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The Daily Beans
Refried Beans | Incompetent And Untrustworthy | Apr 22, 2024
00:53:57
Monday, April 22nd, 2024 Opening statements in the first criminal trial of a former president; a Turning Point Action resigns after accusations of election fraud; Louisiana lawmakers vote to remove lunch breaks for child workers; Bennie Thompson introduces a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from felons; Kari Lake wants Arizona sheriffs to enforce 1864 abortion ban; the Texas Bar says Ken Paxton should be disciplined for his lawsuit attempting to overturn the election; the NYAG files her objection to Trump’s $175M bond; plus Allison and Dana deliver your good news.
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- [00:00]
Alison Gill
MSW Media. Hey, everybody, it's Ag. And welcome to Refried Beans, where we play an episode of the Daily Beans podcast from the same week either one, two or three years ago, so we can see how far we've come. So please enjoy this episode from days gone by and note the date in the intro.
- [00:23]
Dana Goldberg
Refried beans.
- [00:24]
Alison Gill
I like refried beans.
- [00:25]
Dana Goldberg
That's why I want to try fried.
- [00:26]
Alison Gill
Beans, because maybe they're just as good.
- [00:27]
Dana Goldberg
And we're wasting time.
- [00:32]
Alison Gill
Swearing.
- [00:35]
Dana Goldberg
J beans j be.
- [00:45]
Alison Gill
Hello and welcome to the Daily Beans for Monday, April 22, 2024. Today we have opening statements in the first criminal trial of a former president in history. A turning point action person resigns after accusations of election fraud. Louisiana lawmakers vote to remove lunch breaks for child workers. Bennie Thompson introduces a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from felons. Kerry Lake wants Arizona sheriffs to enforce the 1864 abortion ban. A Texas bar association says Ken Paxton should be disciplined for his lawsuit attempting to overturn the election in 2020. And the new York Attorney General files her objection to Trump's $175 million bond. I'm Alison Gill.
- [01:26]
Dana Goldberg
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
- [01:31]
Alison Gill
Hey, Dana. Happy Monday.
- [01:33]
Dana Goldberg
Happy Monday to you. I heard Ann saw the gala was a huge success. Did you have an amazing time?
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Alison Gill
We had a really, really incredible time. I thank everybody for being there. Thanks to our special guest. Anna Bauer joined us. It was great to see her. My friend Madison was there from Daniel Goldman's office. We also had Glenn Kirschner, Andy McCabe, Pete Struck. Capitol Police Officer Danny Hodges joined us. It was truly an incredible night. Charlotte Clymer was there. She said a few words. So I just, you know, thanks to everybody who made it a reality and I appreciate everybody showing up. Thanks to our patrons, especially for supporting independent media and making, making these shows possible. It was really, really awesome.
- [02:16]
Dana Goldberg
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
- [02:18]
Alison Gill
And we have a special B block today. I'm doing another insurance seminar in the B block to talk about the bond. Pretty much everything Tish James says in this reply in her response she's objecting to the bond is basically most of the things I was complaining about last week when we did a B block on, what are they called? Excess line insurance agents. So it should be a, a party in the B block for insurance. So stick with me for that. I think you'll, I think you'll enjoy it, but, you know, it is about insurance. Also. Benny Thompson on Friday introduced legislation that would strip Secret Service protection from convicted felons sentenced to prison.
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Dana Goldberg
I think that's fantastic. Because they should be.
- [03:05]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And it's obviously aimed directly at President Trump, former President Trump. So I thought that was. I think it's a good idea. I don't think there are downsides, though. Like I talked about on the bonus episode this weekend for patrons in the weekly wrap up, I was like, ah, yeah. But then that puts the onus on the prison guards that they have to work extra hard.
- [03:25]
Dana Goldberg
That's true.
- [03:27]
Alison Gill
So we're already paying for Secret Service. Hopefully we won't have any more criminal presidents anyway, so.
- [03:32]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
- [03:33]
Alison Gill
Oh, and Dana, we have a trial starting today.
- [03:35]
Dana Goldberg
Amazing.
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Alison Gill
What we got all the jurors seated on Friday, so that's. We're doing opening statements today. I'm beside myself. We've been waiting for what, eight years almost.
- [03:48]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
- [03:49]
Alison Gill
To see a resolution to these crimes. This is the investigation that started in the Mueller probe was handed off to the Southern District of New York, was quashed by Bill Barr, and then Bill Barr and the Southern District of New York told the DA and the New York Attorney General to not do anything because they were investigating and they weren't. Right. And then finally when that person left and when Trump got out of office, we were able to start that investigation back up in earnest. Within days, the Manhattan DA was sending out subpoenas.
- [04:25]
Dana Goldberg
So crazy. I mean, this is. It's historic. Historic Monday, everyone is going to be glued to social media. They have been up to this point. And this is going to continue until we get a verdict.
- [04:33]
Alison Gill
Yeah. And I think it's extra karma, karmic justice. I guess that the reason the statute of limitations did not expire is because of the pandemic. Yeah, because of Trump's mishandling of the pandemic that told the statute of limitations on all crimes for long enough to be able to bring these charges.
- [04:58]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah. Also Monday, when the case starts, it's Earth Day, as well as the kickoff to Lesbian Visibility Week. So I feel like all of those converging is just, like, good things. There's good things happening on Monday.
- [05:10]
Alison Gill
Love it. Love it. Lesbian Visibility Week. Happy Lesbian Visibility Week, my friend.
