The Daily Brief — June 3, 2026
“Weaponization” fund dead but questions remain, election results, George Santos under probe for insider trading
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Justice Department Drops “Anti-Weaponization Fund”
The Trump administration is abandoning a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” after facing bipartisan criticism in Congress.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a House appropriations subcommittee yesterday that the Justice Department is “not moving forward with the fund, period.”
The fund had been created to pay people who say they were unfairly targeted by past administrations. It grew out of a “settlement” of Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns during his first term. The same “settlement” bars the IRS from reviewing the past tax returns of Trump, his family and his businesses. Blanche said that part has not changed.
The fund had already been challenged in court. A federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked it. In Florida, US District Judge Kathleen Williams reopened Trump’s IRS case after 35 retired federal judges argued the suit was a “fraud on the court,” and she ordered Trump’s lawyers to respond by June 12. It is not clear right now whether those cases will proceed.
Primary Results
Two major California primary races remained undecided, with a Republican and two Democrats vying for a top-two finish in the governor’s primary, and the race to challenge Los Angeles’s incumbent mayor yet to be called.
Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra have emerged as the leading candidates in California’s open primary, where the top two finishers advance regardless of party, with Democrat Tom Steyer third. Becerra is a former US health secretary and state attorney general; Hilton is a Trump-endorsed former Fox News host; and Steyer is a billionaire investor. Votes are still being counted.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, advanced to the general election in November, but the identity of her challenger remains undecided. Republican Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star, led for second place in early returns, with Democratic city councilmember Nithya Raman gaining as late ballots were counted.
Scott Pelley Fired from 60 Minutes
CBS News fired veteran correspondent Scott Pelley yesterday, shortly after he criticized the program’s new leadership at a staff meeting.
Pelley, who spent 37 years at CBS News and joined 60 Minutes in 2004, was told by newly installed executive producer Nick Bilton that he was terminated “for cause effective immediately.” Bilton, a former tech journalist, wrote that Pelley’s opposition to the show’s new direction was evident.
In a meeting earlier this week, Pelley challenged recent firings at the program and accused CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the show.
In a statement, Pelley said the network’s new owner was casting the program aside to “curry… favor” with the Trump administration. Paramount Skydance is seeking the administration’s approval for its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes CNN, a frequent target of Trump. Pelley also said new management had told him to “inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.”
Newsbreak
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Supreme Court Lets Alabama Use New Map for 2026
The Supreme Court is allowing Alabama to use a congressional map that lower courts found intentionally discriminated against Black voters.
In an unsigned 6–3 emergency decision yesterday, the court blocked a lower-court order that had required Alabama to use a court-drawn map. The majority said federal courts should not “alter the election rules on the eve of an election” and that the lower court had wrongly inserted itself into Alabama’s preparation for its 2026 elections. The Supreme Court also said the lower court had misread the court’s recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, ruling it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
The 2023 map, drawn by Republicans, leaves one majority-Black district instead of two. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, writing that the majority “double[d] down on chaos” and disregarded findings that the map intentionally discriminated. Alabama has set a special congressional primary for August 11 under the new map.
DOJ Investigates George Santos for Insider Trading
Former Rep. George Santos is under federal investigation for alleged insider trading on the prediction market Kalshi.
Regulators are examining bets he placed on whether he would attend President Trump’s State of the Union address in February. Santos said publicly that he planned to go, but then didn’t show up. He didn’t disclose that he had bet on Kalshi that he would not attend. Prediction markets let users wager real money on future events such as elections, sports, and weather.
Kalshi flagged the trades, froze his account, and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees these markets, and to the Justice Department. Both are investigating.
Santos, a New York Republican, was expelled from Congress in December 2023. He was sentenced in April 2025 to more than seven years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft tied to his 2022 campaign. He served less than four months before Trump commuted his sentence.
Iran and US Trade New Strikes; Kuwait Airport Hit
The US and Iran exchanged fresh strikes around the Persian Gulf today. An Iranian drone attack damaged Kuwait’s main airport, killing one person and injuring 63. Kuwait briefly closed the airport before resuming operations.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it targeted US forces in the region, including the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, in retaliation for earlier US strikes. CENTCOM said US forces downed a wave of Iranian drones aimed at troops in Kuwait.
The US military said it then struck an Iranian military ground-control station on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s foreign ministry called the US strikes a ceasefire violation.
Pentagon Hires Convicted Rioter
The Pentagon has appointed a man convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol to a position in an office that oversees highly classified military operations.
Elias Irizarry, who was 19 at the time of the Capitol riot, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to his participation in the attack. A picture released by the Justice Department showed Irizarry looking over a wall outside the Capitol on the day of the attack.
Two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post, which first reported the appointment, that positions in the office typically require top-secret security clearances.
Defending the appointment, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez described Irizarry as “a qualified, patriotic young professional” and said the Defense Department was “proud to have him as a political appointee.” The unit where Irizarry has been assigned — the Office of Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, irregular warfare and counterterrorism section — oversees special operations forces in counterterrorism and special reconnaissance.
FBI Kills Man Holding Hostages in California
The FBI fatally shot a man early this morning who had held 10 people hostage inside a downtown Bakersfield, CA, building after a roughly 12-hour standoff.
All the hostages were freed and none was harmed, the Bakersfield Police Department said.
Authorities said Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, was an Army veteran and a convicted sex offender.
The standoff began yesterday afternoon when police responded to a bomb threat at the four-story building, which houses a Chase Bank branch and school district offices. Police said the man barricaded himself inside with several people. Two hostages were released yesterday during negotiations. The suspect’s identity and motive have not been released, and authorities have not said how many people were held.