
Wednesday, February 11th, 2026 Today, DHS officials and Howard Lutnick testify before Congress; Jamie Raskin tells Axios that Trump is in the unredacted Epstein Files over a million times; a new concentration camp in Social Circle Georgia is being met with resistance; Rep Ro Khanna read aloud the names of powerful men hidden in the Epstein Files; an FBI affidavit reveals new details about the search of the Fulton County election offices; despite Trump saying he had no knowledge of Epstein's sex crimes - he told Palm Beach police a different story in 2006; a 14 year old girl described being zip tied by ICE agents in an operation in Idaho; a judge has terminated removal proceeding for Rumeysa Ozturk; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Loading summary
A
Msw media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, February 11, 2026. Today, Department of Homeland Security officials and Howard Lutnick testified before Congress. Jamie Raskin told Axios that Trump is in the unredacted Epstein files over a million times. A new concentration camp in Social Circle, Georgia is being met with resistance. Representative Ro Khanna read aloud the names of powerful men hidden in the Epstein files. An FBI affidavit reveals new details about the search of the Fulton county election offices. Despite Trump saying he had no knowledge of Epstein's sex crimes. He told Palm beach police a different story. In 2000. A 14 year old girl described being zip tied by ICE agents in an operation on Idaho. And a judge has terminated removal proceedings for Rumeza Oz Turk. I'm Allison Gill.
B
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
A
Hello, my friend. Happy Wednesday to everyone.
B
Happy Wednesday to you. I'm glad you're back safely at home. Did you have a nice trip?
A
I did. I had a great trip. I got to see my mom on her birthday and we got to watch the bad Bunny super bowl. As we talked about on Beans Talk yester. So it was nice to see my parents again, my mom and her husband. Oh, I'm glad.
B
I'm glad.
A
So thank you for that. Something not nice to see. Howard Lutnick and his weird testimony today about his kids and his nannies on Epstein Island. Nobody.
B
I mean, literally, we're gonna see on the Beanstalk, we're gonna show a clip. In the clip, he says, and I left the island with my wife and all my kids. Like, there was some inference that he may have left one of his children there.
A
Yeah. And did he bring all the nannies with him when he left?
B
Like, I mean, what?
A
Yeah, yeah. I don't even know. I don't have no association with Epstein whatsoever. Okay, bro. He's the commerce secretary. So we're going to talk about that on Beans Talk, show you some clips. And we're also going to show you some clips of Department of Homeland Security officials, including a guy named. What's his name? Rodney Scott. And Todd Lyons was there who was just almost held in contempt of court for having like 96 ignored 96 court orders in the last Lord.
B
Yeah.
A
In Minneapolis. And they went after him pretty hard. And that, you know, that's because right now. And we'll get into this on Beans Talk a little bit later, but ICE and Trump's immigration policies are pulling the worst that they have since he took office. They're really, really bad. He's in negative double digits on immigration and everybody is recognizing it. The Republicans in Congress even pulled DHS out separately as a funding bill because they know their backs are up against the wall on ice. So they didn't have bit of testimony in Congress today. And and rightfully not, they're giant Nazi. So we'll like I said, go over that and show you some of those clips on on Beans Talk. If you haven't seen Beans Talk, give it a shot. It's over on our YouTube channel, MSW Media. All right, we have a ton of news to get to today, so let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, everybody. First up from CBS News, a newly unsealed affidavit written by an FBI agent details the quote, unquote legal basis for the search warrant that was at elections offices in Fulton county when investigators seized material related to the 2020 election. According to this affidavit, the search came as part of an ongoing FBI criminal investigation into whether any of the improprieties alleged around the 2020 election in Fulton county were intentional acts that violated federal criminal laws. And the affidavit, Dana, I've read it. It says if they were intentional, those would be crimes. I don't know that you should be getting search warrants on ifs.
B
Ifs. No, you should not.