- [05:14]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah. Kicking it off. I will actually be. I can say this. Can I say, like, I'm not allowed to say anything yet? It's. It's not a. I don't know. I shouldn't downplay it. Anyway, I will be at the London Stock Exchange in New York Monday night kicking off Lesbian Visibility Week with the founder of Curve Magazine, Franco Stevens, and the foundation that she started. So I will report back on that. On the podcast Wednesday. You'll hear about it on Wednesday.
- [05:40]
Alison Gill
Very cool. Yeah, awesome. Sweet. All right. Well, with that, we do have a lot of news to get to today because a lot of stuff happened over the weekend. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from Yvonne Wingette Sanchez, a top leader of the national conservative group Turning Point Action, which has amplified false claims of election fraud by former President Trump and others, had to resign Thursday after being accused of forging voter signatures on official paperwork so he could run for reelection in the Arizona House.
- [06:12]
Dana Goldberg
Unbelievable. Actually. Believable.
- [06:14]
Alison Gill
Yep. State Rep. Austin Smith, who was a senior director at Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of Charlie Kirk's Turning Point usa, was accused by a Democratic activist of submitting petition sheets with rows of voter names, addresses and signatures that bear a striking resemblance to Smith's handwriting. And that's according to a complaint. Smith, quote, personally circulated multiple petition sheets bearing what appear to be forged voter signatures. Now the complaint was sent to the Arizona Secretary of State, who forwarded it to the Arizona attorney general for review. State election officials do not assess the veracity of allegations made against candidates. A spokesperson for the state prosecutor's office, which runs a team that focuses on claims of voter and election fraud, after widespread claims following the 2020 election, declined to. Both state offices are overseen by Democrats. Now Smith submitted his resignation to Turning Point Action on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Smith also publicly ended his reelection campaign. Smith did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, the first term lawmaker said the allegations against him were silly and part of a coordinated attack by Democrats and those unhappy with my politics. No, that's not it. Sorry, Austin. Smith is aligned with some of the most conservative members of the Arizona House, sometimes referred to as the Freedom Caucus or of the larger Republican Caucus, and has previously derided signature verification work by local election officials as a joke. And then he forged a bunch of his own signatures.
- [07:55]
Dana Goldberg
I guess that's a punchline.
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Alison Gill
During his time with Turning Point Action, Smith worked to support candidacies of conservatives who spread false information about elections. At a rally in D.C. on January 5, 2021, Smith tweeted a photo of himself speaking to quote, thousands of patriots. In that since deleted tweet, he urged followers, don't get comfortable and fight like hell. The next day, as Congress met to certify the election, as we know, the Capitol came under attack. Smith said the prospect of costly and public fallout from the allegations shaped his decision to drop out of the race. Quote, the recommendation I received most was that I bow out and live to fight another day. That's what he said on Twitter. I might be confident of victory, but all it would take is a judge believing any one person and all would be lost. What to better be protected in the future, if and when I run for something, I'll rely exclusively on the online signature system and eliminate paper petitions for from my campaign. Then no one can make up any stories.
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Dana Goldberg
Oh my God.
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Alison Gill
The complaint alleged that Smith submitted multiple pages with dozens of forged signatures that he claimed to have collected, and it contained images of two of those pages. Smith's withdraw drew immediate reaction from members of his own party, some of whom faced death threats and harassment for upholding the will of the voters and Republican losses during the 2020 and 2022 elections. Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman, a Republican who lives in Smith's district west of Phoenix, cast Smith as a hypocrite. Now Hickman actually rejected attempts by Trump to talk to him in the weeks after the then president lost the election. And Hickman has faced death threats and threats against his family and protests at his house. On Thursday, he called on Smith to resign. He said, this is a man who has lied to the people of Legislative District 29 and the entire state about our election operation for at least three years. That's what Hickman said in a statement. And now he's accused of lying about the signatures he personally collected to get on the ballot. Again, an investigation will reveal the truth.
- [10:00]
Dana Goldberg
Goodness. Thank you AG. This next story is from James Finn@nola.com a Louisiana House committee. They voted Thursday to repeal a law requiring employers to give child workers lunch breaks and to cut unemployment benefits. This is part of a push by Republicans to remove constraints on employers and reduce aid for injured and unemployed workers.
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Alison Gill
Why do they have child workers in the first place?
- [10:24]
Dana Goldberg
Bizarre. The House labor and Industrial Relations panel this is what they are they advance the child labor legislation. House Bill 156, along with House Bill 119, which would slash the amount of time for which people can collect unemployment aid. A third bill that the committee approved this was House Bill 529 would change how workers compensation wages are calculated in ways that could reduce benefits received by some injured laborers. How do they think they're going to get the support of the workforce with this? The bills, which head to the full House, are part of a broad effort by Republicans to weaken labor unions and strengthen employers hands. In Louisiana, they are aligned with steps other Republican led legislatures have taken in recent years. And on Thursday, GOP lawmakers attributed the moves to Gov. Jeff Landry's directive to, quote, reform the business environment and remove bureaucratic red tape. First term. State Rep. Roger Wilder, he's a Republican from Denham Springs who sponsored the child labor measure and owns Smoothie King franchises across the Deep south, said he filed the bill in part because children want to work without having to take lunch breaks. Do you hear that sentence?
- [11:34]
Alison Gill
It reminds me of in Zoolander where he's like, little children love to go to work and they hate when there's labor laws and, you know, they play the little cartoon. That's what this sounds like.
