
Monday, February 2nd, 2026 Today, Propublica has identified the two CBP agents that murdered Alex Pretti - Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez; the DOJ released their final and incomplete production of the Epstein Files; every single Senate Democrat and two Republicans voted to defund ICE but Republicans blocked the amendment; ICE has expanded their power to arrest people without warrants; four Black independent journalists were arrested for covering a church protest; Bovino mocked a prosecutor's Jewish faith during a call with lawyers; ICE shattered someone’s skull and then told the hospital they did it to themselves; massive peaceful protests erupted across the country against ICE and Customs and Border Protection; the top FBI agent in Atlanta has been sacked after refusing to go along with the Fulton County election office raid; a Texas Democrat who was outspent 20 to 1 has flipped the District 9 State Senate seat with a 30 point swing in a stunning upset; five year old Liam Ram...
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A
It's no surprise that newsmakers try to manipulate the audience. They want you to believe that they are the one holding the line, and they'll use any trick they can to get you there.
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But don't let them fool you.
A
Get Unspun. I'm Amanda Sturgel. I've been a reporter, and today I teach future reporters to cut the spin and think critically about what newsmakers say. My podcast, Unspun, shows you how to know when you're being manipulated by the news, learn to spot the tricks, and how to make up your own mind about what's true. So if you're tired of being fooled by the news, subscribe to UNSPUN today. Unspun because you deserve the truth.
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MSW Media. News whispering jelly beans. Jelly beans. Jelly beans.
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Jelly beans.
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Daily beans. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Monday, February 2, 2026. Today, ProPublica has identified the two customs and border Protection agents that murdered Alex Preddy, Jesus Ochoa and Ramondo Gutierrez. The Department of Justice has released their final and incomplete production of the Epstein files. Every single Senate Democrat and two Republicans voted to defund ice. But Republicans blocked the amendment. ICE has expanded their power to arrest people without warrants. Four black independent journalists were arrested for covering a church protest. Gregory Bovino mocked a prosecutor's Jewish faith during a call with lawyers. ICE shattered someone's skull and then told the hospital they did it to themselves. Massive peaceful protests have erupted across the country against ICE and Customs and Border Protection. The top FBI agent in Atlanta has been sacked after refusing to go along with the Fulton county election office raid. A Texas Democrat who was outspent 20 to 1 has flipped the district 9 state senate seat with a 30 point swing in a stunning upset. And 5 year old Liam Ramos and his father have been released from the Dilley concentration camp and are back home in Minneapolis. I'm Alison Gill.
C
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
B
Yeah, Slow news weekend, Dana.
C
I know. Seriously, we have really nothing to talk about, everyone. But thanks for joining us anyway just to listen to ourselves in this void.
B
Yeah, I wonder sometimes if there are people who just want the quick news and just listen to the headlines. But I encourage everyone to stay throughout this, this episode. Yeah, there's so much here to talk about and we're going to try to fit it all in. Later in the show. I'm going to share my discussion with Asha Rangapa about the FBI election office raid and the role that Maduro could play in whatever election stealing scheme they're cooking up for 2026. And 2028. But Dana, the big story right now, these two federal immigration agents who fired on and murdered Alex Preddy have been identified in government records.
C
Amazing. Amazing.
B
They're bright. ProPublica congratulations because they didn't even give their names to Congress. The DHS didn't even give these names to Congress. But it's Jesus Ochoa and Raymondo Gutierrez. Now, Ochoa is a Border Patrol agent who joined in 2018. Gutierrez joined in 2014. This isn't a training issue. These guys have been there for 8 and 12 years respectively.
C
Yeah, it is sort of mind blowing that it isn't a training issue. There's a systematic problem with this quote unquote organization. This is not something that can just be revamped or. You know what I mean, or reformed.
B
It needs to be reformed.
C
It needs to be abolished. This is systematic and it goes very, very deep, systemic and goes very, very deep. Years and years and years. And I mean, with what we're seeing now, I'm surprised that if this stuff hasn't happened before, I'd be shocked. And I think we're just starting to see more of it now because K are out, people are recording. But how much damage has some of these people done over the years that has just gone undocumented.
B
I know, right? I mean, we remember.
D
You know what I mean?
B
We remember talking about that 2014 watchdog report that Customs and Border Protection were diving in front of cars to justify use of force and standing in the path of having rocks thrown at them from across the wall, the border wall, to justify shooting people instead of just backing up a few feet where they couldn't be reached by the, you know, just all the lies that have been told by Bovino. I know he's not there anymore, but Tom Homan is no peach.
C
Yeah, no kidding.
B
These ICE and CBP operations are going forward as they have been. They had. Nothing's changed. And yeah, I can't believe corporate media fell for Trump. The softer side of CBP and they're de. Escalating and all that bullshit.
C
So, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Before we get into the hot notes and even though that was a more serious story, obviously Alison and I really just want to wish acknowledge a very happy. If this is what we're calling it, black, please raise voices of the black community, their stories, their, their, their posts as much as we can now. Especially when they're trying to erase the history of the community as well as pretending that their contributions didn't form so much of our country. So much of our country so happy Black History Month to everybody. And you know, we're going to be covering stories probably throughout the month highlighting and that affects some of, some of this. So.
B
So we are here for sure, especially with the arrest and targeting of these four black journalists which we're going to get into exactly y and every single independent and corporate white media outlet journalist needs to be shouting at the top of their lungs.
C
Top of their lungs. Top of their lungs.
B
We're going to talk about that plus all the other news. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from the Times and there were millions of Epstein documents released this weekend. We're just going to cover tip of the iceberg. There's no way we can possibly on a 45 minute podcast cover all of.
D
The disgusting, disgusting, I mean, shit that.
B
This cabal of sex traffickers and pedophiles have done. So there are tons of great accounts to follow on social media to watch. There's document watchers out there oent people who are following this closely and I recommend for more details to follow those accounts in the coming days, weeks, months. I mean this is a lot of material, but it's only half of what they're supposed to release by law. So here's from the Times. The Department of Justice on Friday released the largest batch of Epstein files to date tranche including 3 million more pages of documents and thousands of videos and images. The documents shed new light on the disgraced financier. There it is. How about convicted sex offender, his relationships with several prominent figures including Elon Musk. Remember when Elon Musk was like Trump is in the Epstein files. Hahaha. He's all over these.
C
Yes, he is.
B
Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the guy who made the Melania movie. Yeah, he's in there. They also contain a significant number of uncorroborated tips to law enforcement. And if you go by the way to melisserote.com you can watch the episode I did for Midas Touch, the episode of the breakdown where I corroborated one of those anonymous tipsters. She contacted me. Amazing. And showed me screenshots that she sat with the FBI for a formal interview. That at 302 is not among these documents. There's a lot missing. Wow. So that's at Mueller. She wrote dot com. Federal prosecutors initially identified 6 million pages as potentially responsive to the law. But Blanche said that officials had erred on the side of over collection and later decided to release half that amount. Some Democratic lawmakers accused the department Friday of violence, violating the law, and demanded it release all 6 million pages. The files appeared to contain at least 4,500 documents that mentioned Donald Trump. One was a summary that officials at the FBI assembled last summer of more than a dozen tips from members of the public involving Trump and Epstein. The tipster I spoke to as one of them, she has, you know, basically that the Trump Modeling Agency was trafficking these women, these girls. Yeah. According to the released emails, Epstein drafted notes to and about Bill Gates in 2013 suggesting he engaged in extramarital sex. A representative with Gates called the accusations absurd and completely false. In one email, Epstein wrote that he had helped Gates acquire drugs in order to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls. That he had facilitated rendezvous for Mr. Gates with married women. It was not clear if Epstein sent the emails to Mr. Gates. The files also revealed Mr. Lutnick planned to visit Epstein island in 2012, though he previously said he'd severed ties With Epstein around 2005, a 2013 email exchange between the British billionaire Richard Branson and Jeffrey Epstein suggested the pair had a familiar relationship built, at least in part, around their interest in women. I would say girls.
