine Pirro on Blue sky making a comment about young children receiving Social Security benefits. I think I brought this up the other day, right, as if that was proof of fraud. And Jessica Tarloff telling her it was for the benefit of kids whose parents have died. I'm sure Janine knows that, but she said it anyway because she's on fox. What an asshole. Yeah. Anonymous I this I think I shared the quick story or this might have been on a different podcast. I only do 800 of them about. That's what my sister and I got after my father passed from exposure to complications from exposure to Agent orange. I was 16. My dad was 10. My mom got Social Security benefits for each of us because we lost an income in in the family. And he, you know, he paid into Social Security his whole life even when he was in the military. You pay, you pay into Social Security when you're in the military. So I feel this all right. Survivor's benefits provide family some stability during a time of loss and uncertainty. So true. I was pregnant with my son when my husband died suddenly at the age of 53. I was able to get survivor's benefits for me and my son as soon as he was born. Born. Those benefits allowed me to cut my work hours to part time so I could be there to raise my son and still pay my mortgage, utilities, insurance premiums and buy groceries. My late husband paid into Social Security for 38 years when I was a teenager. My best friend's father died. There were five children in her family. I know the survivor's benefits her mother was able to get made a difference in her family being able to stay in their home. My brother died when he was 4:40. His wife was a stay at home mom at the time. Two of their children were under 18 and my sister in law was able to get survivor's benefits for their younger two. I know there are many stories like ours and it's not fraud. The deceased parent paid into their Social Security account and would not get the benefits themselves. For my podpet tax I'm including a baby picture of my son. He's now almost 32 years old. Many times he has said that he believes being home with me until he was old enough enough to go to school versus full time childcare actually contributed to his sense of security. And we're both thankful we had those years together.
- [48:51]
Dana Goldberg
Look.
- [48:51]
Alison Gill
Look at the baby.
- [48:53]
Dana Goldberg
So sweet.
- [48:54]
Alison Gill
Oh thank you for the multiple stories there about Social Security benefits. Thank you so much for that. I feel it 100% definitely.
- [49:04]
Dana Goldberg
All right everyone. I don't know what's going on with my voice, so thanks for bearing with me. This is from Anonymous Pronouns she and her Dearest Queens of all things being first of all, thank you, thank you. Thank you for just being who you are and doing what you do. You inspire and provide light in the darkness. For many of us, words aren't enough thanks, but your time and effort and energy. It's meaningful, valued and cherished. Thank you for that. Anonymous In 2017, my family and I moved from California to Indiana. I know, right? Why? Lots of reasons, but mainly family. Since then I've been working to connect and work meaningfully. As a bright ass blue dot in this wannabe Southern state, I have found many amazing and hardworking people. Enough that it's convinced me there is hope. This last year I came across a group called MAD Voters. MAD stands for Mutually Assured Democracy.
- [49:55]
Alison Gill
I love it.
- [49:56]
Dana Goldberg
Run mainly by mothers across the state, MAD Voters maintains and updates a bill tracker that helps Hoosiers stay aware of the legislation through the session. In the state of Indiana, we provide calls to action, support for testifying, templates for letters to editors or to your legislators, and we share clips and easily repostable graphics for use on social media. I've been a part of the team focused on education and being in this group has given me so much hope. When things feel hopeless, good work is being done. Friends, I'm so grateful for this group of kick ass humans doing kick ass things in Indiana So check us out@madvoters.org I love this. I have a feeling that website's about to get flooded. My pod pet taxes. Millie Ray, a foster fail who has been with us for just under two years. Guess her breed. She's in constant motion, so it's hard to show her full personality in pictures. We joke that she only thinks in affirmations. Everyone loves me. I'm so great. She brings joy and activity to our everyday and we appreciate the work Tails and Trails Rescue does as they found her so she could be ours. Our other dog was also a Tails and Trails Rescue. If you're having a tough day. Millie and her affirmation and constant kisses and probably body slams. And we'll turn it around really quickly.
- [51:21]
Alison Gill
Oh, my God. Look at the happiest of happy dogs.
- [51:24]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my gosh. It looks like there's a little collie.
