Happy Monday!  It’s June 3, and we’re tracking top stories to start your week: Sordid Hunter Biden trial begins, Russian oil finds new site for cargo switching, the multi-million dollar scandal rocking pickleball, prosecutors nailed trump but contorted the law, and much more...

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Featured Story

🎯 Trial of a President’s Son: Crack Cocaine, a Colt Cobra Revolver and an Alleged Lie. The sitting president’s son will be defending himself against the DOJ of his own father’s administration. WSJ 

Top Stories

🌎 Russian Oil Finds New Site for Controversial Cargo Switching. Under pressure from Greece’s navy, traders of Russian oil have found a new place to switch cargoes of crude in the Mediterranean sea. Bloomberg

🌎 The Multimillion-Dollar Scandal Rocking Pickleball. Hundreds of retirees and other creditors across the U.S. say a man known as ‘Rocket’ owes them nearly $50M. WSJ

🌎 Prosecutors Got Trump — But They Contorted the Law. No state prosecutor has ever charged federal election laws as a direct or predicate state crime, against anyone, for anything. None. Ever. NY Mag

💸 Multiple Trump Witnesses Have Received Significant Financial Benefits From His Businesses, Campaign ProPublica

🌎 Bitcoin billionaire, firm to settle D.C. tax fraud suit for $40M. DC sued Saylor in 2022 for not paying income taxes while living in the district. CoinDesk

🌎 Iran and Niger Cement Alliance With Secret ‘Yellowcake’ Uranium Deal. The two have agreed on a $56M deal to see Tehran acquire 300 tons of refined uranium. Iran International

🚩 U.S.-sanctioned ex-officer among candidates to replace Raisi Reuters

🌎 ‘She Hooked Me’: How an Online Scam Cost a Senior Citizen His Life’s Savings. She convinced him she was a rich young Chinese immigrant looking for love. After bleeding him dry, she ghosted him. WSJ

🌎 NIH scientists made $710M in royalties from drug makers – a fact they tried to hide. During the pandemic, the American people started to feel that Big Government was very cozy with Big Pharma. NYP

🌎 Former Vice Chief of Naval Operations Arrested on Bribery Charges. Burke is charged with performing acts to affect a personal financial interest and concealing material facts. USNI

🌎 Mike Johnson belittles possible Biden executive action on immigration. Johnson was formerly an advocate for the president to issue executive orders to curb immigration. Politico

🚚 My trip to the southern border. Illegal immigration has surged to levels unseen in decades. Washington Times

🌎 The Dean of UCLA Medical School Says It Does Not Discriminate Based on Race. His Own Research Center Runs a Minorities-Only Fellowship. Free Beacon

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IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 Parts of Russia’s weaponry still come from other countries despite sanctions Independent

🇷🇺 Russian legal foundation linked to Kremlin activities in Europe Guardian

🇷🇺 Russia-China gas pipeline deal stalls over Beijing’s price demands Reuters

🇷🇺 Russia eases forex sales requirements for contracts in rubles Reuters

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China

🇨🇳 US lawmakers ask FBI for briefing on GenScript Biotech's links to China Reuters

🇨🇳 The Controversial Chinese Firms That Will Build Georgia's Black Sea Megaproject RFE

🇨🇳 The CEO Trying to Smooth U.S.-China Tensions in Farm Country WSJ

🇨🇳 Chinese trade body seeks drone jammers for Russian buyers FT

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Blood, Threats and Tears: Inside Diddy’s Nightmare Workplace Daily Beast

💸 Former tech exec admits to fraud involving a scheme to boost Getty Images shares AP

💸 Former Georgian Defense Official Paid Cash For a Secret London Flat OCCRP

💸 He was a leading art dealer. Now, the 80-year-old could face more than a decade in prison LAT

💸 Sports Gambling Is a Ticking Time Bomb NYT

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Flood of Cash from Coinbase Gives Crypto One of the Biggest Campaign War Chests CoinDesk

🔐 Thailand Probes Cybercrime Ring’s Assets of Over $27M Bloomberg

🔐 China Is ‘Prepositioning’ for Future Cyberattacks—and the New NSA Chief Is Worried WSJ

🔐 US Navy launches ‘PARANOID’ blockchain security tech to private sector Cointelegraph

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Trafficking

🚚 El Chapo's sons, accused Sinaloa cartel hitman face U.S. bounties. They're not the only ones. Chicago Sun-Times

🚚 240 pounds of cocaine hidden in frozen squid — on same ship that tried to traffic the drug in shrimp NYP

🚚 Chinese, Jordanian, Turkish illegal immigrants caught in large numbers at southern border Fox

"Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty." --Plato

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