- [11:45]
Dana Goldberg
That's so bizarre. He questioned why Louisiana had the requirement while other states where he owns Smoothie King locations like Mississippi. When you're using Mississippi as an example for labor laws, I guess there's an issue here. Apparently they don't have them. And he criticized people who have questioned the bill's purpose. The wording is, quote, we're here to harm children. Give me a break. He said, these are young adults. Then stop calling them children. The committee approved his Bill 10 to 3. Earlier, the panel advanced HB 119, the proposed restructuring. Although I do want to know what the age is, by the way, what he calls young adults, because then I get worried about like, you know, marriage, child marriage and abortion. You know what I mean? You know where I'm going with that. Earlier, the panel advanced HB119, the proposed restructuring of the state's unemployment benefit system. Lawmakers pitched it as a way to get more people into paying jobs and a disincentive against remaining in the unemployment benefit system for too long. If passed by the House and Senate and signed by the governor, the bill would reduce the maximum period for which people can gather unemployment benefits in a given year from 26 to 20 weeks. The bill would also make the amount of time people can collect benefits dependent on the state unemployment rate, meaning workers would not be able to take advantage of the full 20 week maximum under the current unemployment rate. It sets a 12 week cap on those benefits when Louisiana statewide unemployment rate is at 5% or less. It lays out a scale where each additional half percentage point increase in the unemployment rate laid off, workers can collect benefits for an additional week. Only when the unemployment rate rises to 8.5% would workers be able to claim benefits for the I know. For the maximum 20 weeks. Louisiana unemployment rate was 4.2% in February, the last month when data was available from the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Critics blasted the unemployment bills Thursday as harmful to laborers. Christina LeBlanc, a policy analyst for pro worker nonprofit Invest in Louisiana, previously, by the way, the Louisiana Budget Project. She said the proposed systems would disproportionately harm rural parishes whose unemployment rates fall below the state's overall percentage of unemployed people. East Carroll Parish, for example, has an unemployment rate of 9.8%. That's according to LeBlanc. First responders who've been injured on the job and representative of the state's firefighters union later spoke against HB529. That's the bill carried by Rhett Raymond Cruz. He's a Republican from Basier City Bossier, probably Bossier City to change the way payments to injured workers are calculated. Currently, workers comp wages benefits are calculated by multiplying a worker's hourly wage by the average number of hours they work in the four weeks preceding the workplace accident. Cruz's bill proposes jettisoning that system and instead calculating their weekly wages by taking the total amount of money they received in 52 weeks before their accident divided by 52. Now, workers in Louisiana can currently earn up to 75% of statewide average weekly wage at the time of their injury. That's according to nolo.com which is a legal consulting group. Chad Major, president of the Professional Firefighters association of Louisiana, said the bill would cause workers who've gotten raises or promotions before an accident to receive lower amounts in workers comp benefits if they had been paid had they been on job. Quote, you look at 52 weeks, that's fine and dandy, echoed Robert Todd. He's an EMT who has said he had been injured and received workers comp. He went on to say, but if you get injured two weeks before my next pay raise, I'm stuck making what I made before. Cruz said his bill would help streamline the workers comp process. Quote I know this is a great bill in terms of simplifying the process and being able to move more quickly, he said. This is the committee approved it, by the way. Ten to three Republican led state legislatures nationwide have often moved to slash workers comp benefits. ProPublica investigations found this out. Other state houses have similarly moved in recent years to weaken child labor regulations, and some have moved to more tightly regulate labor unions. The goal of several other bills moving through the Capitol in Baton Rouge, including one that would make it more challenging for unions to collect dues through payroll deductions.
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Alison Gill
Republicans hate you, I think is.
- [16:08]
Dana Goldberg
I mean, I don't know any other.
- [16:10]
Alison Gill
Way to describe it that that's you know, they hate unions. They want to cut your benefits. They want to base your how long you get unemployment on the unemployment rate. What a bunch of assholes.
- [16:23]
Dana Goldberg
It's absurd.
- [16:23]
Alison Gill
All right, so we, we have this amazing unemployment rate because we have an incredible president in the White House. And so that's too bad for.
- [16:32]
Dana Goldberg
It also seems counterintuitive to me. You would think if the unemployment rates low, they're not paying out as much. So they would to give them benefits longer. They want it to reach a certain percentage and then they're going to let people get more from the government. It's a supply and demand thing. The math is completely backwards. Unless I'm missing something.
- [16:51]
Alison Gill
Well, they're trying to say that, hey, unemployment's really low, everybody's hiring. You know, you should be able to get a job very easily is what they're trying to say. It seems backwards to me, but yeah, it is. All right, next up from Tessa Stewart at Rolling Stone, Republican Senate candidate Carrie Lake can't seem to make up her mind. Does she think the Arizona Civil War era total ban on abortion is a great law like she said, and that abortion is the ultimate sin like she said on the campaign trail in 2022? Or does she think that every woman should have choices when they get pregnant, as she is insisting in a recent campaign video? In the wake of the state Supreme Court decision reanimating the 1864 law that prohibits abortion at any point in a pregnancy for any reason except to save the life of the mother, Lake initially issued a statement declaring it was abundantly clear that the pre statehood law is out of step with Arizonans and their views on abortion. She called on state officials to come up with an immediate common sense solution. Attorney General Chris Mays had already offered one. The state's top law enforcement officer announced her office would not enforce the ban, which snaps back into effect in June. The law declares anyone who provides, supplies or administers an abortion to be punished with up to five years in jail. And back when this law was written, the jail was like a little cement hut.