- [51:29]
Alison Gill
Shepherd. Collie, maybe. Yeah, just adorable. Aussie and English shepherd. Okay, two shepherd mixes there. Yeah. Boy, she just spends all of her time herding her people.
- [51:43]
Dana Goldberg
She really does, that's all. Awesome.
- [51:45]
Alison Gill
Body slams.
- [51:47]
Dana Goldberg
They're loving, though.
- [51:49]
Alison Gill
That's amazing. What a great group. Mad voters. I love it. I'm trying to figure out a way to get beans listeners in. In close proximity to one another to either join the local indivisible group or start their own group to do stuff like this. I love this idea.
- [52:03]
Dana Goldberg
I love that idea.
- [52:04]
Alison Gill
All right. Thank you so much, Liz. Pronoun. She and her. I grew up Catholic. Me too. Like, my dad was in the seminary before he met my mom. Catlin. Ooh. And the child of two first generation Americans. German on my mom's side, Ellis island immigrants, and Irish on my dad's side. Boston folk. Boy, we have a lot in common, Liz. My dad went on to be the first person in his family. He was the youngest of the bunch to go to college, and then he went on to law school. He's wicked smart and the most ethical person I've known. Although he was conservative through and through, he gave to the church and the poor and truly, deeply believed in the teachings of Jesus and the rule of law. Law. He passed away from Parkinson's 18 years ago at 78. But I believe deep in my heart he would be horrified by what's going on today with the disregard for the rule of law. I have. I'm certain of it too, Liz. I have gone through my entire adult life to this point as an independent, believing that the two sides of the political spectrum truly had the best interests of the country at heart. But believed in different ways to get there. It has become painfully, grotesquely obvious as that that's no longer true. Whether it ever was is a discussion for another day. Okay, fair. So my good news is that last year I donated to a political campaign for the first time ever. I started listening to daily beans around the same time. Coincidence? I think not. And on April 5, I was at Washington at the Washington monument with about 100,000 of my closest friends. I have become a blue dot in a still red family when I say I was protesting the cuts to Social Security phone service sent centers. My older brother legit said, quote, you can use the computer. And no centers were closed near you, so why do you care? And I had to tell him because I care about people that aren't me nice. Like, seriously. What the Side note, our mom is 93. Yeah, what the bro.
- [53:51]
Dana Goldberg
God.
- [53:52]
Alison Gill
Anyway, thank you both for all you do for being positive while giving all the real info we need. On the 19th, I'll be at the preview event for my youngest for his college that he will start this fall. Ooh, college preview. So I would ask that two Northern Virginia D.C. beans please replace me at the protest since I can't be there on April 19th. You got that? Somebody in D.C. we need two of you to replace while she goes to the college preview for my pod pet tariff. My 3. In a rare moment of agreeable sharing, there's Thor, a pit lab mix, 13 years old, deaf, still willing to get up some to some nonsense Kiwi purebred random field cat that my kids found as a starving kitten.
- [54:35]
Dana Goldberg
Wow.
- [54:36]
Alison Gill
Eight years old and the proper cat. And spot, purebred West Virginia porch cat from the feral colony near a friend's house. I love that we got a purebred field cat and a purebred porch cat who and this cat is just a weirdo and has her own insta just for her because sometimes she sits like a chicken as one does. Look at these bees babies.
- [54:59]
Dana Goldberg
Sweet.
- [54:59]
Alison Gill
Oh my God, look, she said she is. It's a chicken.
- [55:02]
Dana Goldberg
Yep.
- [55:05]
Alison Gill
Beautiful. Thank you for that and thanks to everybody for your good news submissions. These really like fill my heart with awesomeness. So appreciate you sending it into us. Dailybeanspod.com Click on Contact is how you get it submitted. Do you have any final thoughts today, my friend?
- [55:19]
Dana Goldberg
No, I appreciate you all very much.
- [55:21]
Alison Gill
Yeah, get those tickets to LA, to the LA show@danagoldberg.com. do I have that right?
- [55:26]
Dana Goldberg
That is correct. Correct.
- [55:27]
Alison Gill
All right, check me out. I know websites off the top of my head that are named after someone I've been doing a show with for five years. Thank you so much. Everybody will be back in your ears tomorrow. 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 and 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 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.