C
Yeah.
B
And multiple messages between Musk and Epstein showed the two comparing schedules to find some time to meet in Florida or in the Caribbean between 2012 and 2014. 2012 and 2014, after he was a convicted sex offender. Mr. Blanch signaled this batch of documents would be the last major release of the Epstein files. He said that even these documents were unlikely to satisfy the public demand for information about Epstein. Yeah, because you're withholding, like, half of them.
C
Yep. And when I tell you the disgust that are in some of these. I truly believe that Donald Trump is one of the most disgusting, evil human beings that has ever walked this earth. And you cannot tell me otherwise. You'll never convince me otherwise. Yeah, but we are going to move on from that story. This one's from the Times. Amid tensions over President Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota and beyond, federal agents were told this week that they have broader power to arrest people without a warrant, without any warrant, apparently. Now we've gone from the warrants that were legal to the warrants that were not legal to no warrants at all. And this is according to internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo that was reviewed by the New York Times. This change expands the ability of lower level ICE agents to carry out sweeps rounding up people that they encounter and suspect are undocumented immigrants, rather than targeting enforcement operations in which they set out, warrant in hand, to arrest A specific person. How much racism do you think is going to have to play in this?
B
Kavanaugh stops just groups of brown people.
C
Now. The shift comes as the administration has deployed thousands of mass immigration agents into cities nationwide. A week before the memo, it came to light that Todd Lyons, the acting director of the agency, had issues guidance in May saying agents could enter homes with only that administrative warrant, not a judicial one. And the day before the memo, Mr. Trump said he would, and I quote, de escalate a little bit in Minneapolis after agents fatally shot two people in that crackdown. ICE has long interpreted that standard to mean situations in which agents believe someone is a flight risk and unlikely to comply with future immigration obligations, like appearing for hearings. I don't know how they get to decide that. That's according to the memo. But Mr. Lyons criticized that construction as unreasoned and incorrect, changing the agency's interpretation of it to instead mean situations in which agents believe someone is unlikely to remain at the scene. Huh.
B
So not there a flight risk to leave the country, but they're a flight risk to leave the scene.
C
Correct.
B
Oh, Jesus.
C
And the last quote in the story, and this is not the word, obviously an alien is likely to escape if an immigration officer determines he or she is unlikely to be located at the scene of the encounter or another clearly identifiable location once an administrative warrant is obtained. That's for Mr. Lyons. So he's saying that if you say, sit right here on this curb while I go get a warrant, that this person's not going to be there when you get back off.
B
So we can't put limits on the Second Amendment, but they're going to put limits on the fourth. Do I have that right?
C
I think you just nailed it.
B
Fucking fantastic.
C
Yeah.
B
By the way, an immigrants rights group has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston to invalidate that DHS legal memo claiming immigration agents can enter private homes without a judicial warrant. It's been assigned to Judge Julia Kobic, a Biden appointee. Next, from NBC, former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested Friday and accused of violating federal civil rights laws in connection with his coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church. Lemon, 59, and three other co defendants, Treherne Jean Cruz, Georgia for. And Jamal Lydell Lundy, all independent black journalists, were arrested Friday in connection with what Pam Bondi described on Twitter as a coordinated attack on city's church in St. Paul, Minnesota. An attack, Dana? No, an attack is when you bring flag poles and batons and riot shields into the Capitol and poop on the walls and beat up officers. That's an attack. Jesus Christ.
C
Okay, so peaceful protest.
B
Oh, that's right. It was just a siesta. Three others had been previously arrested on federal charges and then released by a judge after the Trump administration tried to keep them detained. A federal magistrate judge found the Trump administration lacked probable cause to arrest Lemon at first and several other defendants under a federal statute that top Justice Department officials conceded had never been used in the context of a protest at a church before. Ever. This is the Face Act. This is the act where you're not supposed to be blocking the clinic entrances.
C
Right.
B
And there's also a provision in there that you can't block entries to places of worship or forcibly impede people from going to church.
C
No.
B
These four black independent journalists are also charged, Dana, under the Ku Klux Klan act.
C
Unbelievable. God.
B
Title 18, U.S. code 241. The same charge Trump was brought up on by Jack Smith for what he did at the Capitol for trying to subvert the 2020 election.
C
Got it. All right, everyone, I just want to give you some content warning in this next story for violence. Okay? This is from the Associated Press. A Mexican immigrant was taken to a Minneapolis hospital earlier this month after bones in his face and skull were broken while he was in federal custody. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed that Alberto Castaneda Mondragon had tried to flee while handcuffed and I quote, purposefully ran head first into a brick wall, according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release. But staff members at Hennepin County Medical center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man's 31 year old brain. And this is from three nurses, by the way, that were familiar with the case. And this is a quote. It's laughable if there was something to laugh about at all. This is from one of the nurses who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because obviously they were not authorized to discuss their patient care. So there was no way this person ran head first into a wall. The AP interviewed a doctor and five nurses who worked at HCMC who spoke on the condition of anonymity as well. To talk about this case and the conditions inside the hospital, the AP also consulted with an outside physician who affirmed his injuries were inconsistent with an accidental fall or running into a wall. Ice's account of how he was hurt evolved during the time that federal officers were at his bedside.
B
Oh, it changed. Of course it did.
C
Yeah. At least one officer told caregivers that Castanera Mindragon and I quote, God is explicit. Rocked.
B
Yeah, got his rocked is what he said.
C
Exactly. He got his rocked after his January 8th arrest near a St. Paul shopping center. The court filing in a hospital staff member said his arrest happened a day after the first of two fatal shootings in Minneapolis by immigration officers. We've covered those in depth now. Castaneda Mandragon said his older brother is from Veracruz, Mexico, and worked as a roofer. He has a 10 year old daughter living in his hometown who helps support. According to his lawyers, Castanera mondragon entered the US in 2022 with valid immigration documents. Minnesota incorporation filings showed he founded a company called Castaneda Construction the following year with an address listed in St. Paul. He appears to have no criminal record.
B
That sounds like when Russians murder journalists. Like he fell out of a fourth floor window, he ran headfirst into a wall. That was actually one of the things that said, like when a journalist was found dead in a hotel room. The cop, the Russian police said he, he bashed his head into the wall multiple times and killed himself by doing that.
C
Unbelievable.
B
They beat the shit out of this guy, broke his skull and then tried to tell the doctors. And the doctors are like, fuck you.
C
Yeah, he didn't. My God, there is no statute of limitations on these fucking crimes. I just want to repeat that.
B
Well, there's no statute of limitations on murder, but this guy survived.
C
So. Okay, my apologies, everyone. I think I just wanted to assume that that was the case.
B
I'm not sure about attempted murder, though. I'm not sure that.
C
Sure feels like it.
