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Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, February 22, 2023. Today, the foreperson of the Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury speaks on the record for the first time. The SEC has fined the Mormon church for hiding $32 billion in assets behind shell companies. Kevin McCarthy's apparent deal with Tucker Carlson to share the January 6th video footage has surprised some top Capitol security officials. And an inside look at the bipartisan odd couple joining forces to battle election deniers in Arizona. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey everybody, Happy Wednesday. Dana's still out. I'm here today. Later, I'm going to be joined by the host of the It's Complicated podcast, former federal prosecutor and my friend Renato Marioti. And we're going to talk a little bit about what's going on with the Fulton county special purpose grand jury reporting that is out right now. And it was fun earlier today, but it's getting a little bit explicit. I think she should stop talking. I'm going to talk a little bit about the first reporting that came out from the New York Times, but since that story's dropped, more stories have come out about things that she said about possible big names being on the list at the special purpose grand jury recommended for indictment. It also turns out that she said when she found out that Trump said that the partially released report totally exonerated him, she laughed and said, oh, that's especially awesome and funny. And there's just a few more things that she's saying on the record that she hasn't really crossed a line yet. But altogether could give a reason for an appeal. Now, I don't think of an appeal that would win if Trump, say, were indicted. But I don't know, I think she should, I think she should stop talking a little bit. But what she has to say is, you know, something I'm still going to report on anyway. And then we'll have the good news at the end of the show. It's going to be awesome. So let's jump in right now. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. So from, from Danny Hakeem at the New York Times, a special grand jury that investigated election interference by the former guy and his allies in Georgia recommended indictments of multiple people on a range of charges in its report, most of which remain sealed. And that's according to four women of the jury in an interview today. And she's been making the rounds on interviews. Quote, it's not a short list. That's Emily Kors, the forewoman of the special purpose grand jury, adding that the jury had appended eight pages of legal code, quote, that we cited at various points in the report. She declined to discuss who specifically the special grand jury recommended for indictments, since the judge handling the case decided to keep those details secret when he made public a few sections of the report last week. But seven sections that are still under wraps deal with indictment recommendations. That's what Mrs. Coors has said. Asked whether the jurors had recommended indicting Trump, Ms. Coors gave a cryptic answer, saying, you're not going to be shocked. It's not rocket science. And then she added, you won't be too surprised. The investigation in Atlanta has been seen as one of the most significant legal threats to Trump as he begins another run for the presidency. In November, the DOJ named a special counsel, as we know, Jack Smith, to oversee two Trump related criminal investigations federally. And last month, the Manhattan district attorney's office began presenting evidence to a grand jury on whether Trump paid hush money to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign. Possibly, among other things. We know Michael Cohen has gone in now twice and then a third time this week. He's going to see them to talk about these cases. And he seems to be saying that it might be about more than just the hush money payment and more than just about Trump and about, you know, just Donald Trump alone. A focal point of the Atlanta inquiry, though, is the call that Mr. Trump made on January 2nd to Brad Raffensperger, and we know that's the one where he has to find 11,780 votes, just enough to overturn his election laws. Quote, we definitely started with the first phone call, the call to the secretary Raffensperger that was so publicized. That's what Mrs. Coors said and that's what she told the Associated Press. And they first named her and spoke with her on Tuesday about the election meddling investigation. She went on to say, I will tell you that if the judge releases the recommendations, it's not going to be some giant plot twist. She added, you probably have a fair idea of what might be in there. I'm trying very hard to say that delicately. The special grand jury Met for nearly seven months, as we know, had 75 witnesses. Trump was not among them, as his lawyers have said that, and they still maintain his innocence. Special grand juries in Georgia do not have indictment powers, as we know. She has to go to a regular grand jury for that. And in a more recently updated post with an interview given to a different network, that foreperson said that there were at least a dozen people that were recommended for indictment. My guess has been 17. We'll