A
But the document, this new document also said the FBI investigation was initiated following a referral from an attorney at the White House who worked to overturn the election results in 2020. I'll tell you who that is in a minute. The affidavit listed that what the agent said were five deficiencies or defects with the 2020 election and the subsequent counting of votes. They include issues with the number of scanned ballot images in Fulton County's possession, ballots being scanned multiple times during a recount and inconsistencies regarding tallies in an audit of ballots. The affidavit also noted that the auditors, quote, reported counting purported absentee ballots that had never been creased or folded as would be required for the ballot to be mailed to the voter and for the ballot to be returned if this sealed envelope requiring the voter signature for authentication. Now, state officials in Georgia, including the Republican governor and the secretary of state, have defended the integrity of the 2020 election for years, noting that three separate counts confirmed that Joe Biden defeated Trump in the state. The results in Georgia were at the center of Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the election. Fulton county is a key Democratic stronghold there. On January 29, the FBI executed a search warrant at Fulton county election offices seeking to take ballots and other records related to the vote. Last week, Fulton County Commissioner Chairman Rob Pitts said the county's Board of Registration and Elections filed an emergency lawsuit to compel the return of over 650 boxes containing the 2020 election related materials. The county had asked for, quote, the return of all original seized materials and asked the judge for an order instructing the government to maintain but not review any copies of the seized materials until this matter is resolved. On Saturday, U.S. district Judge J.P. boulay ordered the court documents in the case to be unsealed by close of business Tuesday, including the county's motions to return the documents and and to unseal the full affidavits supporting the search warrant. That's why we got those affidavits today. The affidavit said the current investigation originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, who the FBI describes as a presidentially appointed director of election security and integrity. And that's interesting because in 2020, Olsen was an attorney who worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the Supreme Court to overturn the election results in 2022. Olson was subpoenaed by the House January 6 Committee, which was investigating the aftermath of the 20 subpoena, alleged that Olson, quote, contacted various high level officials at the Department of Justice at the president's direction to discuss filing challenges to the election results. The committee said Olson spoke multiple times with Trump on January 6, 2021. Also not in this CBS article, Dana, but something that I recall reporting on the Jack podcast with Andy McCabe. Jack Smith subpoenaed Kurt Olson as well. Yeah, that's not in here, but that's kind of a big deal. According to the affidavit, the bureau is investigating potential violations of two federal laws. One of the laws makes it a crime for election officials to intimidate voters or to deprive them of fair elections by submitting fraudulent ballots or voter registration applications. The other law requires election officials to retain federal election records for 22 months. Now, this search warrant for the raid sought all physical ballots from the 2020 election in Fulton county, as well as tapes from vote tabulating machines, ballot images and voter rolls.
B
All right, thank you so much, Allison. This is from cbs. A new ICE detention center slated to open in Social Circle, Georgia, is sparking intense local controversy. ICE purchased a facility on Hightower Trail with plans to open it as a detention center as early as April. The center is expected to hold up to 10,000 detainees, more than twice the entire population of Social Circle residents, even those who support the administration, are expressing overwhelming opposition due to the facility's location less than a mile from a brand new elementary school. Rick Burt, an architect and local leader, raised concerns about both the scale and suitability of the facility. He said, it's question of how you treat the people that we're dealing with. That's what Burt said, noting the building is not equipped to accommodate such a large population, especially with many detainees having no criminal record. Homeland Security documents reviewed by CBS News indicate that nearly 40% of those arrested by ICE in the past year had no criminal record and were detained solely for civil immigration offenses. Burt, reflecting on local experiences, questioned the morality and practicality of detaining people in such a facility. You're asking me if I would house the young guy who came to our house six months ago and did an incredible job painting? Absolutely not. Opposition to the center has united Social Circle residents across political lines. Said there are people in this town who support what ICE is doing and people who oppose it, but this has managed to bring everybody together. Another major concern is the lack of local infrastructure. With a population of only about 5,000, Social Circle offers limited housing for the influx of employees required to staff the massive facility. As the opening date approaches, the future of ICE Detention center and Social Circle remains uncertain, with growing calls for the community urging officials to reconsider the project. And in a related story ag when Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue described the October raid on a popular community horse racing venue here, he hailed the detention of 105 undocumented immigrants and flatly rejected allegations that the agents used zip ties to restrain some of the dozens of children that were present. Then he was presented with photographic evidence. Images obtained by CBS News appear to show the zip ties and bruised wrists of Annabel Romero's 14 year old daughter Suhay, a US citizen, by the way, who was tending to her six and eight year old siblings when the agents descended on the crowd in military style gear and herded them into a confined area. And I quote, God bless her, I'm sorry she went through that. This is from Donahue, a self proclaimed cowboy who participated in the raid on horseback. But law enforcement is not evil because we contained everybody and detained them until we sorted it out. That's not evil. You keep telling yourself that cowboy. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal civil rights lawsuit highlighting the mistreatment of families attending the weekend recreation event at La Categorina, many of whom were American citizens of Hispanic descent. The incident in this small agriculture community about an Hour outside Boise has largely been overshadowed in the headlines, the national headlines, by the immigration surge in Minnesota, where the tactics used by federal immigration agents on children have attracted widespread scrutiny. And by the way, no matter what you're hearing in the mainstream media, it has not calmed down in Minnesota. Things are still as bad as they were all of a sudden. We just don't have as many eyes on it. But the ACLU argues the Idaho raid signals a frightening normalization of harsh and sometimes violent action by federal law enforcement in the presence of children. Those incidents, the suit alleges, will leave physical and emotional scars. And the last quote in the story, they've done long lasting damage to children. This is from Jen rolnick Borchetta, the ACLU's deputy project director on policing. Jen went on to say, at this moment, when the United States Congress is confronted with the question of how to rein in ice, the answer is they need to rein in ICE to protect our children.
A
Yeah, I need to abolish ICE is what they should do. I wish we had the majority to be able to do that right now. Next up from Jamie. Well, this is actually from Axios, but Jamie Raskin told Axios in an interview Tuesday that when he searched Trump's name in the unredacted Epstein files the previous day, it came up more than a million times. Geez. At least one of the files Raskin found appears to contradict what Trump has publicly claimed about his association with Epstein. According to the House Judiciary Committee ranking member, that document is a 2009 email exchange between Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, in which Epstein recounted his lawyer's account of a phone call with Trump. As Raskin previously told reporters, quote, trump is paraphrased and quoted as saying, no, Jeffrey Epstein was not a member of Mar a Lago, but he was a guest at Mar a Lago. And no, we never asked him to leave. That's what Raskin said in an interview at the Capitol. Asked for comment, the White House pointed to three posts on Twitter from Todd Blanche. Oh, that's, you know, that's always the source that I turn to. Todd Blanch's tweets.
B
Yeah, no shit.
A
This is three tweets where Todd Blanche pushed back on Thomas Massey's claims about the unredacted files. Blanche accused Massey of sensationalizing his findings, saying, for example, that while the name of Les Wexner was redacted in a portion of the files naming him an Epstein co conspirator, he qu in the files thousands of times. Doj is hiding nothing, he said in his posts. Be honest and stop grandstanding, okay? Following allegations of improper redactions in the more than 3 million files it released on Epstein, DOJ has begun giving members of Congress access to those unredacted files. Not the 3 million that it's withholding, just the 3 million it released. But it's about more than one email, Raskin said, exclaiming that the Mar A Lago Exchange is just one memo out of 3 million. The idea, he said, that we could get through a meaningful fraction of them is ridiculous. I mean, there's tons of redacted stuff. And Trump's name, I think I put his name in there, and it appears more than a million times. So it's all over the place now. In a related story from Politico, Ro Khanna took to the House floor Tuesday and read aloud the names of six wealthy, powerful men whose names were originally redacted in the Epstein files. Khan identified Les Wexner as a billionaire, former owner of Victoria's Secretary and other retail companies, and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem. Is that how you say that? I'm not. I'm not sure. Send me a correction if I'm saying that wrong, but he's the chief executive officer of DP World now. Other names, Dana, that he. That he said out loud include Salvatore Nuwara, Zurab Michaladze, Leonik Leonov, and Nicola Caputo. And a final Epstein story today. The Miami Herald reports that Donald Trump has repeatedly maintained that he has no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes. Right. He said that a million Times. But in July 2006, just as Epstein's criminal case was becoming public, Trump called then Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter to tell him Epstein's activities with teenage girls were well known in both New York and Palm Beach. Reiter told FBI agents that Trump revealed that Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell was Epstein's operative.
