Good Wednesday morning! Hunter Biden, the son of the president, found guilty of federal gun charges; Some anti-Israel protestors show support for Hamas outside White House rally.

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Good morning,

It turns out that humans are not the only species that call each other by our names. A new study shows that elephants do too!

• 🐘 New research reveals that low-frequency rumbles from wild African elephants, some below the range of human hearing, are individualized name-like calls. The elephants learn, recognize, and use the calls to address other elephants.

• A new study used a machine-learning model to analyze recordings of 469 calls made by elephants in Kenya. Researchers then isolated the rumbles they believed to be meant for certain elephants (aka their names), and played them on loudspeakers in the wild to confirm they would respond!

• Only a few other animals — like parrots and dolphins — have been confirmed to also use and respond to their own names.

We ❤️ 🐘!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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📌 HUNTER BIDEN FOUND GUILTY OF ALL GUN CHARGES

A jury on Tuesday found Hunter Biden guilty of three federal gun charges related to the purchase of a firearm in 2018 while he struggled with a crack cocaine addiction.

It’s the first time a sitting president’s child has been federally convicted of a crime.

• Hunter, who is 54, is also facing another nine federal tax charges, with that trial set to begin in September in California. Legal experts have said that the tax case is even stronger than the gun charges.

THE GUN CASE
The prosecution laid out their case over several days, showing that Hunter, at the time of his gun purchase, was using illegal drugs and lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by stating he was not.

• Prosecutors brought multiple of Hunter’s ex-romantic partners to the stand to testify about his drug use.

• The most consequential of the witnesses was Hallie Biden, his brother Beau’s widow, who Hunter later dated. She threw away the gun in question 11 days after Hunter bought it.

  • When she found the gun, she told jurors that there was also crack cocaine in the car. Her testimony included texts from the time Hunter owned the gun when he mentioned waiting for a “dealer named Mookie” in Wilmington, and that he was “sleeping in a car, smoking crack.”

Up next: Hunter faces up to 25 years in prison, but as a non-violent, first-time offender, legal scholars say that the risk of potential jail time is low. Federal Judge Maryellen Noreika decides the sentence, and expects to have the sentencing hearing in the fall, potentially just weeks before the presidential election.

BOTH SIDES WEIGH IN
Special Counsel David Weiss thanked President Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland, the prosecution team, as well as the jury — noting it was a "difficult assignment” — after the verdict on Tuesday.

• It is notable as Biden’s own AG pursued a case that rarely gets tried; usually gun charges are pursued if the weapon is tied to a violent crime.

• The President says he has no plans to pardon his son and says he respects the judicial process. In statements after the verdict, Biden family members highlighted Hunter’s recovery from addiction.

  • President Biden said that he and the First Lady are proud of Hunter, who has been sober since 2019: “Seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery.”

📌 WHAT DOES US LAW SAY ABOUT PRO-HAMAS PROTESTS?

Anti-Israel protesters lit flares and chanted "Long Live the Intifada" outside a downtown NYC museum exhibit on Monday that memorializes the victims of the Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival massacre.

• As part of the terror attack, Hamas murdered 364 people, engaged in rape, and took an additional 40 people hostage.

IN DC, some protesters supporting Hezbollah and Hamas— both classified as foreign terrorist organizations by the US government — demonstrated outside the White House Saturday, calling on the groups to murder more Israelis and Jews.

• As the city’s Pride march was held the same day, some people held signs reading: “Fags 4 Hamas.” Others held a banner with a red triangle in “Victory” — a symbol Hamas uses to indicate targets for killing.

IN NEW YORK: The crowd of protestors clashed with the NYPD during the rally in front of the Nova Music Festival Exhibition on Wall Street.

• The demonstration, organized by anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime, included a banner that stated "Long live October 7th.” The yellow-and green flag of the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah was also seen in the crowd. NYC Mayor (below) visited the exhibition Tuesday and called the protest “despicable.”

