Today’s read: 3 min 5 sec

Good morning. Last night's radical campus riots saw American flags replaced with Hamas flags, keffiyeh-wearing protesters blocking Jewish students from classes, and occupations of university buildings, prompting large-scale police mobilization. Nationwide, over a thousand students have been arrested, including hundreds from last night alone.

This is a problem for Democrats. These are their voters, after all. And the election is just a few short months away.

First time here? I’m Ari, and this is Upward News. Every day, we scour 100s of sources to bring you need-to-know news and insights you won’t see in the MSM. Sign up here.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

🕵️ A “treasonous” former NSA worker was sentenced to prison. Jareh Sebastian Dalke, an ex-employee of the National Security Agency (NSA), was found guilty of attempting to sell classified information to Russia. During his time at the NSA, Dalke transmitted excerpts of classified documents to somebody he believed to be a Russian agent - but was actually a covert FBI employee.

🤝 House Democrats are uniting to save Mike Johnson. Top Democrat lawmakers announced they would block Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) motion to remove Mike Johnson (R-LA) from the Speakership. After Johnson cooperated with his Democrat colleagues to pass the $95 billion foreign aid bills, he received enough support from center-left members to prevent his ousting from the right flanks of his own party.

🏛 SCOTUS upholds Texas’s age-verification for minors law. The Supreme Court, without citing specific reasons, defended Texas’s recent law requiring pornography sites to verify that users are over the age of 18. The District Court judge in Texas who initially blocked the law cited the First Amendment for doing so, though the nation’s highest court disagrees that putting up barriers to adult content constitutes violations of speech.

💸 The recently passed foreign aid bills contain billions for mass migration. $3.5 billion was allocated within the $95 billion foreign aid packages for the State Department, to be used in part for distribution to external groups to expedite migration into the U.S. The bill specifies that the $3.5 billion is for “Migration and Refugee Assistance,” much of which will go to Gaza as well as for groups sheltering and transporting migrants to America.

TRUMP TRIAL WATCH

• Donald Trump was held in criminal contempt and fined $9,000 for violating his gag order.

• Judge Juan Merchan is now permitting Trump to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.

• Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is demanding DOJ records about its recent former employee Matthew Colangelo, who is a lead prosecutor against Trump in his hush money trial. Jordan is raising concerns about the political motivations of the trial.

WASHINGTON

Biden moves closer to marijuana legalization

What’s happening: The Biden administration has announced that it will reclassify marijuana from Schedule I — the same as heroin — down to Schedule III. While the decision does not legalize pot, it moves a step closer.

Why it matters: President Biden is likely hoping to generate youth turnout, as his poll numbers among voters aged 18-29 have been extremely weak. However, the move toward legalizing pot has downsides, from diminishing the quality of life for average Americans to empowering Chinese and Mexican cartels.

Pot is popular: Marijuana legalization is extremely popular among Americans; one poll found only voters 75 and older rejected legalization. Another found that over two-thirds of individuals aged 18-29 supported it.

• The federalism problem: The wave of legalization across states has led to a conflict with federal laws, which continue to classify cannabis as an illegal substance.

• The quality of life problem: The drug’s widespread adoption has led to many complaints about the repulsive smell. One GOP politician in New York asked why public consumption of alcohol is illegal, but pot consumption is not. One D.C. woman sued her neighbor for smoking. The judge ruled in her favor, ordering the man not to smoke in his own apartment or close to hers.

Foreign gangs: Chinese organized crime is dominating the illegal marijuana market across the United States, laundering billions of dollars that end up back in China. Mexican and Latin American cartels are running the same operation, showcasing the illegal pot boom despite its legal status in much of the U.S.

—A.C.

WHAT WE’RE HEARING

• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin believes it’s possible U.S. troops will exchange fire with Hamas while the Gaza humanitarian pier is constructed.

• Ukrainian-born Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) said that Ukraine “can deal with their own corruption” and that the nation had essentially become a “slush fund.”

• Donald Trump claimed, in an extensive interview with Time Magazine, **that “there is a definite anti-white feeling in the country."

Trump Dreams of New York

What’s happening: Donald Trump’s campaign will target New York in November’s presidential election…

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OUR QUESTION TO YOU

POLL RESULTS FROM YESTERDAY

Does Biden have a chance to win the upcoming election?

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👍 Yes (186)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👎 No (318)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Unsure (102)

IN THE LOOP

• Student protesters at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, seized a campus building and named it “Intifada Hall,” causing millions of dollars in damage.

• UCLA protests exploded Tuesday night, with violence breaking out between the pro-Israel and pro-Palestine factions.

• 80 percent of Americans support Israel over Hamas, including a majority of young voters.

• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed an ethics complaint against Special Counsel Jack Smith, accusing him of attempting to interfere in the 2024 election.

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