B
I'd have to look that up. Next up from the Times, if it acts like a Nazi and dresses like a Nazi, it's a Nazi. A day before, six career federal prosecutors resigned in protest over the Justice Department's handling of the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Lawyers in the office had a conversation with Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol field leader, that left them deeply unsettled. According to several people with knowledge of the phone conversation, which took place January 12, Bovino made derisive remarks about the faith of the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, Daniel Rosen. Mr. Rosen is an Orthodox Jew and he observes Shabbat, and that's a period of rest between Friday and Saturday nights that often includes refraining from using electronic devices. Mr. Bovino, who has been the face of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, used the term chosen people in a mocking way, according to the people with knowledge. He also asked sarcastically whether Rosen understood that Orthodox Jewish criminals don't Take weekends off. Jesus. Mr. Bobino's comments raised judgment concerns.
C
Such a piece of shit.
B
But also a potential legal dilemma for government lawyers. Based on a 1972 Supreme Court decision. In a case known as Giglio, prosecutors have an obligation to disclose certain information to the defense that could call into question the integrity and character of a law enforcement officer who's involved in an arrest and called as a witness at trial.
C
Thank you so much. And, Allison, I did check in most US Jurisdictions, there is no statute of limitations on attempted murder. So I know you'd have to prove that that was the intent, but it.
B
Is good to know that seems like. But Dana, he ran into the wall with his. By himself.
C
Yeah. All right. This is from Ms. Now. The special agent in charge of the FBI's Atlanta field office was forced out this month after questioning the Justice Department's renewed push to probe Fulton County's role in the 2020 election. This is from two people familiar with the matter. That's what they told Ms. Now, Paul Brown was ousted after expressing concerns about the FBI's investigation into President Donald Trump's longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in the county an by Atlanta and for refusing to carry out the searches and seizures of records tied to the 2020 election. That's according to sources familiar who spoke with the MSNow network. Now, the FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operations center near Atlanta as part of a criminal investigation into records from the 2020 presidential election. Authorities see 700 boxes related to the county's 2020 general election. And for some reason, Cruella Deville was there. Tulsi Gabbard. So obviously this is part of their crackdown, that they're preparing to fuck with the midterms. Otherwise they would not be asking for the voter rolls in Minnesota. They'd be not raiding the election offices in Fulton County, Georgia.
B
Yeah, and they went in in full tactical gear, too.
C
Yep.
B
They were polos tomorrow.
C
Like, the boxes were going to, like, shoot back at them.
D
Like, literally.
B
And I Talked to Andy McCabe, obviously, FBI guy for over two decades, on yesterday's episode of Unjustified. And he's like, you only do that if you think you're. If there's a threat. I doubt the election offices in Fulton county were a threat. So it's all for show. And yeah, I'm going to talk more about Tulsi Gabbard being there with Asha Rangappa later in the show.
C
Wonderful.
B
Onto some better news. Remember how I said that Democrats would have more leverage to make demands if they separated out the DHS from the rest of the funding bill.
C
Yes.
B
And that they should use that leverage to defund ICE by clawing back the $75 billion slush fund that supplements ICE in the big ugly bill. Remember when I said that?
C
I do remember.
B
Everyone was like, no, you're dumb. No, that's stupid. One guy was like, don't insult my intelligence, fuckface.
C
Wow. Really?
B
Yeah. And I was a little worried that I would be Charlie Brown with Lucy holding the football. With Chuck Schumer holding the football on this one.
C
Yeah.
B
I didn't think they would do it, but they did. Every single Democrat voted for an amendment proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders to defund ICE to claw back that slush fund. Two Republicans also voted yes on the Sanders amendment. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. But the rest of the Republicans blocked it. So the amendment was not adopted. So now we know that every single Democrat supports defunding ICE and a couple Republicans. So take the next two weeks. We did a stopgap funding for DHS for two weeks so that we could do this. Flood their phones, flood their emails with requests to demand the Sanders amendment or shut down the dhs. I know they're also looking at, you know, making them wear body worn cameras, requiring warrants, IDs, stuff like that, cooperating with local officials in investigations. But they all seem for this, See if you can get them to demand the Sanders amendment or shut down the dhs now that it's separated out. I think we can. I think we can do this.
D
And.
B
Oh my God, Dana.
D
I can't believe they fucking did what.
B
I wanted them to do.
C
I know, it's awesome. Your beans are rarely wrong, my friend. They're rarely wrong. I do have more good news. There's more good news. This one's actually from the Post. For the second frigid Friday in a row, thousands of demonstrators skip work or school. Businesses shuttered as a march took over downtown to protest President Trump's immigration crackdown in the city. We know this. In fact, it was across cities across this country, but obviously this one happened to be in Minneapolis. Now, the march, an earlier demonstration outside the nearby federal building that has become a focal point for protest against aggressive immigration operations that have roiled the cities for weeks was one of several that spilled into the streets across the country. As I said, seizing on public outcry that intensified after federal agents in Minneapolis killed Alex Preddy six days ago. That was only six days ago, people. Jesus. Organizers called for A nationwide strike from work, school and shopping.
B
We participated. We didn't have any ads that day. That was nice.
C
Yes, we did. In other cities across the country, crowds answered the call to these protests. Marches unfolded outside schools and universities from Rhode island to Texas. Teachers absences led to school cancellations in Colorado and Arizona. In Washington, about a thousand people filled the intersection of H and 7th Streets Northwest, chanting and waving anti ice signs. Among them was Alyssa McNeil. Melissa is a Howard University freshman who said she was attending her first protest. Her first protest, she said, I have been somewhat complacent. Preddy's killing was a breaking point for me. Chicago got at least a thousand people braved below freezing temperatures to gather in Daly Plaza amid the evening rush hour. Caribbean WA52, who is Japanese American, said she has been particularly alarmed by federal agents tactics in Minnesota in light of her family's history. Her grandparents were sent to internment camps during World War II. She said, to me, this feels like federal overreach all over again. In New York, we had. Volunteers spent hours shoveling thick ice from Foley Square in lower Manhattan to accommodate hundreds of protesters, many of whom said that they were first time demonstrators. Cherik Rogers, 25, took the train from Long island to protest for the second time after demonstrating following the January 6th killing of Renee Good by that ICE agent in Minneapolis. San Francisco. And a friend of mine actually sent me that. They always do that overhead drone of the beach. At the beach. Yeah, yeah. And Ocean beach was so good. Abolish giant letters with people. But this specific one, this was. Thousands of people poured into Dolores park, another beautiful area of the city. Many of them middle and high school students. And the quote, my family came from the Philippines. I want to support them. This is from River Barazier, a seventh grader attending his first protest. He carried a handmade sign that read no ice into Gallag. Now in Los. I know. In Los Angeles, police said that they had arrested protesters who did not comply with dispersal orders. Less than lethal force was authorized after some protesters were actively fighting officers. Los Angeles Police Department said, well, we have other stories about stuff that happened downtown.
B
Yeah, we're gonna.
D
Yeah.
B
On the beat on Beans Talk, we're gonna talk about what happened in Portland. They gassed kids, families, nurses in a peaceful protest. We're going to talk about Portland over on Beans Talk. This is from the Texas Trib Democrat and machinist union leader Taylor Remt. I think that's how you say it. I could be wrong. Won the special election Saturday to represent a very solidly read Texas Senate district that Trump carried by 17 points in 2024, a stunning upset that injected a fresh and urgent sense of a panic into the Republican Party. From the Texas Capitol to the White House. Heading into November's midterm elections, with ballots tallied from all but a handful of voting Centers, Remitt had 57% of the vote, besting 43% for his Republican opponent, conservative activist Lee Wamsgant. Again, I don't know how to pronounce her last name, so correct me if I got that wrong. Wambsganz vastly outspent Remitt As Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, mounted a furious funding push in a bid to tilt the election in their favor in the final days. I love this for them. Yeah, they spent like a million dollars and remt had like 85 grand. Yep, 20 to 1.