📱FROM THE MO NEWS COMMUNITY:
We heard from many of you who asked: When does free speech cross the line into criminal support of a terrorist group?

Here’s what we can tell you: Because the First Amendment protects free speech, people (citizens and non-citizens) are allowed to espouse support for terrorist groups as long as they do not directly incite violence against specific individuals.

• However, "material support" for a foreign terrorist organization is outlawed under U.S. Code. Material support is defined in a variety of ways, including by providing money, property, services, and training.

  • Speech can also be considered material support, if it is "coordinated with or under the direction of a designated foreign terrorist organization,” — like giving expert advice to a terror group. However, advocating for a group like Hamas “that might be viewed as promoting the group's legitimacy is not covered,” — so it appears people voicing support at the protests are legal.

  • There are two key Supreme Court cases to look at here for more background:

    • The 2010 case, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, in which the court defined material support for a terror group.

    • The landmark 1969 KKK free speech case, Brandenburg v. Ohio, in which the court ruled that free speech can be limited only if it causes “imminent lawless action.” That standard remains today.

• Lawsuit to watch: Last month, law firm Greenberg Traurig, filed a federal lawsuit seeking compensatory damages on behalf of several October 7 victims, alleging two U.S.-based Palestinian groups violated the Anti-Terrorism Act by serving as collaborators and propagandists for Hamas.

PART OF HAMAS’S PLAN
Terrorist groups use propaganda to spread radical ideologies, inspire supporters, gain recruits, and signal their strength to enemies.

• This has been a part of Hamas’s strategy for longer than this war.

  • The Wall Street Journal obtained messages sent by Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, acknowledging that more Palestinian civilian casualties increases support for the group, including writing “No blood, no news.”

    • This April, after three children of a fellow Hamas leader were killed by an Israeli airstrike, Sinwar wrote that their deaths and those of other Palestinians would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”

  • Hamas, Iran and allies have been closely following protests in the West and cheering on praise for their cause.

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Eight suspected terrorists with ISIS ties arrested in a sting operation after crossing US border last year (NBC NEWS)

📌 Federal judge throws out Florida transgender law (AP NEWS)

📌 4 US college teachers stabbed in China (NPR)

📌 Trump will huddle with congressional Republicans today in DC (AXIOS)

📌At least 25 protesters arrested after pro-Palestinian encampments formed on UCLA campus (CNN)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Ceasefire talks in turmoil as Hamas responds to proposal (CNN)

📌 Malawi vice president killed in plane crash along with 9 other passengers (CNN)

📌Migrant boat sinks off Yemen coast, killing at least 49 people (CBS NEWS)

📌 South Korea fires warning shots at North’s troops crossing border (AP)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Best Buy conducts another round of layoffs as it tries to survive (THE VERGE)

📌 Banana company ‘Chiquita’ found liable for financing paramilitary group (BBC)

📌 Solar flare blasts out strongest radiation storm since 2017 (SPACE NEWS)

📌 New study finds that a ‘planetary health diet’ can reduce risk of early death (CBS NEWS)

📌 Elon Musk drops lawsuit after OpenAI published his emails (CNN)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 King Charles’ first official portrait vandalized by activists (CNN)

📌 Joey Chestnut banned from 2024 Nathan's hot dog eating contest after 16 wins (FOX NEWS)

📌 Oprah Winfrey hospitalized with stomach virus and dehydration (PEOPLE)

📌 Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson suffers arm injury on set (TMZ)

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: JUNE 12

• 1931: Al Capone was indicted on 5,000 counts of prohibition and perjury.

• 1942: Anne Frank, a Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, receives a diary for her 13th birthday. One month later she would go into hiding. Frank would eventually be discovered by Nazis with her family, and die in a death camp in 1945, but her diary was found after the war and published in dozens of languages.

• 1967: The US Supreme Court rules in ‘Loving v. Virginia,’ that all state laws banning interracial marriage were unconstitutional.

• 1972: The first Popeyes, originally named Chicken on the Run, opened in a New Orleans suburb.

• 1981: ‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’ premiered in theaters.