B
And.
A
And that Trump said, she is evil and you need to focus on her.
B
Wow.
A
Huh. Huh. That stands in sharp contrast to pretty much everything else Trump has said, especially in 2019 when he told reporters, you know, when he was asked if he had any knowledge that Epstein had molested girls, he said, I had no idea. I don't know. I have no idea.
B
Well, I tell you what, with this whole Ghislaine Maxwell going in front and, you know, not testifying again in front of Congress and pleading the Fifth, I hope that someone gets back to her with this whole Trump saying, you need to investigate Maxwell. She is evil. And Focus on her.
A
You know what I mean? And now she's saying, yep, I want a pardon and I'll. I'll clear your name.
B
Yep, I know. I wonder if she will now. I don't know. It's really interesting. All right, we do have some better news, everyone. This is from cnn. An immigration judge terminated removal proceedings against Tufts University doctoral student. Will you help me with this one? I know it's Ozturk, but. Rumeza.
A
Rumeza, thank you.
B
Rumeza Ozturk, who was detained for over a month last year as part of the Trump administration's effort to target and deport international students and activists involving a pro Palestinian advocacy. This is what her lawyer said on Monday. The Department of Homeland Security hadn't met its burden to prove ostrich's removability, prompting the immigration court to end removal proceedings against her. And that's according to a letter from her attorneys submitted in court and a federal appeals court docket. The move comes after recent unsealed court documents showed the federal government didn't have any evidence that Ozturk had been supporting terrorists activity when she was arrested, and that her visa revocation and arrest were because of an opinion article that she wrote containing criticism of Israel. And I quote, today I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system's flaws, my case may give hope to those who have been wronged by US Government. This is what Ozturk wrote in a statement on Monday. She said, though the pain that I and thousands of other women wrongfully imprisoned by ICE have faced cannot be undone, it is heartening to know that some justice can prevail.
A
After all, that's the immigration courts, too. They're executive branch employees, not judicial.
B
Yeah.
A
So. All right, that's really. That is. That is good news. That is good to hear. Yeah. All right. We do have some more good news. Listeners submitted good news that we need to get to, but we have to take a quick break, so everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
B
We'll be right back.
A
Hey, everybody. Delete Me makes it easy, quick, and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. So we want to thank our sponsor for today's episode, Delete Me. With Delete Me, I protect both my personal privacy and the privacy of my business. As someone with an active online presence, I have to assume my info is being collected, copied, reposted, and sold in places I never agreed to. Deleteme does the hard work of scrubbing you and your family's personal information from data broker websites and you get to choose exactly what you want removed. I keep hearing about data breaches in the news. Hackers grab names, addresses, phone numbers, last four of Social Security numbers, and even masked bank account numbers. Data brokers can vacuum up all that leaked data and sell it again and again and again, but Deleteme helps remove your info from those sites and keeps it from falling into the wrong hands. Getting started is really easy. You just sign up, share the information you want deleted and their experts take it from there. I love not having to spend hours of my own time hunting through sketchy sites, filling out endless forums and hoping someone listens. They also send regular personalized privacy reports that show what they found, where they found it, what they removed, and how much time they saved me. And this isn't a one time thing. It they keep monitoring. With Delete Me it keeps continuously removing new listings and information over time as they pop up. So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now at a special discount for listeners. Get 20% off your delete me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeans and use promo code Daily Beans at checkout. Again, the only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com Daily Beans and enter code Daily Beans at checkout. That's JoinDeleteMe.com Daily Beans code Daily Beans hey everybody. If your morning coffee is not cutting it anymore, consider reaching for something that actually feels nourishing. A steaming