D
The win will be short lived, though.
B
He's a first time candidate who will serve about 11 months remaining in the term of Republican Kelly Hancock, who vacated the seat to become Texas acting comptroller. But the outcome serves as a warning shot for Republicans that will likely embolden Democrats as they angle for other red leading seats across Texas and the country in November. By the way, don't forget we covered that story in the Texas Tribune that there is a Democrat running in every single district in Texas for the first time in history.
C
Every single one. That means the Senate is in play.
B
And.
C
Well, the Senate in, in Texas. Texas, the whole state is in play is what I mean.
B
Yes, absolutely. And that's what that is scaring the shit out of Republicans right now. Also, this will be the first time a Democrat has represented the northern part of Tarrant county in the state since the early 80s, according to a longtime political journalist named Bud Kennedy.
C
Now, I, I watched it because I obviously, and I'm on Instagram and so a lot of things come through my feed. What's really interesting about this race, because I watched someone who broke down the numbers, there weren't Republicans necessarily in mass numbers that switched and voted for Democrats. What they're seeing is that Republicans aren't leaving the fucking House to vote. They don't like where this country is now. They may never vote Democrat because that's where they were born and bred. It's in their blood. You know what I mean? But they are upset enough with the direction of this country that they're just staying home. And that bodes very well for Democrats in the midterms because we already show up in numbers that they don't in the midterms.
B
Historically, that and Trump's not on the ballot. That's why usually the incumbent president loses a bunch of seats in the House.
C
Yeah.
B
In the first midterm election.
C
Yeah.
D
Incumbent party.
C
They know they're in trouble.
B
Yeah.
C
I've got more good news. This is from cnn. Preschooler Liam Canejo Ramos, that sweet boy in a spider man backpack and his little blue hat. He and his father are back in Minneapolis after being released from a Texas detention facility where they had been held for more than a week. This is according to Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro. The five year old and his father Adrian were taken by immigration agents from his snowy suburban Minneapolis driveway. They were sent 1300 miles away to Texas detention facility designed to detain families with horrible conditions there. It has been documented, and I quote, yesterday 5 year old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilly Detention Center. I picked them up last night and I escorted them back to Minnesota this morning. Liam is now home with his hat and his backpack. Thank you to everyone who demanded freedom for Liam. We won't stop until all children and families are home. This is from Castro. This is what he posted on Twitter on Sunday in a scathing opinion which times read, yeah, more like a civics lesson. U.S. district Judge Fred Beery admonished, and I quote, the government's ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence quoted Thomas Jefferson's grievances against, and I quote, a would be authoritarian king saying today people are hearing echoes of that history.
B
That was a heavy ruling from Barry Byrie. I'm not sure how to pronounce that judge's name again. Send in a correction if you know. And we're going to show you the final page of that ruling that the judge signed over on the Beans Talk episode today because he included it, that picture of Liam and a couple of bible quotes. So we'll go over that on Beans Talk. All right, everybody, we have Asha Rangappa coming up next. And we're going to end with the good news, so stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
C
We'll be right back.
B
Hey, everybody. I'm officially over those mornings where I feel like I have nothing to wear, especially when I'm staring at a closet full of clothes. And Daily look makes getting dressed feel easier and way more fun. Instead of scrolling forever guessing what works, I can have a curated set of pieces that actually fit my life delivered right to my door. So thanks to Daily look, the number one premium personal styling service for women, for sponsoring us. You've got to check this out for 50 off your first order. Head to DailyLook.com and use code Daily Beans. With Daily look, you get a dedicated personal stylist, a human who curates a box around your body shape, your preferences and your lifestyle. Again, it's not an algorithm. You work with the same stylist every time too, which means your boxes get smarter and better. And you can try on up to 12 pieces at home, saving time and effort. And whether you want something polished for the office or you're upgrading from last year's stretched out sweaters, or you're me and you're tired of wearing the same black tank top and black yoga pants uniform every day.
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So they've been really helpful in that.
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Last thing I wore from Daily look.
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Was this dress that made me look like I actually have my life and style together, which is objectively hilarious. But the quality is amazing. It's beautiful pieces. They fit so well. The unboxing is really great too. It's beautiful packaging. Their mission is to elevate your style and boxes can include brands like Girlfriend Collective, Kate Spade, Spiritual Gangster, and more. Sizes run extra small to 3x, so there's something for everyone. So it's time to get your own personal stylist with Daily Look. Head to DailyLook.com to take your style quiz and use code daily beans for 50% off your first order. Once again, that's DailyLook.com for 50% off. And make sure you use our promo code DailyBeans so they know we sent you one last time. DailyLook.com, promo code DailyBeans.
C
I'm Brian Caram and I've spent decades covering politics. Now I'm taking you behind the scenes one interview at a time. Join us as each week Brian confronts the issues that matter, posing the questions.
B
You wish you could ask.
C
No filter, no agenda, just the truth. We're not here for sound bites. We're here for substance. Join me, Brian Caram every week as we cut through the noise and get straight to it. This is Just Ask the Question where curiosity will lead us to the facts. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast platform and remember, when you want answers, all you have to do is just ask the question.
D
Everybody, welcome to the Breakdown. I'm Allison Gill. I am here with the owner of the substack, the Freedom Academy, Asha Rangapa. And I have to tell you, I reached out to you because you and I have been sort of talking about on social media for a few days now, ever since Tulsi Gabbard showed up in tow at the FBI raid of the Fulton county election offices. We've been kind of putting two and two together. And, you know, I spoke to Andy McCabe about this, too, you know. Cause I'm like, am I crazy? Am I being crazy?
E
Like, am I being a conspiracy theorist?
D
Because this sounds crazy pants. And Andy McCabe, one of the most temperate people I know, was like, yeah, no, that probably sums it up. So I wanted to talk to you about this. And I saw you appear on all in with Chris Hayes to talk about this, why Tulsi Gabbard was in tow and what this could mean for the 2026, possibly 2028 elections. And I just want to give folks a little bit of background on.
E
What.
D
Went down right before January 21, January 6, 2021, because it plays an important role here. Jack Smith laid all this out in his indictments and in his volume one of his report. There were multiple conspiracies that Trump tried to use to steal the election in 2020, and they all failed, including his 63 lawsuits looking for fraud. And that led him to send the mob to the Capitol when everything, when all else failed. One of those conspiracies that Jack Smith talks about and the reason it was so important that Merrick Garland was able to get Scott Perry's phone, one of those conspiracies, was that Donald Trump first of all wanted Bill Barr to send the DOJ to seize voting machines in swing states. And Bill Barr's like, gtfo, I'm not.
B
I don't. Can't.