see. We'll see where that ends up. But I think, you know, as we've been saying, it's imminent. What imminent means. Well, that's up for the for the DA to decide. And Speaker Kevin McCarthy, apparently in a deal to grant Tucker Carlson access to thousands of hours of Capitol security footage from January 6th, apparently that came as a surprise to at least one official with oversight responsibility of those files, and that's Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger, a person familiar with the matter said. Manger told associates he didn't learn of the arrangement between McCarthy and Tucker Carlson until it began publicly circulating Monday. Capitol Police have been extremely reluctant to share large swaths of their security footage, citing potential risk to lawmakers, aides and officers tasked with protecting the building. Some of those secret ways out and stuff, you want to keep them secret. House Sergeant in arms William McFarland also told associates he learned about it the same time Axios broke the news Monday. McCarthy has not yet commented on the arrangement with Fox News host, and it's not clear precisely what Carlson is able to access or how. On his Monday show, Carlson described his producer's access as unfettered, said they'd already been reviewing material for a week and that they planned to continue for another few days before revealing their findings next week. And it just comes as a little bit of a shock to me that the quote unquote news organization that is currently being sued by Dominion and has now been proven to have lied to the American people aren't going to cherry pick this to death. Now. I don't think he's going to be able to get a hold of much of this, but we'll see. Any move to send Carlson or his associates those video files may require approval from the Capitol Police Board. That's a three member panel that makes security decisions. The board consists of McFarland, Senate Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson and the architect of the Capitol Manger is a non voting member of the board. It's unclear whether Carlson will be able to air any excerpts of the footage on his show, but the deal itself alarmed Democrats who said Carlson, who routinely misrepresents and downplays aspects of the attack on the Capitol, was a galling choice for this private arrangement. Spokespeople for McCarthy and Fox didn't respond to questions for comment. In a letter to House Democrats Tuesday, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his team was still attempting to learn details of House Republicans arrangement with Carlson and said any transfer of footage represents an egregious security breach that endangers the hard working women and men of the United States. Capitol Police Reps. Joe Morell, a Democrat from New York, ranking member of the Administration Committee, and Bennie Thompson, we know Democrat from Mississippi, former head of the 16 select panel, would address Democrats during a virtual caucus meeting Wednesday on the implications of the agreement. Meanwhile, other Republicans are eager to dig into that footage. Rep. Brian Steele, Republican from Wisconsin, the new chair of the House Administration Committee, sent a letter to the department earlier this month seeking the same level of access to January 6 footage that was given to the January 6 select committee, but they didn't really have unfettered access. The department granted that access, which included a dedicated terminal for lawmakers to review footage. Republicans on the panel are in discussion about investigating the security decisions on the day of the attack. The committee, which effectively became the Republican majority's repository for documents and records from the previous Democratic led panel, is not commenting on the McCarthy Carlson business, a GOP panel aide directing questions about it to the California Republican's office. Two people familiar with the January 6th select committee's access said the Capitol Police were extensively engaged in protecting the footage, often steering the panel away from using certain camera angles and limited the length of footage the panel ultimately used during its public hearings. The panel had access to the footage from late December 2020 to mid January 2021. The department, quote, reviewed every second of video prior to its public display and worked with the committee, and the committee worked with the department to provide accommodation of their reasonable concerns. That's one of the people familiar with the arrangement who was granted anonymity to publicly describe the arrangement. There's no indication McCarthy nor Carlson planned such a wide release of footage, and dozens, if not hundreds of hours have already been released via court filings in January 6th cases. The Capitol Police are notoriously secretive, particularly about security footage, a position that has not found much support among federal judges who've routinely ordered clips released in hundreds of January 6th prosecutions. Federal investigators have pushed for access to more video so they can identify additional perpetrators. All right, next up from Zach Monteiro at Politico. Election officials don't normally draw standing room only crowds in basement music halls, but the noise around elections in Arizona