Sep 13, 2026 · 33 min
Mar-a-Lago evidence questions collide with Trump’s Chutkan challenge
Refried Beans | Buried The Lede | 9.12.2023
The episode connects possible evidence handling at Mar-a-Lago with a failed effort to remove the judge overseeing Trump’s federal election-interference case.
- 1Reporting examined how a drained Mar-a-Lago pool allegedly flooded a server room containing surveillance footage.
- 2Trump’s motion to disqualify Judge Tanya Chutkan relied on statements the hosts said did not establish prejudgment.
- 3The episode also covers the dropped Rafikian prosecution, Luis Rubiales’s resignation, and listener-driven community news.
Don't miss
The hosts unpack how a drained Mar-a-Lago pool allegedly flooded a server room containing surveillance footage, and what that could mean for evidence.
The brief
Alison Gill and Dana Goldberg open an archival Refried Beans edition with a September 2023 news docket spanning Mar-a-Lago, Judge Tanya Chutkan, Bijan Rafikian, and Luis Rubiales.
The central reporting concerns a drained Mar-a-Lago pool that flooded a server room containing surveillance footage, raising questions about motive, personnel, and possible evidence concealment.
The hosts examine Donald Trump’s effort to disqualify Judge Tanya Chutkan, arguing that the statements cited by his attorneys do not show she prejudged the case.
They then cover the DOJ’s abandoned case against Mike Flynn associate Bijan Rafikian and Luis Rubiales’s resignation after kissing Jenni Hermoso without consent.
The episode shifts from legal and institutional fallout to listener-submitted good news, pets, personal milestones, and community updates that supply its warmest contrast.