D
Then he wanted to send DHS and Krebs at cisa. And Miles Taylor was like, no, you don't have the authority to do that. So then he got it into his head that he was going to have the Pentagon send military members to seize the voting machines. And, Asha, you'll recall a Dec. 18, 2020, Oval Office meeting in which Rudy Giuliani was the voice of reason. Rudy Giuliani told Donald Trump, you cannot send the Pentagon to seize voting machines. But he said, unless there's foreign election interference. So then they all got on the foreign election interference train. Mike Flynn and Sidney Powell wrote up an executive order saying that China and bamboo ballots and Italian satellites and Hugo Chavez, all that stuff. So they were trying to develop some sort of foreign election interference so that they could justify the Pentagon seizing voting machines. And when that failed, Donald Trump instructed the DNI at the time, the DNI is now Tulsi Gabbard. The DNI at the time was John Ratcliffe said, I need you to brief Jeffrey Clark, the architect of the fraudulent elector scheme. One of them, I need you to brief him on foreign election interference. And they actually sat down in a meeting on January 2, 2021, and Ratcliffe told Jeffrey Clark there was no foreign election interference that would be outcome determinative, that would change the results of the election. And the reason we know that is because Jack Smith, well, Merrick Garland, got Scott Perry's phone, and Scott Perry and Jeffrey Clark texted each other after that meeting, admitting that Ratcliffe said there was no foreign election interference. And so then we get the mob to the Capitol, and the rest, as you know, is history. But there was a huge push to get prove some type of foreign election interference so that he could justify sending in the DoD to seize voting machines. Now, tie that together, please, Asha, tell us what you think Tulsi Gabbard, the new dni, was doing down there and how this might tie in to what he attempted to do but was stopped from doing in 2021.
E
Yeah. So, yes, just to add a couple more points to what you said about 2021. I'm losing track of time. Now, as a part of those kooky conspiracy theories, the foreign interference conspiracy theories, there was actually a draft executive order. It was never put into effect, but the draft executive order would have directed the Department of Defense to go send the military to seize voting machines. So, you know, I'm sure people know elections in the United States are run by the states. There's no federal control over, you know, elections. Dhs, you know, the election infrastructure is critical. Infrastructure. So what they're kind of looking at when they're using this foreign interference hook, and I don't think that this would still. I still don't think this would be legal. Okay, just to be clear, but this is where I think they're trying to get some hook to justify some federal intervention, is if it's a national security issue where foreign adversaries are, you know, you know, commandeering our election infrastructure, then there is some way for, you know, these agencies to get involved. Now, who is involved in looking at foreign, you know, interference and foreign intelligence? Well, there's the CIA. The CIA, you know, looks to see what other countries are doing. But by law, under the national security Act of 1947. The CIA is prohibited from operating within the United States. They are not allowed to perform security functions in. In the United States. You know, it would have been. I mean, it would have been. It is already cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs that, that Tulsi Ghburn was there. But I suspect. And, and by the way, Daniel, not Daniel Radcliffe.
D
John Ratcliffe. I said that too. I said it too. John Ratcliffe. I called. I called him back to the other.
E
I'm sorry, Daniel. Okay, Harry Potter is not involved in, in our mess over here, but John Radcliffe is now the Director of the CIA. Right? So he may. I mean, who knows, they might have tried to rope him in. As far as I can tell, things are sort of. Nor not normal, but more normal than other agents. These are like. So he may have pushed back or something.
D
He bought heads with. He boughts heads with Tulsi Gabbard.
C
Yeah.
E
So, you know, but Tulsi is totally on board with this. As you know, Chris Hayes mentioned when I was on with him, she's also been shut out of stuff. So she's kind of looking to get back in good graces. But to be clear, everyone, the Director of National Intelligence is a coordinating figure among the intelligence agencies.
B
Okay?
E
This was a position that was created after 9 11. It has no independent investigative authority. I have literally never heard of the DNI being any way involved in. In the execution of any kind of criminal search warrant. You know, even if there's a search warrant that's related to foreign intelligence, it's the FBI's National Security Division that handles that. So, you know, but let's look at who. What Tulsi Gabbard has done. You know, she. She let out a report, I guess this was a few months ago, on the Russian election interference, where she spun it and said that it was a made up whatever. So she's kind of one of these people who's willing to obviously create narratives that fit whatever this administration wants to do. And this is where ag, you and I, our brains were on the same wavelength. This is all happening in the aftermath of the invasion of Venezuela, right? All of a sudden, after we go to Venezuela and drag Maduro back here, Trump is tweeting or whatever true thing or whatever he does on his site. Like one or two days after re upping these conspiracy theories from five years, he gives an interview to the New York Times where he says he regrets not using that executive order to have the military seize those voting machines. So all of this is coming back up. And as you noted, which was one of the countries that there was a theory of foreign interference.
D
Venezuela.
E
Venezuela. You know, I have to be honest, I don't know the details. I know it had to do with Hugo Chavez, like, or something, but who cares? It's Venezuela. Now Nicolas Maduro is sitting in a rat infested jail and guess what? He's, you know, he, he knows what's up. He's seen what Glenn Maxwell got. So, you know, I don't know, but who's gonna. Like, in other words, what if they were to get some kind of affidavit from Maduro that's like, I interfered with like, A, what does he have to lose? B, even if he's lying, like, how. Who's gonna prove it? Even if they could prove it, who would be the one prosecuting it? It would be the Department of Justice. And why does he care? He's in jail anyway. And you know what I'm saying, like, there's no downside to any of these people literally making shit up. Now here's my question to you. I mean, they did go to a judge. This is what I said to Chris on the segment. I mean, they went to like a apparently totally normal judge and presented probable cause. So they did have something, presumably something recent because this is now like, you know, five years later. I don't know. To me, the timing is just too coincidental, right?
D
Especially with everything popping up. Like you said, I regret not seizing voting machines. And that's my concern. They're going to fabricate something. They're going to get Maduro to confess to stealing the 2020 election so that he can seize voting machines.
C
Okay.
D
In a critical midterm election year. And again, all speculation, but it just seems, I don't know, blatantly obvious to me, given all of the foreign election interference they tried to come up with. And then you have to think about all of the people who debunked all that he has been spending a lot of time trying to discredit. He went and filed an executive order that Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs from ISA are going to have, have to be investigated. He is discrediting Jack Smith's entire January 6th investigation. And he's the one who has those text messages with Scott Perry and Jeffrey Clark admitting that there was no foreign election interference on January 2, days before the insurrection they're going after. I mean, you know, they're trying to discredit everyone who has. Even though this has been investigated a million ways and a million Times, and.
E
The 63 lawsuits Trump's own intelligence community released an assessment, an intelligence assessment after the 2020 election, which is going after brain about foreign intelligence interference. And the first point. Yeah, and this is under, you know, this was released after the 2020 election. And I think this is what Chris Krebs was especially in trouble for. But the first bullet point is we assessed that there was no intrusion into actual voting, actual counting of ballots, et cetera, et cetera. Now, the question here is, is the game plan here backward looking, forward looking, or both? So the statute of limitations for the crimes that they got the search warrant for has passed. However, from, you know, I've talked to a couple of federal prosecutors who said if one of the claims is that, you know, this evidence is being concealed on an ongoing basis because one of those statutes is about, like, concealing, you know, mis, like not retaining records properly, etc. Like, in other words, if it's an ongoing thing, then, you know, it's a con and it's a conspiracy. Somehow it can extend beyond the statute of limitations. So who knows what they might. Who they might be trying to get at? Also because, you know, he's got a whole revenge thing for Fulton county, too.
B
Oh, sure.
E
And then even short of seizing voting machines, which, again, I just don't think he can do. But, you know, we're at this point where it's the make me presidency. Like, in other words, who's gonna tell him no? And, like, how do you stop him if he tries to do it? But he could use that just as his justification for requiring a federal military presence, an ICE presence around polling areas, intimidating people, you know, arresting people, accusing them of being spies. I mean, God knows, you know, there are so many. You know, in my substack post that came out today, I called it the choose your own adventure presidency because you can go to, like, you know, 10 different pages of the book and get, like, 10 different outcomes. Because at this point, it's almost. It's like the 911 phrase. It's a failure of imagination. Like, I can't even come up with all the crazy things that they might be able to do or try to justify. But that's why the foreign interference thing is very problematic because it creates this whole national security smokescreen, which they've been using for everything. Like, national security has become their fig leaf for being able to do, you know, what they want to do, partly because you get a lot of legal deference for it, partly because that's sort of an exclusive executive branch authority. So they're kind of manipulating that in A lot of different arenas.