is anything but normal right now. Roughly 120 people crammed into Valley Bar, entering through a back alley and down a flight of stairs into a dimly lit venue stuffed with rows of folding chairs. This is in early February to hear recently elected Secretary of State our friend Adrian Fontes, Democrat, and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, Republican, debate proposals to change how the state votes and counts its ballots. Recent close elections in the state have seen top of the ticket races uncalled for days, an issue they're eager to address. Even more surprising than Fontes and Richard drawing a crowd to discuss election administration amid local super bowl festivities and a major golf tournament is the fact that the two of them were sharing a stage at all. It's been a little more than two years since they faced off in a very bitter, acrimonious election, with Richard ultimately unseating the then Maricopa County Recorder Fontes in November of 2020 to become the chief election official for the country's fourth largest county. Richer was sharply critical of how Fontes was running the county office, alleging he was overextending the role beyond that of a neutral administrator. But Richer voted for Fontes in 2022 to be Secretary of state. That's what he told POLITICO in an interview the day before the event. If you would have told me that two years ago, he said, I would have been very confused as to what happened. But then again, what's happened over the last two years is very confusing to me and is very exceptional. What's happened is that Arizona became ground zero for conspiracy theories, mainly fed by the former guy and his allies, that vast underground cabals were working to steal elections Arizona was one of the handful of states where Trump unsuccessfully tried to overturn the results in 2020. But the movement has metastasized far beyond that into a GOP led review of Maricopa's votes denounced by Republican controlled County Board of Supervisors and then a Republican ticket in 2022 that largely subscribed to the stolen election mythology, including Mark Fincham. That's a GOP Secretary of State nominee Fontes defeated. Those midterms saw resurfaced and unsubstantiated allegations of intentional malfeasance in elections, as well as a failed attempt by GOP gubernatorial candidate Carrie Lake and others to get the results overturned. Now the top election officials in Arizona and its biggest county are prepared to battle the same forces in 2024amid pressure and scrutiny that comes with a presidential race. The two offices have fundamentally different roles. Fontes is responsible for helping set statewide election policies and running training for local election officials, while Richer splits responsibilities for the county with the Board of Supervisors conducting many of the day to day duties of running elections and interacting with voters. But Maricopa is not an ordinary county. It accounts for over 60% of Arizona's registered voters and both offices have to work closely together to prepare for 2024. The relationship between Secretary of State and Maricopa Recorder is, quote, almost a marriage that you have to go through. That's what Helen Purcell said, and she served as Maricopa Recorder for decades before Fontes defeated her in 2016. You are responsible for different things, she said, noting that she had worked very closely with the Secretaries of State on implementing the state's voter registration system and the state manual setting election policy, for example. Now Fontes and Richer, both attorneys by trade, are temperamentally almost polar opposites. Now we've talked to Fontes, we've met Fontes. He According to Politico, here's a gregarious and charming Marine Corps veteran. He has a big personality. He's eager to be at the front of the political movement. That tendency has triggered chatter among Arizona's political class about his long term political aspirations. When asked to describe Fontes, Richard described him as brash, charismatic, he's sort of larger than light. Before ruefully noting that Fontes is also a damn good singer. Apparently I will have to see about that the next time he's on. Fontes, a mariachi performer who was a lead male vocalist during his time at Arizona State, joked in an interview that he would absolutely wipe the floor with Richer in a karaoke contest. Richard Richer, by contrast, is more bookish. The Recorder is a measure twice cut once kind of guy who's really into data and regularly references Harry Potter books. In a past life he was self described movement conservative, think tanker and one time investor in a bar and frozen yogurt shop in Washington, both now shuttered. He's prone to authoring detailed reports to try to get his point across, including his most recent In January, a 28 page missive on changes he thinks should be made to state election law. Fontes assessment of Richer he's an earnest man who has an interesting and quirky sense of humor and is willing to listen to all comers. That's not to suggest they're besties. On stage, Fontes noted that the bromance only goes so far, or that they don't have deep ideological disagreements over how elections should be administered. They do. Richer said that Beau Lane, a more Main street style Republican who lost to Fincham