cup of bone broth. Brodo makes bone broth that's clean, collagen, rich and genuinely cozy. Especially when the weather is cold and your body wants comfort. This podcast is sponsored by Brodo. Welcome to the hottest trend in nutrition for the last 2000 years. Bone broth. Brodo's bone broths are made from scratch. No concentrates, no preservatives or shortcuts so you get the best broth money can buy. Head to brodo.comdailybeans for 20% off your first subscription order and use code DAILYBEANS for an additional 10% off. Brodo is the rare bone broth that tastes good enough to drink. I have tried to get get collagen into my body a thousand ways and Brodo is the best. I tried the sampler pack. My favorite is ginger turmeric. You have to try it. It truly tastes amazing. It tastes like a warm, savory tea, but with the richness of real stock. I keep a cup for the afternoon instead of another coffee and my energy stays steady and I get all of my collagen. Each serving has about 10 grams of whole food protein as well and collagen building amino acids and electrolytes, all under 50 calories with zero sugar or fat. It supports gut health, immunity joints and skin. A 2025 study found amino acids in broth can help heal leaky guts and strengthen the immune system too. I like to drink it in the morning or before bed. It's a warm reset. It's delicious. Brodo was launched by award winning chef Marco Canora, and he started selling it from his East Village restaurant 11 years ago. And now he ships it nationwide in eight flavors. You have to try it. It tastes amazing and it works great too. So shop the best broth on the planet with brodo. Head to brodo.comdailybeans for 20 off your subscription and use code daily beans for an additional $10 off. Once again, that's brodo.com dailybeans for 20% off your first subscription order and an additional $10 off if you use my promo code dailybeans, you'll be glad you did. All right, everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Good news everyone. Then good news everyone. And if you have any good news or good trouble that you'd like us to get in with you, you can share that with us for your good news. It can be big. It can be small. It can be from yesterday or 30 years ago. It can be a story that you love telling when you're sitting around, you know, hanging out with your friends, something that brings a smile to people's faces, maybe your favorite jo. You can give a shout out to a loved one, a spouse, a partner, your kid, a parent, yourself. We love self shout outs. It can be a shout out to a small business in your area doing awesome stuff, some great community organizing and activism, a nonprofit you want us to know about, or maybe a government program that's helped you or a loved one, anything at all. We want to microdose that hope with you, so please send it to us. And all you got to do to get your stuff read on the air is pay your pod pet tariff, which means just send a photo. Just send a photo that you love. It can be your pet. It can be an adoptable pet in your area. It can be a random animal from the Internet. It can be family photos, baby pictures. It can be someone else's family photo that you thought was funny that you saw on the Internet. It doesn't even have to be your family. It could be signs that you love that you've seen at a protest or some overpass signs. It can be you and your friends writing postcards. Maybe what you're making or creating growing in your garden. Maybe you're raising chickens or goats. We love goats, goats, goats, goats. Send us all your goats. Dailybean spot.com click on contact first up up is your good trouble and your good trouble. Today the House is set to vote on a new version of the save act. As a giant piece of shit Chip Roy's Save America Act. It has 95 co sponsors in the House, all Republicans. This bill maintains the language of the original SAVE act and adds new requirements that voters present proof of citizenship both when registering to vote and when casting a ballot, drastically increasing the difficulty for eligible voters. The bill still faces significant opposition in the Senate, which is good. But let your House member and your senator, no matter their party, know that you oppose this voter suppression legislation how the bill will suppress voters. We have a link in the show notes for you so you can be armed with the information for when you call your senators, maybe using the 5 calls app or email them. So anyway, just wanted to get that good trouble out to you. I don't think the SAVE act has a chance in hell in the Senate, but it is never a bad idea to call your reps in the House and call your senators and tell them that you oppose it.