C
Yeah.
D
And the conservative Supreme Court sort of poked Donald Trump about that in their order to. When they ordered the Department of Justice to facilitate the release or the return of Kilmar Abrigo Garcia to the United States, they put in that thing in words. They said, with due regard and deference owed the executive in foreign affairs. That, quote, has come up everywhere, whether it's the Venezuelan boat strikes or whether it's deporting people to third countries or whether it's the Abrego case or whatever it is, the Boasberg contempt stuff. They're like, it's national security. You owe me the due regard and deference. That's like, it's. He said that line a million times.
E
It's due regard and deference. And we don't have to tell you, in other words, we don't have to even show you what our evidence is because it's classified as secret, it's national security, et cetera, et cetera.
D
Like the agreement with Bukele in which we sent back Ms. 13 gang members to him so he could hush them up in exchange for being able to use their secret coat.
C
Prison.
D
The last thing I want to talk about is the problem that we face going forward as opposed to looking back with regard to the fabricated foreign election interference that they're going to have. We don't have Bill Barr. We now have Pam Bondi. We don't have Bill Barr to say.
B
The DOJ can't see his election machines.
D
We don't have Mark Esperance in charge of the Department of Defense. We now have Pete Hegseth. We don't have Chris Krebs at cisa. We don't have Miles Taylor in the White House. We don't have Hirschman, the Pats. Right. Pat Cipollone. We don't have Ken Cuccinelli. We don't have the people who were running the DOJ after Barr left, Donahue and Rosen, who said, if you install Jeffrey Clark, you will be in charge of a graveyard. We don't have any of those people anymore in this administration. And as much as I hate to refer to people like Bill Barr and Sipala Cuccinelli as the adults in the room, they actually were at that time. Esper. They actually were at that time. And so now with this motley crew of sycophants, can I add in the same pushback? Yeah, please, please.
E
Can I add in? The only people who weren't adults in the room at that time were Cash Patel and Chris Miller. Cash Patela who was at the Pentagon as the chief of staff to Chris Miller, who was the acting Secretary of Defense. Chris Miller was willing to call Italy to look into this Italian satellites thing. My point being, you know, the one person who is fully on board and willing to do it is now the director of the FBI. Yeah, exactly. So please carry on. I just wanted to add that in and make sure that Kaj Patel's the through line was noted.
D
I think our saving grace may be that even the conservative Supreme Court justices, or at least the conservative Chief of the 11th Circuit, William Pryor, who is a good friend of Clarence Thomas, has said that the executive has no role to play in elections. He said this very clearly in a ruling that was escalated to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals when Mark Meadows wanted to move his Fulton county case to federal court. He's like, first of all, it's not former officials that get this coverage from the doj. It's current officials. And second of all, even as the chief of staff who's supposed to do whatever the president says, neither you nor the president have any role in overseeing elections. Those are overseen by the states. And that's a pretty solid, at least.
B
For now.
D
Position, including with the cons, like most of the conservatives on the Supreme Court. At least I don't know how, you know.
E
Well, and it also matters for the. Even their own, you know, immunity paradigm.
C
Right.
E
I mean, I know that people are like, whatever, it doesn't matter anymore. But I mean, I still, like, you know, I think it's important to. At least if you're taking at face value. So if there is no Article 2 authority over elections, then anything he tries to do is outside the scope of anything that he would plausibly have immunity for. Maybe one day we will be in a place where that matters. And I just think it's worth kind of noting that, that it's. In other words, we talk about, you know, he kind of can do anything in a lot of ways. Cause, you know, he's using his Justice Department. But I just want to point out that technically speaking, that would come outside.
D
Of that umbrella, official duties. Right. And that is the other reason he wants this to be a national security issue.
C
Yes.
D
Is because he feels, since the Supreme Court made that little note, due deference in regard to the executive and national foreign affairs or whatever, maybe that's his foot in the door to control or have some sort of impact on election oversight where he would not normally have.
E
And to bring it under his executive branch authority. And so Article two.
D
Yeah. Article Two, faithfully execute the laws. He tried to argue that Jack Smith was like, ttfo, bro, that's not your law to execute. These are state laws. Anyway, thank you so much for breaking that down. Now people might be like, what can we do? We can do what we always do. Get out the vote, go vote. Vote as much as you can vote. This is probably largely going to be in the hands of legal experts like Mark Elias on democracy docket and the lawyers for the party, the Democratic Party, or national security counselors like nonprofits and legal. This is probably going to be in the hands of lawyers for when and if he tries to do something like this, it'll probably end up being them that has something to do in this matter. Does that make sense?
E
It makes sense. And I will just also add that as with January 6th, you know, all of these operations require kind of an information warfare component, which is they seed it through a narrative. Right. So part of this is going to be like creating some basis. I skeeted this on Bluesky. If you scroll down a few posts, you'll see it. I actually posted a link to that 2020 intelligence assessment which states very clearly from Trump's own intelligence community that there was no interference. I think pre bunking in this situation is worthwhile, in other words, in amplifying and spreading that the conclusion of the intelligence community is that there was no intrusion or alteration of actual votes. So get a hold of it, download it before it disappears on the DNI website and make sure you share it. We all have social media platforms and it's up to us to not only go vote and be engaged with our, with our bodies and our minds, but also to make sure that we're using these platforms and social media channels that we have to amplify the truth because it makes it harder for these false narratives to gain traction.
D
Yeah. And I think something else that we can probably do, I know we can definitely do, that probably might help, is to contact our state attorneys general, contact our secretary of state, our state registrar, and our local election offices to ask them what their plan is in the event of ICE being told that they have to come to our polls, or in the event that Donald Trump sends the Pentagon, you know, kegseth, after he's done doing his very poor form, pull ups to come and seize voting machines.
E
The kettlebell swings.
D
Oh, don't.
E
Did you see the kettlebell swings?
D
Why did you make me remember that?
E
I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
D
That was a buzzkill.
E
Yeah.
D
It's like when my dog used to wipe his butt on the carpet like draggin. But anyway, but you know, call your local election officials, call your registrar, call your state attorneys general, say, hey, do you have a plan in place? You should have a plan in place. And you know, you might feel like you sound a little nuts saying that you're worried about the security of our elections in, you know, in your state or in your municipality where you are. But I don't think that you can tell them that Asha and ALLISON and Andy McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI, says that you're not.
E
Yeah. And I mean, I felt, I, I felt crazy like trying to understand, you know, these, this whole rabbit hole. And I was like, I can't believe we, we might actually be here.
D
But yeah, there's a non zero chance that Maduro could be confessing to stealing the 2020 election for Joe. All right, well, thank you so much everybody. Make sure you subscribe to the Freedom Academy by Asha Rangappa. If you have the ability to subscribe to the Breakdown, my substack as well. I would love that. Tell everyone else where they can find and follow you.
E
I am on Blue Sky. I'm on Instagram though. I mainly post like personal stuff there. But you can, you can follow me there. But really my substack is where I post most of my stuff.