- [18:11]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
- [18:14]
Alison Gill
But last weekend, Dana Carrie Lake suggested that county sheriffs should enforce the 1864 abortion ban. Since the attorney general is not going to quote, we can have that law, but it's going to be enforced with the people we have in office. That's what Lake told the crowd at a Mojave County Republican Party event. The only people, quote, who can enforce that law are our sheriffs. And we need to start asking the sheriffs if they're willing to enforce that. I don't think they are. Those were the comments that were first reported by the Copper Courier, which is a local Arizona paper. And you know, I got to tell you, she was for the law. Then the law passed and she saw the backlash or was reanimated, I should say. Then she came out and said, oh, maybe this isn't the best. Then her core supporters were like, what are you talking about? This isn't the best? This is the best. We love it. Why are you backing off? And so now she's going like it's just a flip flop. Flip flop is what it is. Now Blake made these remarks just days after posting a video saying a full ban on abortion is not where the people are. And in that same video, she said she wants to make sure every woman who finds herself pregnant has more choices, adding that there must be exceptions made for rape and incest, exceptions that the 1864 law does not contain. Voters may have a chance to weigh in on the matter, but not until November, when a ballot measure that would protect the right to abortion until the point of fetal viability, which is around 24 weeks, is expected to appear on the ballot. Now in the meantime, at least one county attorney has expressed interest in prosecuting people under the law, and there are undoubtedly some Arizona sheriffs that would be willing to answer Carrie Lake's call. At the Arizona center for Investigative Reporting, they wrote, the state has become ground zero for the so called constitutional sheriff's movement, which adherents are already becoming accustomed to picking and choosing what laws they want to enforce. You've seen these asshole sheriffs around the nation like we're going to enforce this law even though it was from 1864 because they really wish they could live in 1864.
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Dana Goldberg
Absolutely.
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Alison Gill
The movement, which more than half of the state sheriffs have aligned themselves with, according to acir, is premised on a radical ideology that the sheriff's power within his or her county is superseded by no state or federal government entity, but is guided by the sheriff's interpretation of the Constitution. Nullification, or refusing to enforce laws or mandates a sheriff deems unconstitutional is a core part of this ideology. Earlier this week, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers association convened and I just like they convene in Las Vegas for a training session that includes talks by Trump associates Mike Flynn, Patrick Byrne and the pillow man Mike Lindell, and is followed by probably going to strip clubs. At the same event, Lake told the crowd, they're going to come after us with everything. That's why the next six months is going to be intense. She went on to suggest supporters would need to get to strap on a seat belt. That's not what you do with a seatbelt, Carrie, honey. And I'm a little worried.
- [21:21]
Dana Goldberg
You should have seen the video. She's like, y'all need a strap on. And then paused for a very uncomfortable amount of time and then went on to like she got ratioed left and right on social media for it.
- [21:32]
Alison Gill
A seatbelt. Strap on a seatbelt and a helmet, please. And the Armor of God. Okay, if, if you don't have a strap on. Named the Armor of God after this episode. I don't know what this is even for, she added. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case. Oh, great.
- [21:50]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, the whole video is a joke. I'm actually surprised it's not an SNL skit yet. All right. Last in this segment. This is from Acasia Coronado at the Associated Press. A Texas appeals court has ruled that Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton can face discipline from the state Bar association over his failed effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Love to hear this. A disciplinary committee of the State Bar of Texas accused Paxton in 2022 of making false claims of fraud. In a lawsuit that questioned President Joe Biden's victory. On Thursday, three judge panel of the fifth District Court of Appeals said Paxton can be sanctioned by the committee because the law seeks to punish him in his personal capacity as an attorney and not a public official. Quote, the focus of the commission's allegations is squarely on Paxton's alleged misconduct, not that of the state. This is from Judge Aaron Noel and happens to be an elected Democrat, wrote in. That's what she wrote in a two to one opinion. The Lone Star Republican on the panel, that's Judge Emily Miscal. Of course she was the dissent. A similar lawsuit was also brought against one of Paxton's top deputies. Earlier this week, a coalition of state Republican attorneys general urged the Texas Supreme Court to reject efforts by the bar to impose discipline. All nine members of the state's highest court are Republicans. Quote, huh? As in that case, we will appeal this ruling and have full confidence the Supreme Court of Texas will not follow false claim by the state bar and partisan political revenge to affect personal licensure of the state's lawyers. This is what Paxton spokeswoman Paige Wiley said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the State Bar of Texas and the committee that accused Paxton, they all declined comment on the ruling. Paxton is among the highest profile attorneys to face a threat of sanctions for aiding in efforts led by former President Trump to throw into question Trump's defeat. The state bars disciplinary group's punishment against an attorney that can range from a written admonishing. Admonishing to a suspension or even disbarment. The disciplinary process resembles a trial and could include both sides eliciting testimony and obtaining records through discovery. That discovery part always gets real fucking sketchy for Republicans.
- [24:07]
Alison Gill
It sure does.
- [24:08]
Dana Goldberg
Paxton is not required to have bar membership in order to serve as Attorney General, so that wouldn't change that. But state bar officials began investigating complaints over Paxton's election lawsuit. In 2021. A similar disciplinary proceeding was launched by the group against Paxton's top deputy. That case awaits a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court.
- [24:28]
Alison Gill
Yeah, they also threw out the whole disbarment proceeding for Sidney Powell because they, there was a couple of paperwork errors and they haven't refiled, so.
- [24:36]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, boy.
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Alison Gill
Yeah, I don't have a lot of hope here. And like you said, he doesn't, doesn't disqualify him from being Attorney General. And the fact that being disbarred doesn't disqualify you from being Attorney General is.