B
All right, thank you so much, Allison. And next up is from Allison Pronoun. She and her hello lovely lady Beans. In response to a listener's question, there's a great group called Vote Writers that help people get the IDs they need to vote in whatever state they're in. I'm a volunteer and have helped get copies of birth certificates, copies of Social Security cards, and photo IDs for people in Arizona and Wisconsin. It's a free service. We'll have a link in the show notes. It's vote writers.org for those of you that would like to get involved. For my POD Pet tariff, I'm submitting a photo of me and my teammate with a stuffed manatee. This was the mascot trophy of a Beach ultimate tournament in Florida this past weekend. Beach Ultimate Frisbee is where I find joy coming together with incredible people to play all day, chasing a white plastic disc for the glory of hugging a stuffed manatee. Ah, bliss. Alison, I. There we go. Here's the photo. I wanted to see what you look like because you must have the strong you and your partner must have the strongest legs on the planet because ultimate frisbee on grass is hard enough, but ultimate Frisbee on beach, that is impressive. Well done.
A
Yeah, I can't walk on beach for.
B
That's exactly.
A
Oh, that's so great. I love the manatee as well. I love that. That's the prize. All right, next up, from Christy. Our daughter, who lives in south Minneapolis, raised over a thousand dollars in diapers and other baby products for a local church in her area. This is a tax free submission. There's no pod pet tariff that is paid here, but, Christy, we love that bit of good news. Thank you and thanks to your daughter. A thousand bucks for diapers and baby products in Minneapolis for a church and little blue dot in rural Georgia. Hello, leguminous ladies. I live about 30 minutes from social Circle, Georgia.
B
Ah.
A
We covered this. Where the new ICE detention facility has been purchased, DHS purchased a distribution warehouse from PNK Group, which is rumored to have ties to Russia. Naturally, the warehouse was purchased for $5.5 million in 2022, and then PNK bought it one year later for $29 million. Wow. One thing I want listeners to know is that Social Circle, Georgia, is a town of less than 5,000 people. Yes, less than 5,000 people. It's quaint, has fabulous burger joint, and we'll be overwhelmed by this facility and its operations. The center will hold 10,000 detainees, as I understand it. Please tell me how a town of 5,000 has the infrastructure to support such operations. Also, this little town will lose property tax on this huge warehouse being so close to I20 in between Atlanta and Athens. This warehouse was built to be a distribution center for products, not people. Now, this is in my backyard, and my already high anxiety is skyrocketing. Keep spreading the truth and good news, ladies. Attached is my pod pet tax of you from our feeders last summer. Much love to you, ladies. Look at these beautiful.
B
Love hummingbirds. So much, almost. Maybe as much as I love otters. I will sit and just watch hummingbirds. And if I have my camera, I will sit for hours trying to get the perfect shot.
A
They're hard to photograph. I love them.
B
I love them.
A
I love them.
B
Thank you so, so much. I love their listeners, like, almost. I don't want to say one step ahead of us since we cover that in our podcast, but you're right there with us side by side. All right. This is from Meredith Pronoun. She and her sharing some good news. I got a job. My husband and I were overseas serving our country with USAID and Doge Miller. And yeah, thank you for your service by the way. And orange twat waffle created hell on earth for us and left millions of people to continue in poverty and disease cycles while jilting US farmers, businesses and universities. After seven months of unemployment and loads of rejections, I am thrilled to say I was hired by a local nonprofit that provides health services to low income and uninsured folks in my area, including migrant farm workers for the estimated 50,000 U.S. citizens who lost their jobs because of the illegal USAID defunding and reduction in force. Don't give up now. We need to win the case for my husband's full pension as he was forced into retirement 50 working days before turning 65. That is so fucked up. The bastards. Sorry I added the fucked up part, but then you added the bastards. For my POD pet tariff, I present Lucy the dog. She adopted us in Bangladesh and lived on three continents before sadly passing away October 22nd. If she looks familiar, it's because she's the same breed as a loca, the Peace dog. Oh, it's a Nikita, an 8,000 to 11,000 year old naturally selected breed that evolves on the periphery of human settlements. We miss our girl every day and we're so happy she finally got to experience doggy life in the U.S. thank you for this fantastic podcast and all you do.
A
I don't know what breed a loca is.
B
I don't either. I thought the loca was an Keita breed, but.