D
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me everybody. Thanks for being here on this Saturday afternoon. Taking some time off from your weekend to join us. We really appreciate it. Thanks for watching the Breakdown. We'll see you next time.
B
Hey everybody. Winter evenings have me in full comfort food mode. Cozy comfort food. But I'm not interested in spending my whole night cooking or going out to the store and then cleaning up after. So Home Chef has become my go to because it's that sweet spot. Warm home cooked meals that feel cozy and satisfying without the hassle. Everything shows up fresh and pre portioned so I can make something hearty and comforting without, you know, having to worry about my energy levels being too low to cook Now. Home Chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering you 50% off and free shipping on your first box. Plus free dessert for life. Just go to homechef.com DailyBeans A home chef makes dinner feel manageable. Fresh ingredients are delivered right to your door. The recipes are easy to follow and the meals taste amazing. On busy nights, I lean into their 30 minute options for oven ready trays and when I want something fancier. I pick dishes co created with celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay for restaurant quality stuff at home. With over 30 weekly choices, it's easy to find different diets and you can match your dietary needs and your moods without repeating the same meal. There's so much there to choose from now. I recently had their chicken with Parmesan cream and apple almond salad. It was amazing. So easy to make, tasty to eat. The chicken was delicious and juicy. I loved the the cream sauce too. The salad was the perfect side hit the spot. So I love how Home Chef has something for every mood. And for a limited time, Home Chef is offering you 50% off and free shipping on your first box. Plus free dessert for life. Just go to homechef.com dailybeans that's homechef.com dailybeans for 50% off your first box box and free Dessert for Life. Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert.
D
History is messy.
E
It's weird, wild and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life?
D
From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to.
C
Enlightening and surprising heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully.
D
We've got no naughty politicians, cultural chaos.
E
And a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot.
D
It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining.
E
Let's fall down the rabbit hole.
B
MSW Media. Everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news.
D
Who likes good news?
E
Everyone? Then good news everyone.
B
Good news, good news. And if you have any good news, good trouble suggestions, something little or giant that's happened to you yesterday or 20 years ago, 50 years ago. Whatever it is, if it puts a smile on our face, even a little one, we want to hear from you. We need to microdose the hope right now. Send your good news to us. You can also send a shout out if you want to a loved one or yourself. We love self shout outs. You could send a shout out to a small business in your area that could use a boost or a nonprofit you want us to know about. Maybe some great community organizing that you're seeing, an activist group you want us to know about. You can also give a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one. Any little thing you could tell us your favorite comedian, your favorite Monty Python line from your favorite Monty Python movie. You can tell us your your favorite street joke. You can tell us misheard song lyrics Anything that'll bring a smile to our face, send it to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. And all you got to do to get your submission read on the air is pay your POD pet tariff, which means attach a photo of your pet. If you don't have a pet, an adoptable pet in your area will do. If you don't have that, send a random photo of animal an animal on the Internet. We love goats right now. Send in all your goats. But really any animal, any you can send a picture of a like awkward family photo if you want, baby pictures, photos of what you're making or creating, what you're growing in your garden. If you're raising any animals, chickens, if you're knitting, crocheting. Whatever it is, send it to us. We would love to see it and share it. And you can send it to us@dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. First up is your good trouble. Your good trouble today comes from Security and Investigations editor at Wired.com's the Wired.com Security Desk has put together a comprehensive guide to filming Ice with tips for reducing risk at the forefront. No paywall, but please consider subscribing to help fund these kinds of resources and stay safe out there. Quote Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous, even deadly confrontation isn't guaranteed. Here's how to record ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents as safely as possible and how to have an impact. We'll have that resource, which is paywall, free as a link in the show notes. Nice.
C
All right, this is from Amber. No pronouns given. Hey, amazing beans Queens. It's a beautiful 23 degrees Sunday morning in Texas Senate District 9. I wrote last year with the Menagerie of Pets about the Texas State Senate race between Democrat Tyler Remt and two Republicans where we had a chance to win. He ended up beating both candidates but had to do a runoff for the majority vote. If I sound overjoyed that I just woke up because that vote was yesterday, he's finally officially won, then you are correct, he won by 14 percentage points. The district is more red than the county, but it flipped by 17 points from Trump's 2024 win. Turns out it's all over the news today, but I just wanted to send in the fantastic news. Officially. Pot pet tariff is Justin who's up for adoption at a rescue. I work for guess his breed. He looks like a beagle it but also like Australian shepherd in there. Oh now there's another picture. Oh he's Got a cast. Justin's cute. I really do love when people name their animals people names.
B
All right, let's see what the breed say says here. Plot hound mix. That is one I have not heard of.
C
Not me either. There you go.
B
Plot Hound. So thank you. He's adorable. Justin is adorable. And congratulations on your win. Oh, it's amazing. Felt good. Next up, Marianne pronouns she and her. Hi, ag and dg for my good news submission. I'm excited to share that my Two daughters, age 23 and 19, attended their first protest with me last week. We joined many others at our state Capitol on January 30 for Ice out, the National day of action. We had a fantastic time despite temps in the teens and some bitter wind gusts. So proud to see them get involved. I've included a group photo of us. Fun fact. The one on the right caused Dana to exclaim oh, my ovaries. When she saw her baby photo a couple of weeks ago, as well as a pic of my favorite sign from the day. Thanks for all you do to help keep us informed, entertained, and radicalized. And, oh, yeah, fuck Donald Trump. Trump is a cuck. I love it. And look, there's Stephen Miller humping the United States. And Trump is watching. Hence the c. Yeah.
D
Okay.
B
Look at these. The beautiful family.
C
So beautiful. I have a question. I'm throwing myself under the bus. Allison, what is a cuck? I keep hearing it, and I don't know what it means.
B
Yeah, you don't want to Google that. You don't want that in your.
C
Exactly.
B
Search history. As far as I understand, a cuckold is someone who is forced to watch their wife have sex with another person.
C
Oh, yeah.
B
So that's why Donald Trump is watching Stephen Miller have sex with the United States.
C
Understood. Thank you very much.
B
And it's. It's not like an explicit sex act. It's more like a dog humping somebody's leg. I just want to. If. If you don't get to see if you haven't. If you're not a patron and you can't see the picture, I don't want.
D
You to think it's gross.
C
Yeah, it's not. Not at all. I just didn't know what the term meant because I hear it all the time. Okay. Look at this family, though.
B
Look at this.
C
Jeff.
B
Justice for Renee.
C
Nicole.
B
Good enough is enough. Justice for Renee. And Alex. No immunity for ice.
D
Fantastic.
C
I love it, love it, love it. All right, so from Heather Pronoun, she and her. I want to give a shout out to Denver, Colorado. I saw this over past Saturday was so proud. I know the orange turd is coming for our state soon. Pot Pet Tax. Betsy Blue My mini Aussie loving some snow. Thanks for keeping our spirits up this crap fest. We are living in ice out overpass.
B
Oh my God.
C
Look at this dog picture in the snow.
B
That is like a.
C
That's something gorgeous.
B
That's like a painting I would hang on my wall.
C
100 beautiful.
B
All right, next up from RS, no pronouns. My bit of good trouble to submit is to shout out an event to support that's doing good work. This is an event to support the project for Awesome. P Number four is an annual event run by Hank and John Green to raise awareness for charities that are doing good work across the world. The raised money is redistributed to charities voted on by the community P4A. This year is February 13th through the 15th. Even if you can't donate, you can vote for specific charities and watch their telethon style YouTube stream during the drive. You can also check out the website for more details. Project4f o r awesome.com My pet tariff is John Green's dog Potato. Seemed fitting for this submission. Potato is adorable.