in last year's GOP Secretary of State primary, would have had his support in the general election against Fontes had he won the party's nomination. That's not what happened. Richer added that he's happily told Fontes as much as well, and Fontes still bristles at the criticisms leveled in a 2019 audit Richer conducted for the GOP following the 2018 midterms. Broadly, Richer's report didn't allege that Fontes broke the law, but Richer argued at the time it raises some serious questions about the office. On stage, they told good natured jokes about how close the 2020 election between the two was. They also disagreed on some of the recent proposals that Richer laid out to try to speed up the reporting of unofficial election results in Arizona, which typically takes days to resolve. The main sticking point was Richer's proposal to move up the deadline for people to drop off mail in ballots in person, a convenience for many voters that also adds processing time to actually counting the votes. Voters can currently drop off mail ballots in person up to Election Day, but Richer is proposing moving the deadline to the Friday before an election. But what has bound them both say, is respect for the voters will in elections at the end of the day and their staunch opposition to the lies of stolen elections in the state that's going to be tested in 2024. In addition to another high profile Senate race in the state, Richer could also be on the ballot himself. He's up for reelection next year, and should he run, he would likely face not only a competitive general election but a primary challenge from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, with which he has clashed for almost the entirety of his time in office and From Rob Weil at NBC A Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a nonprofit entity that it controlled have been fined $5 million by the securities and Exchange Commission over accusations that the religious institution failed to properly disclose its investment holdings. In an order released Tuesday, the SEC alleged that the church illicitly hid its investments and their management behind multiple shell companies from 1997 to 2019. In doing so, it failed to disclose the size of the church's equity portfolio to the SEC and the public. The church was concerned that disclosure of the assets in the name of the nonprofit entity called Ensign Peak Advisors, which manages the church investments, would lead to negative consequences in light of the size of the church's portfolio. They didn't want everybody to know how much fucking money they had. The allegations of the illicit shell company structure first emerged in 2018 when a group formerly called Mormon Leaks, now known as the Truth and Transparency foundation, claimed that year the extent of the church's investment had reached $32 billion with a B. The following year, a whistleblower filed a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service, According to a 2020 Wall Street Journal report. That year, the newspaper said the church's holdings had grown to 100 billion quote for more than half a century, the Mormon Church quietly built one of the world's largest investment funds. Almost no one outside the church knew about it. The SEC accused the church Tuesday of going to great lengths to avoid disclosing its investments and in doing so, depriving the commission and the investing public of accurate market information. Quote the requirement to file timely and accurate information on Forms 13F applies to all institutional investment managers, including nonprofit and charitable organizations. That's Gubir Grwal, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. In a statement, the church said starting in 2000, its Ensign Peak Investment Management Group received and relied upon legal counsel regarding how to comply with its reporting obligations while attempting to maintain the privacy of the portfolio. That's what our lawyers told us to do. As a result, it said, Ensign Peek established separate companies that each filed required disclosure forms instead of one single aggregated filing. Ensign Peek and the church believe that all the securities required to be reported were included in the filings by the separate companies. That's what the church said in a statement. After the SEC expressed concern about Ensign Peak's reporting approach, the church said Ensign Peak adjusted its approach and began filing a single aggregated report. And since that time, the church said it's filed 13 quarterly reports in accordance with SEC requirements. The settlement relates to how the forms were filed. Previously, the church said. Ensign Peak and the church have cooperated with the government over a period of time as we sought a resolution, and we affirm our commitment to comply with the law, regret mistakes made, and now consider this matter closed. Hmm. 32 billion. They hid by getting a bunch of different shell companies and filing the report separately instead of all at once. They didn't want you to know how much money they had. All right, everybody, we'll be right back with the co host of It's Complicated, a former federal prosecutor, and our friend Renato Marioti. We're going to discuss what's going on with the Fulton county grand jury. Stay with us after these messages.