A
Or Lucy, but Lucy's beautiful. Let's see what's under the redaction bar here. Indian pariah or South Asian village dog? Yeah, I had no idea. Absolute beautiful pup though. Look at that picture.
B
Yes, thank you for that.
A
So sorry you lost her, Meredith. What a baby. Angel. And man. Yeah, when the usaid. You know, I talked to Sasha Abramsky and his book about what Doge did to y'.
B
All.
A
It's just. And how many lives are going to be lost because of that. It's just horrible. But I'm so glad that you found a meaningful and amazing job with a local nonprofit. So congratulations. All right, next up from Squin, they she. Hi Beans Queens, and hello to the Leguminati. If you're listening, I want to give a shout out to the local organizations protesting in Eastern Washington. In our little corner of the state, the community is mostly very conservative, but a few local groups are working to make sure that those of us who want to preserve human rights for everyone can fight the good fight. Specifically indivisible Tri Cities. And we'll have indivisibletricities wa.org in the show. We'll have a link in the notes. Tri cities distribution will have a link to their Facebook profile. Tri Cities for Palestine. And we'll have a link to that Instagram account and Washington immigrant solidarity network. And that's w a I s n.org we'll have a link to that as well. They've all been amazing organizers for podpet tax. I'm attaching a picture of our mixed breed rescue dogs. See if you can guess what they are. Dog breed answers. Ruby is a blank and Juul is a blank. All right, so it looks like we've got like a pit bull, a lab, maybe some And a Scotty lab.
B
So pretty.
A
They're adorable. Let's see what you got. Ruby is a boxer doodle, which is a. Oh my God. A labradoodle boxer mix. That's amazing. And Jewel is a plot hound. Black lab. Okay. Plot hound, not schnauzer. But they're both beautiful.
B
They are. Thank you for that. All right, next up is Keith pronouns. He, him, old dude. I'm in New York. 17. Mike Lawler. There we go. But I take New Jersey transit to get to New York City for the last 15 years. The ARC project starting in 2009, canceled by Governor Christie in 2010 after $6 million spent. It would have replaced the aging tunnels by 2018. The Gateway project started in 2011, took 10 years to get state federal funding and is now threatened by the moldy Cheeto in chief with construction starting two years ago. Talk about waste and abuse. Good news. Last summer I took my 52 year old ass to to see one of my all time favorite bands, the Descendants. It was also freaking amazing. I was pit adjacent. Almost got pulled in a few times, but managed to avoid an ER visit. I got this amazing new pen that lets me write underwater. It can write other words too, but I'm done. Adorable. That. That feels like a dad joke. Pet tax. 13 year old blank mix. Ellie so deep in sleep she doesn't notice the treat placed on her nose. Second pick in the car for our Christmas road trip to Lake Placid.
A
Okay, first of all, I love the Descent.
B
It looks like a beagle.
A
Love the Descendants. And yes, as an elder punk, I sit up in the balcony. I don't even. I don't even get hit adjacent because of the potential for getting dragged into that thing. Definitely a beagle mix, right?
B
Beagle, yeah.
A
But I don't know what else.
B
Maybe some Aussie.
A
I don't know what else is in there. Just. Just looks like a beagle to me. Let's see. Yeah, beagle Jack Russell. Oh. Oh, well, Ellie's gorgeous. Thank you, Keith, old dude. And I appreciate your going to see the Descendants. Next up from Tiffany Pronoun. She and her hi beans Queens. I started listening last year after the election to maintain my sanity on the precipice of the looming destruction of a new Trump term. You have been my light this past year and I'm proud to say I just became a paid subscriber. Oh, thank you. I'm an oncology social worker in a southern red state with blue roots. We produced Bill Clinton and now somehow have Tom Cotton. I feel frustrated and helpless and had to take a sick day to regulate my nervous system. I do not blame you, Tiffany. I try to bring compassion to cancer patients every day, but I'm disheartened by the lack of resources and worsening healthcare coverage. We take such awful care of our people in this country and so many in the south have been duped into voting against their own self interest. I hit a wall and took a day to cry and rest as usual. I started my day listening to you both to get my daily news with swearing. Although I've been saying fuck more times each day than I ever thought I would. Anyway, thank you for being a huge part of my mental health support team. I tell everyone about your pod. My message. Hang on, everyone. Let out your feelings in healthy ways. Lean on your people. Scream into the void. I know it feels like we're alone in our rage and despair, but we are not. That is so true, Tiffany. You are not. As my pod pet tariff, I'm including a pic of our new rescue skipper. She's almost 2 and was on the streets with a loving homeless man before being rescued. She's now our sweet girl and my cuddle bug and has helped us heal from the sudden loss of our sweet girl. Lucky we did a DNA test and Skipper's two main breeds are blank and blank, with the rest being a mix of random stuff. Maybe part cow. Just joking. Thanks for all you do ad rank for adding rainbow sprinkles to this shit show. I like that. Look at this baby.