- [24:48]
Dana Goldberg
Kind of fucked up. It's, it's very up.
- [24:52]
Alison Gill
So, anyway, I thought that that was weird. All right, I'm going to take you to an insurance seminar after this quick break, and then we'll get to the good news. Everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll right back. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Okay, so last week we did a deep dive on excess line insurance brokers and the Knight Specialty Insurance in Delaware and the Knight Insurance Company parent company that said it had a billion dollars in quote, unquote assets. And they are an alien insurer. They're called that because they are in the Cayman Islands, which is a really great, great place for insurance companies to be if you're a thieving, conniving dickhead now. And, hey, no shade to like, legit insurers who run their job, their businesses out of the Caymans. But that, that will come up in what the New York Attorney General has submitted in response to what's going on with this surety bond. She wants it to be totally rejected and she says why. She says the Appellate Division substantially reduced to $175 million the undertaking that the defendants were required to post to stay execution of this court's judgment pending appeal after receiving the favorable ruling of lowering that bond amount from 464 million to 175 million rather than select as the surety a large national insurance company licensed in New York, experienced in underwriting surety bonds and with policyholder surplus greater than 175 million. Instead, the defendants chose Knight Specialty Insurance Company. KSIC, a small insurer that is not authorized to write business in New York and thus not regulated by the state's insurance department, has never before written a surety bond in New York or in the prior two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of just $138 million. Defendant and KSIC. Collectively, the movements have failed to justify KSIC as the surety on this extraordinarily large undertaking for a number of reasons. And then she lists three reasons. First, she says the movements fail to meet their burden of establishing that there is sufficiently secure and ascertainable collateral to back the bond. For collateral, the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust granted KSIC a lien on a Schwab brokerage account held by the trust that the defendants maintain presently has just over $175 million in cash, and she put cash in quotes. But pursuant to the agreement governing how the collateral is pledged and controlled, the trust retains ownership of the account and can withdraw funds and make trades on the account unless KSIC objects within two business days after receiving notice of the proposed transaction. So not only is the the Schwab account still owned by Trump and operatable by Trump, but Trump would be responsible for notifying the Night Insurance company or their KSIC Night Specialty Insurance Company. You have to trust that Donald Trump would notify him that he's making any changes to that account, selling anything, trading anything, and then they. They have two days to object. That's if he tells them. That's if this is even. If this even exists. I'll get into that in a second. If the funds held in the account dip below 175 million, the trust, then Trump promises to true up the balance by depositing additional funds in multiple permitted forms, including stocks, a promise that is hollow if the trust does not have the funds to do so and concedes the value of the collateral will fluctuate based on market conditions. On the evidence submitted by movements in support of the motion, there's insufficient basis for this court to find that the bond is sufficiently collateralized by identifiable assets. So this almost exactly 175 million. I think it's got. They said 175.3 million. It's a Schwab account. It could fluctuate. So, no, you can't use this. And Trump still owns It. He could empty it. So, no, that's the first reason. The second reason, the court should not rely on KSIC's financial summary attached to the bond as evidence that they have the sufficient capacity to justify writing $175 million bond. That's because KSIC sends 100% of its retained insurance risk to affiliates in the Cayman Islands, where lax regulations allow KSIC to use this risk transfer to reduce the liabilities it carries on the books in a way that artificially bolsters its surplus, a practice New York regulators have dubbed shadow insurance, and about which they have sounded the alarm. So not only do you only. I mean, you. You only report $138 million in asset surplus that's probably inflated because they move their liabilities to kic, the parent company in the Cayman Islands. And third, under the regulations that govern the placement of insurance on an excess lines basis, a licensed excess lines broker may place business with an unauthorized insurer like KSIC only if it has satisfied that the insurer's management is trustworthy and competent. We're sorry, but KSIC is not qualified to act as a surety under this standard because its management has been found by federal authorities to have operated Affiliated companies within KSIC's holding company structure in violation of federal law on multiple occasions within the past several years. So these guys are not trustworthy or competent. For those reasons, the court should deny the motion and require the defendants to post a replacement undertaking within seven days of the court's ruling. I said 10. You remember? I. I think I told Ethan Behrman, and I think I said to you guys on the beans last week, you know, I think that this bond could be rejected. I think the court would probably give him 10 more days to find another one. But she. She wants to give them just seven. And then she goes on and talks about the surety, the fact that they didn't. They didn't even have power of attorney when they first filed, and they didn't include their financial statements. And also the $175 million Schwab account, that is, there's probably. There's more problems with that. They say movements submit a vague, incomplete and inconclusive evidence on the form for the collateral that is pledged for the bond. They contend the collateral account is cash, but they attach only a single screenshot from the account assessed through the Schwab online client portal that lists the title of the account, Wasmer Bonds. According to Schwab's website, Wasmer Bonds are fixed income products that Schwab offers that include various bond ladder strategies and portfolio options, as evidenced by the most recent statement for the same trust account produced by the defendants in this action. The complete statement from the account provides detailed information about the asset composition, change in the account value over month and year to date, investment detail and transaction detail, among other things. Putting aside the movement's motivation for submitting just the one paltry screenshot, without the full accounting statement, there's no way to gain any meaningful visibility into the nature of the collateral or to test the veracity of the claim that the account holds only cash as opposed to some other form