C
Oh my God. So cute.
B
Thank you for that. Rs.
C
Yes, we got Rachel. No pronouns given. I just wanted to share a pic of what makes me smile every day. My beloved pet peacock mantis named Smeagol. Smeagol. He's both beautiful and a bit murderous, but also gentle and silly with his tank mate. A red fan. A red fan Tube worm. Huh. I think we can all identify with his demeanor at different times. I strive to use his gentle restraint when getting to know and understand those in his community, but ultimately still punching those he needs to.
B
Look at these guys.
D
Oh my God.
C
He's wild. It looks like a lobster.
B
He looks like a something I like in a Ren and Stimpy show.
C
Yeah.
B
Or a Muppet. He's fantastic.
C
He really is. That's funny.
B
Can I spot the red tube worm? I don't. I don't see the. I don't know what a red tube worm looks like.
C
I'm not sure what I'd be looking for yet.
B
I was looking for a red tube worm and you know, like, I don't see one. Next up from Casey Pronoun. She and her daily beans Queens. I'm writing in with some good news from Missouri. My relationship with religion is complicated as it is for so many Americans these days. Thankfully, I found a wonderful church a few years ago full of wonderful people. I knew it was my kind of place when I saw the rainbow flag flying outside. This church recently did a multi part sermon series on the separation of church and hate. When it was first announced, I assumed the title was a coincidence and unrelated to Fugalsang's book. But instead, our pastor announced in the first sermon that the series is based on a book that he read.
C
That's wild.
B
John Fugalsang. A shout out. A lady sitting next to me leaned in and asked if I'd heard the author's name. And I said maybe a little too loudly for church. John Fugelsang. He's amazing. Oh, and he has great hair. I'll tell you all about John Fugelsang. Fridays after church, church.
D
Big shout out.
B
To the amazing group at Trinity United Methodist Church in Kansas City for loving their neighbors and living their faith out loud through love in action. That's a wonderful endorsement, Casey.
C
Yeah.
B
Thank you so much. And yeah, that's so John Fug. I'll tell you all about John Fugle.
C
Sing. Oh, my God. So funny.
B
Yeah, we love our John Fugle saying.
C
Oh, what a good news. Submission. What a great. It's a good episode. I mean, there's so much in the world. These news, you know, the good news is always one of my favorite parts. It truly is because this is his palate cleanser. Like, I hate to say, I couldn't even tell you what we talked about on the news stories, which is. I'm sure it'll come back into my, you know, my consciousness, but right now all I have is the good news in my head.
B
Right. You know about it. It's in there.
E
Yeah.
B
You have the knowledge, this palate cleanser at the end. And I just wanted to share one more palate cleanser today for my final thought. We lost Catherine o'. Hara.
C
Oh, yeah, sorry.
B
This is going to be hard for me because she was just such a trailblazer in comedy and a beautiful soul. Immense talent, genius, fearless, fearless women. And you and I often, during our what the Mutt segments, when we try to guess people's dogs breed dog breeds, sing God Loves a Terrier all the time.
C
I thought about you immediately.
B
I'm gonna sign off today and then I'd like to play us out with God Loves a Terrier.
C
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
B
Just as a tribute, a small, tiny tribute to the giant, the comedic, brilliant giant that is Catherine o'. Hare. Yeah. So everybody, until 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. I've been DG and them's the beans.
C
God loves a terrier, yes he does good loves a terrier that's because small, sturdy, bright and true truth they give their love to you God didn't miss a stitch Be it dog or be it when he made the Norwich Merrier with its cute little derriere yes, God loves a terrier The Daily Beans is.
B
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.
This episode focuses on explosive developments around the identification of the CBP agents who killed Alex Pretti, the incomplete DOJ release of Epstein files, escalating ICE and CBP abuses, mass protests across the U.S., a shocking Democratic upset in the Texas Senate, and an in-depth conversation with former FBI agent and legal analyst Asha Rangappa about the politicization of federal law enforcement ahead of the 2026 elections.
The hosts deliver the news with their signature snark, urgency, and focus on civil rights, punctuated by genuine moments of outrage, hope, and some laughter.
[03:01]
"This is systematic and it goes very, very deep, years and years and years." — Dana Goldberg [03:41]
[10:24]
"We've gone from the warrants that were legal to the warrants that were not legal to no warrants at all." — Dana Goldberg [09:46]
[12:05]
"Every single independent and corporate white media outlet journalist needs to be shouting at the top of their lungs." — Allison Gill [05:26]
[13:53]
"That sounds like when Russians murder journalists … They beat the shit out of this guy, broke his skull and then tried to tell the doctors. And the doctors are like, fuck you." — Allison Gill [16:16]
[18:05]
[22:52]
“Organizers called for a nationwide strike from work, school, and shopping.” — Dana Goldberg [22:52]
[20:21]; [26:12]
“They spent like a million dollars, and Remt had like eighty-five grand.” — Allison Gill [26:20]
[28:03]
[32:39–56:55]
"I have literally never heard of the DNI being any way involved in...the execution of any kind of criminal search warrant." — Asha Rangappa [39:58]
"What if they were to get some kind of affidavit from Maduro that's like, I interfered with...A) what does he have to lose? B) Even if he's lying, like, who's gonna prove it?" — Asha Rangappa [41:45]
"National security has become their fig leaf for being able to do what they want to do..." — Asha Rangappa [47:08]
"Amplifying and spreading that the conclusion of the intelligence community is that there was no intrusion or alteration of actual votes." — Asha Rangappa [53:18]
[59:40–end]
| Segment | Start | Description | |--------------------------------------------|----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Episode Intro/News Recap | 00:58 | Headlines: Pretti’s killers named, ICE abuses, protests, TX election, Epstein docs | | Pretti Case & CBP Systemic Issues | 03:01 | Ochoa & Gutierrez named, analysis of CBP/ICE abuses | | ICE Home Raids & Warrant Expansion | 09:46 | Escalating warrantless powers, legal challenges | | Journalists Arrested/KKK & Face Act misuse | 12:05 | Black journalists arrested, misuse of laws | | ICE Violence & Cover-up | 13:53 | Castaneda Mondragon case, medical evidence contradicts ICE claims | | Border Patrol Antisemitism | 18:05 | Bovino’s comments, legal ramifications | | Protests Nationwide | 22:52 | Details and stories from wave of protests | | Defunding ICE/Political Developments | 20:21 | Sanders amendment, Dems/2 GOP for, GOP blocks; TX 30-point swing | | Better News: Liam Ramos’ Release | 28:03 | Young boy and father freed from camp, scathing judicial ruling | | INTERVIEW: Asha Rangappa | 32:39 | Deep dive into FBI raids, Maduro, legal risks, and what’s at stake | | Good News Palate Cleanser | 59:22 | Listener stories, protest coverage, and a heartfelt sign-off |
This episode exposes the depth and breadth of institutional abuses by ICE and CBP, the persistence of cover-ups and racial targeting, and the high stakes for American democracy as federal powers are repurposed for political gain. Through personal stories, sharp analysis, and an expert interview with Asha Rangappa, listeners are armed not only with facts and context but avenues for action: protest, voting, contacting local officials, and fighting propaganda.
The hosts end with glimmers of hope—grassroots wins, community resilience, and small joys, reminding listeners to “microdose the hope.”
For listeners seeking context, analysis, and encouragement in the fight for justice and democracy, this episode is timely, fiery, and indispensable.