B
Pity and Boxer.
A
Pity and Boxer. All right, let's see. Let's see what they got here. Boxer and Pitti. You did it. I did it. I got a what the Mutt.
B
I did it. We're ending the show on Dana Goldberg getting 100% what the mutt And I didn't even say cow.
A
It's all downhill from here again.
B
It really is.
A
We got that one dog right like a year ago. And. And. And here we are again. Well, thank you all for your good news. Please share your good news with us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. Do you have any final thoughts today?
B
Not today.
A
All right, everybody, we'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family. I've been ag. I've been dg and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison 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 mswmedia.com msw media.
This episode of The Daily Beans, hosted by Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg, delivers a packed rundown of the day's major progressive news stories with trademark snark and sharp analysis. The focus is on recent Congressional testimonies involving Department of Homeland Security officials and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, staggering revelations from unredacted Epstein files linking Donald Trump, ICE’s migrant detention operations in Georgia and Idaho, and a landmark immigration case dismissal. The hosts also celebrate grassroots activism, community good news, and listener highlights.
“I left the island with my wife and all my kids.” [01:50]
“Even those who support the administration are expressing overwhelming opposition due to the facility's location less than a mile from a brand new elementary school.” [07:33]
“[Agents] zip-tied and bruised wrists of Annabel Romero’s 14-year-old daughter...herded them into a confined area.” [09:03] “Law enforcement is not evil because we contained everybody and detained them...until we sorted it out.” — Sheriff Donahue [09:32]
“I think I put [Trump’s] name in there, and it appears more than a million times. So it’s all over the place now.” — Jamie Raskin [12:50]
“Trump...called [the] Palm Beach Police Chief...to tell him Epstein’s activities with teenage girls were well known.” [15:00]
“Today I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have been wronged by [the] US government...” [16:00]
| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:50 | Dana | “…he says, and I left the island with my wife and all my kids. Like, there was some inference that he may have left one of his children there.” | | 04:09 | Allison | “…I don’t know that you should be getting search warrants on ‘ifs’.” | | 09:32 | Sheriff Donahue | “Law enforcement is not evil because we contained everybody and detained them until we sorted it out. That’s not evil.” | | 11:46 | Allison (quoting Raskin/Axios) | “When I searched Trump’s name in the unredacted Epstein files…it came up more than a million times.” | | 12:50 | Jamie Raskin | “I put [Trump’s] name in there, and it appears more than a million times. So it’s all over the place now.” | | 15:06 | Allison | “Trump said, she (Ghislaine Maxwell) is evil and you need to focus on her.” | | 16:00 | Rumeza Ozturk | “Today I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have been wronged…” |
As always, Allison Gill and Dana Goldberg balance sobering political and social news with cutting humor and supportive banter:
This episode spotlights the relentless work of exposing government abuses (from ICE to election interference), the vastness of the Epstein scandal’s scope as it relates to Trump, and the power of community action, all delivered with heart and irreverence. Stories of listener perseverance—whether fighting voter suppression or supporting their neighborhoods—round out the episode on a hopeful note.
For further details, check out the full episode. The Daily Beans provides daily updates on justice, activism, and survival, spiced with wit and real-world inspiration.