of investment vehicle that fluctuates in value with market conditions, or gain any insight on how the form and market value of the collateral may have changed within the past month or year to date. And if the collateral is in the form of a wassemer fixed income product, there are certainly some inherent risks of fluctuation in value. The Wassemer Schroeder strategies are subject to various risks including but not limited to interest rate risk, reinvestment risk, credit risk, default risk and event risk, as well as increased loss of principal during periods of rising interest rates, among others. But even if the collateral is just cash at the moment, there's no restriction in place under the pledge Agreement that ensures the collateral will remain in the form of cash during the pendency of the appeal. Rather, the funds in the account can be traded for other investment vehicles, including mutual funds, in accordance with investment guidelines. Moreover, the account remains in control of Trump, with KSIC having merely a first priority lien on the funds unless and until KSIC provides a notice of exclusive control to Schwab, which takes effect within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed two banking days prior to that notice, if ever the trust can withdraw monies or securities, Trump can withdraw stuff from the account make trades without the consent of ksic, which is deemed provided if KSIC does not expressly consent to any proposed trade within two banking days. The Pledge Agreement also contains a true up provision that applies if the market you know if the value of the Schwab account drops and it obligates the trust within five calendar days to restore the value of the collateral. This provision is problematic for two reasons. First, the provision is further evidence that the movements contemplate the collateral will change in form and fluctuation. The provision would be unnecessary if the collateral were locked in as a cash only account in the amount of 175 million without any possible diminution. I guess you know, without it being able to lose value due to market volatility. And second, Trump can replenish the account with investment property, financial assets, or like property or other liquid assets, unrestricted in form by the investment guidelines and expressly defined to have the meaning set forth in the Uniform Commercial Code as in effect in any applicable jurisdiction, with financial assets deemed to include without limitation all property now or at the time hereafter held in the account, and more specifically to include stocks and mutual funds. So the potential under the pledge agreement control agreement for the movements to swap out one form of collateral for another, including replacing cash with mutual funds or truing up a balance with investment property and the value of the collateral to dip below 175 million due to market conditions, that matters a great deal under New York insurance law, given the minimal policyholder surplus carried by KSIC, that's they only have $138 million. So under new York insurance law, New York companies impose limitations on the amount of loss an insurer can expose itself to in any one risk. Quote, no insurer doing business in this state shall expose itself to any loss on any one risk in the amount exceeding 10% of its surplus to policyholders. Which here, because they only have $138 million, is $13.8 million. Where the surety exposes itself to a loss in the excess of that amount, it would undoubtedly be ultra virus. So there's actually a law that says you can't expose yourself to a risk greater than 10% of what you have, your asset to liability ratio. And they only have 138 million. So they can't expose themselves by a lot in New York to more than a $13 million, $13.8 million risk. And the volatility of that Schwab account poses that risk. So it's illegal to use that as collateral in the state of New York. And maybe if you were certified to sell insurance in New York, you would know that. So they go on to argue that the defendants failed to demonstrate KSIC as a financially sound surety for the bond governing excess lines. Remember, we talked about excess line insurance. As the movements note, New York permits unauthorized insurers like KSIC to conduct business in New York, but only through a licensed excess line broker. And they recognize excess line brokers licensed in New York. They may procure insurance from unauthorized insurers under limited circumstances. The court should look at the laws and regulations in New York governing the placement of insurance on an excess lines basis to determine whether the movements have met their burden to justify KSIC as assureder in New York. Excess lines brokers are required to exercise due care when selecting excess lines insurers and make inquiries sufficient to ascertain the insurer's financial stability and capacity adequate to do its business and shall not place coverage with an unauthorized insurer unless the insurer's financial statement or other evidence demonstrate that the insurer has surplus to policyholders sufficient to support its writings reasonable in relation to its outstanding liabilities. And we can't know what their outstanding liabilities are, right? Because they're hiding some of those in the Cayman Islands. Possibly. We don't know. That's a problem. Movements have failed, she says. To demonstrate KSIC meets those prerequisites for writing insurance in New York on an excess line basis and therefore their motion to justify should be denied. KSIC uses shadow insurance from its Cayman Islands affiliates to artificially bolster its financial capacity. That's the other argument which we talked about up at the top of this brief. And KSIC's management is neither trustworthy nor competent. She says regulations governing the placement of insurance by unauthorized insurers through an excess lines broker require the broker to ascertain that the unauthorized insurer's management is trustworthy and competent. That is New York law. These are terms of art for insurance regulators employed in a broader sense than such terms are popularly used. So these are very specific in the insurance world. Trustworthy and competent Courts have found insurers untrustworthy and incompetent for a variety of misconduct including placing misleading ads in newspapers, misappropriating premiums from insureds and violating provisions of insurance law. KSIC's management does not meet the trustworthy incompetent standard under the law. Don Hanke is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KSIC and Amit Shah is the company's president. Misters Hanke and Shah are both on KSIC's board of directors. It's part of the Hankey Group of companies which includes insurers and car leasing and finance company. Hanke Group Company holds a symbiotic relationship to the other. In particular, Knight Specialty Insurance Company and Knight Insurance Company work with affiliate Westlake Financial Services llc, a company specializing in the acquisition and servicing of prime to subprime automotive retail installment contracts. In addition to their leadership positions with ksic, Shah is the Chief Operating Officer of the hankey group and Mr. Hanke is the Christmas poo. Mr. Hanke is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to the Hanke Group, Chairman of the Board of Westlake and the primary stockholder of all Hankey investment controlled entities including Westlake Financial. As a result, Don Hanke exercises ultimate control over all the business entities that comprise his namesake group. And In September of 2015, the U.S. consumer Financial Protection Bureau entered a consent order finding the Westlake and its subsidiary Wilshire Customer or Consumer Credit has violated numerous federal laws by pressuring borrowers through the use of illegal debt collection tactics, including using phony caller ID information, falsely threatening to refer borrowers for investigation or criminal prosecution, and illegally disclosing information about debts to borrowers, employers, friends and family. The CFPB ordered the companies overhaul their debt collection practices, provide restitution to the customers in the amount of $44.1 million, and pay a civil penalty of 4.25 million. Just two years later, these same two Hankey Group companies entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice to pay restitution and civil penalties totaling $760,000 to resolve charges that they violated the Service Member Civil Relief act by repossessing 70 vehicles owned by members of the armed forces without first obtaining the required court orders. The same companies agreed to pay additional penalties of $225,000 in September 2022 to settle the charges by the DOJ that violated other provisions of the law. On this record, the movements cannot demonstrate that KSIC's management meets the requirements of trustworthiness and competence under regulations governing insurance placed through licensed excess line brokers. Accordingly, this provides further independent basis for the court to deny the movement's motion to justify KSIC as the sure. So, based on the foregoing New York Attorney General, the people respectfully request the court deny their motion to justify the surety, declare the bond to be without effect, and order that any replacement bond be posted within seven days along with such other and further relief the court deems necessary and appropriate. Signed respectfully, Letitia James. So there you go. That's what's going on with the bond. And that hearing is, I think, today. No. Yeah, it's today. It's Monday, so that'll be fun. We'll talk about it on the beans tomorrow. All right, everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news after these messages. We'll be right back, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone. Then. Good news, everyone. Good news, good news. And if you have any good news, confessions, corrections. You want to play what the mutt, Find the cat. Cat Me? If you can. Opine on the bovine. What the heckwine? What the hell is in that shell? What's the model of your axolotl? What the Fark is in your ark. Send us a photo or a drawing or a description of an animal and we'll guess something about it. We love these. Also, you can send us your pod pet tax for sending in some good news. And if you don't have a pod pet, you can send us an adoptable pet in your area. We'll see if we can find a forever home for them. If you have thesis titles, dissertation titles would be stories, blanky stories, stuffed animal stories. Let's see photos of your happy place. Holiday pictures. I love the Santa photos all year round. I love Halloween photos all year round. You can send those baby photos. Dana loves the baby photos.
- [44:37]
Dana Goldberg
Fine. Love them of anything human, puppy, animal, maybe anything.
- [44:41]
Alison Gill
Find your baby picture and send it in to us and give yourself a shout out or a shout out to somebody you love or a small business in your area. And of course please send in your student debt relief stories. We love to hear those. And you could send it into us@dailybeanspod.com and click on Contact. All right, first up, anonymous pronouns he and him hello AG and DG Queens of the Beans I'd like to send a shout out to my son Christian with a side of shit kids say first. He's about to graduate from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Education and a concentration in Social Studies for secondary students. Rad. He was offered an interview at the school he is student teaching at and that's such a great start. Over his five years at Iowa, he became one of the trumpet section leaders and with his experience with marching band and debate, he's been an asset at high school placement, going above and beyond what a student teacher does by volunteering after school to help with the band and debate team. I couldn't be prouder of the man he's become, and I'm honored that he pursued education like his father. Now this proud father and bean superfan has a funny story. One day when home from school, he was describing a story where he was saying something where end around was what he wanted to say, but instead he completed the story with reach around. I thought it was instantly hysterical and I had a good laugh and then corrected him. His life has always been above and beyond what was required of him, and his older brothers have been great influences for him on what to do and how not to do it. He has beautiful auburn hair like his mother's, but he's my pride and joy and I'd like to show him off here for pet tax. Here's a picture of our rescue kitty Frito. A beautiful, spunky addition to our family. Oh, amazing. Congrats, Christian.
- [46:29]
Dana Goldberg
I know. Little kitten picture.
- [46:32]
Alison Gill
This head is giant compared to the tiny body.
- [46:34]
Dana Goldberg
I know. I'm not even sure if that's because of the camera, but either way, it's a fantastic shot. All right, this one's from Shannon Pronoun. She and her. Hi, Allison and Dana. I absolutely love the pod and you ladies. I look forward to listening while I drive home after dropping my kids off at school. I'm going to try to cover quote all the things in this submission. First, shit people say. A few years ago, I was driving on the freeway and saw a ladder ahead of me in the middle of my lane. As I swerved to avoid it, I yelled, holy balls. After pregnant paws. My kids responded by laughing hysterically, and I said, I have no idea where that came from. We had all finally stopped laughing when, from the backseat, my youngest kiddo, totally deadpan, says, mom, I don't think you're supposed to talk about Jesus's balls. We all lost it. And this is still my favorite family story. Second, I want to give a shout out to the you belong campaign. This is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that was started by Kristen Bruck, a mom in Pennsylvania. When she heard that some parents at her children's school were pushing for policies like bathroom bans and prohibiting pride flags in classrooms, she wanted to find a way to show the kids in her community that there were plenty of adults that supported them, no matter their race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. She partnered with another young mom to make yard signs that say, you belong. You matter. We are all southern Lehigh.
- [47:56]
Alison Gill
Lehigh.
- [47:56]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, Lehigh. We are Southern Lehigh. This received overwhelming support from her community and quickly spread, leading to the creation of the you belong campaign, whose mission is to share messages of inclusivity and advocate for groups who have been marginalized in our communities. When I heard Kristen's story, I was inspired, and I wanted to do something to show support in my local area. I reached out to her and started the Arizona you belong campaign. If you're interested in learning more Arizonans supporting a campaign or starting a campaign in your area, please visit youbelongcampaign.com finally, for pet tax, I've included pictures of my comedian kiddo with our Maltipoo Axel and a picture of our. What is that?
- [48:40]
Alison Gill
AG La Sallier. All right.
- [48:44]
Dana Goldberg
La Sallier.
- [48:44]
Alison Gill
La Salier.
- [48:47]
Dana Goldberg
Which is Beastie Boy. I love that.
- [48:49]
Alison Gill
Beastie Boy. I can say, yeah, that's right.
- [48:51]
Dana Goldberg
Thank you for all you do.
- [48:53]
Alison Gill
Oh, My gosh, look.
- [48:54]
Dana Goldberg
Oh my God, look at the dog.
- [48:58]
Alison Gill
That second dog photo, so good, it's killing me. The first one's like a little muppet. Beautiful. Amazing. You belong campaign.com. thank you. All right, next up, from Jillian Pronoun. She and her. Hi, Allison and Dana. I would like to reach out to Anonymous, whose submission was last on Wednesday, April 17. I'm straight cis het, a mother of two young adults. A decade ago, I might have wondered how LGBT matters might be of personal concern so I can put myself back to that time. But since then, my kids have both disclosed their sexualities and identities, one trans and gay, the other non binary. And today I have awareness that the world is full of other people who all have value and worth. I feel more tuned in, perhaps because I didn't ask to become connected, but my life is much richer by knowing and valuing LGBT people. I hope, Anonymous, that you may work through the discomfort you may be feeling and try to focus on the commonality of people. Instead, I'm attaching a photo of our bedraggled Pomeranian in his glory days, held by my daughter for my pod pet tax. That is the dog. And thank you AG and DG again for what you do.
- [50:10]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, thank you so much for the submission. These have been warming our hearts, by the way.
- [50:14]
Alison Gill
Yes, look at that beautiful child. Look at the pupper.
- [50:17]
Dana Goldberg
So sweet. All right, this is from Reggie Pronoun, she and her. I listen to the beans on my way to work each morning. Today, my drive time phone calls, they ran long so I had to finish when I was driving home. It's a good thing because after Dana told Anonymous, you have survived every one of your hardest days and the ones ahead are going to be no different. I was floored. That is my new life motto after surviving an emotionally abusive marriage and so, so much more. This gives me hope, so much hope and comfort. I have the most adorable granddaughter but don't want to share her photo without her parents permission. So my pet tax will be a shout out to the Last Hope Animal Rescue, which saves abandoned pets from kill shelters and finds them forever homes. And it is lasthopeanimalrescue.org awesome, Reggie, thank you.
- [51:05]
Alison Gill
Thanks for that submission. Next up, Anonymous pronoun, she and her dear beans Queens, I have news of the toe bean variety. A couple of months ago, our local humane society needed an urgent foster placement for a nine month old Torby who had come from a traumatic environment. Although still a youngster herself, she had given birth to three orange boy kittens. When we brought them home. The baby's eyes were still closed and teen mama Cat just wanted to hide from people and pour all the love and attention onto her babies. Eventually we discovered she has a wonderfully loud and rumbly purr and the longest, floofiest tail I've ever seen. She was named maple by my 9 year old daughter because she's so sweet and has maple syrup colored eyes. Her three orange kittens range from dark orange to pale creamsicle, so they were named after their corresponding orange crayon colors, Oro, peach and ginger. Despite her youth and inexperience, Maple has been the most gentle and loving mom to her three rambunctious boys. It takes time to earn her trust, but once earned, you're rewarded with generous purrs and soft pettable belly. Not a trap. My good news is that we're adopting one of Maple's kittens. While our home was too exciting for Maple's taste, it's wonderful to know that we will always have part of her with us. Those of us on Maple's foster team are rooting for her to find a loving home with a calm environment. If any. Leguminati in the Eugene, Oregon area are looking to adopt Maple and one of her kittens, Oro. That's the darkest orange of the bunch, both in color and personality. They're going up for adoption on April 22nd. That's today @ Green Hill Humane Society. My first photo is of Maple with her two babies. The second is Oro the adoptable.
- [52:40]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, look at these cute kittens. I'm allergic, but I love me kittens.
- [52:49]
Alison Gill
Sweet babies. Look at that boy face. Oh, thanks for that again, everybody. That is the Green Hill Humane Society near in Eugene, Oregon. And that's today. They go up for adoption today. Go get them. All right, thanks everybody for your good news submissions and thanks so much for coming out on Saturday. If you were there at the gala, I really appreciate it. It was wonderful to you. Do you have any final thoughts before we get out of here on this Monday?
- [53:16]
Dana Goldberg
I would just say make sure you take breaks from social media. We are going to be glued. I know we will be. I know I will be. Alison's going to cover a lot of the trial when she hears reports from inside for us on social media. She always has done an incredible job of covering it. So just make sure that you take breaks and go outside from time to time. It's going to happen with, whether with or without us. So we'll find out as it comes in.
- [53:40]
Alison Gill
Very, very true. Enjoy, enjoy the trials. Until tomorrow, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, take care of your family. Vote blue over Q.
- [53:50]
Dana Goldberg
And please take everyone you know with you. I've been AG and I've been dg.
- [53:54]
Alison Gill
And them's the beans.
- [53:55]
Dana Goldberg
Refried beans. I like refried beans.