Good morning. 📚 Summer read: Former national security adviser John Bolton is expected to move forward with the release of his White House tell-all next week despite a months-long campaign by the White House to stop him, WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus reports.

• President Donald Trump said Monday that Bolton could face a "criminal problem" if he went forward with the book — a threat that will no doubt do wonders for Bolton's book sales.

🗣️ Meanwhile, Jon Stewart is back with a damning indictment of the 24-hour news media, which he compares to porn: "The algorithm is not designed for thoughtful engagement and clarity," he tells NYT's David Marchese. "It’s designed to make you look at it longer."

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Stranger than fiction

The one about the eBay execs

Moving the Market: "Six former members of eBay's global security team have been charged by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Boston with cyberstalking as part of an effort to 'stifle' the publishers of an online newsletter about the online auction company," our colleague Tom Winter reports.

• The big picture: There isn't one. The story is just absurd, the behavior malevolent and terrible. And if you have any issues with our newsletter, please just let us know by email.

The backstory: "Prosecutors said the plan was two-fold. First, the eBay members allegedly harassed the couple who published the newsletter with online deliveries at all times of the day and night and sent threatening messages."

• "Then, the eBay team would contact the couple so they could proclaim that eBay noticed the harassment and offered to help them get out of the threatening environment eBay itself created."

• "Prosecutors called this the 'White Knight Strategy.' The plan 'was for eBay to arrive to 'rescue' the Victims from the very harassment that the defendants and their co-conspirators had themselves created in order to earn the Victims’ good will,' the prosecutors wrote."

The employees allegedly involved in the scheme are James Baugh, eBay’s former senior director of safety and security; Stephanie Popp, eBay’s senior manager of global intelligence; Stephanie Stockwell, an intelligence analyst; Veronica Zea... a contractor; Brian Gilbert, senior manager of special operations for eBay’s Global Security Team; and David Harville, eBay’s former director of global resiliency.

• "They ordered everything from live spiders... a preserved pig fetus, a pig mask, to a sympathy wreath and book on how to survive the loss of a spouse," said FBI special agent Joseph Bonavolonta.

• "All the while, they were hiding behind the internet, using burner phones and laptops, overseas email accounts, and pre-paid debit cards purchased with cash, to try and cover up their alleged crimes," Bonavolonta added.

eBay reax: "The company said it was first notified in August 2019 by law enforcement of 'suspicious actions by its security personnel toward a blogger,' and that the company launched an investigation with the help of outside legal counsel."

• "As a result of the investigation, eBay terminated all involved employees, including the Company’s former Chief Communications Officer, in September 2019."

💸 How not to give it 💸

Big in the Bay: In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, corporations including Apple, Google and Microsoft raised $4 million for the Black Lives Matter Foundation, BuzzFeed's Ryan Mac and Brianna Sacks report.

• The rub: The Santa Clarita–based charitable organization has one paid employee and no affiliation whatsoever with the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Gone to Washington

Jeff Bezos willing to testify

Big in the Beltway: Jeff Bezos is willing to testify before a House antitrust investigation this summer, a lawyer for Amazon says. The congressional hearing, which would be Bezos' first, would see him forced to answer claims about Amazon's power.

• The big picture: "The panel is likely to question Mr. Bezos... about claims that Amazon boxes out small businesses, abuses its power and mistreats warehouse workers," NYT's David McCabe reports.

The backstory: "Amazon had declined to commit to such an appearance by Bezos as recently as May, demurring in response to an antitrust investigation by House lawmakers," our colleagues David Ingram and Jo Ling Kent report.

• What's next: It's not yet clear "what other CEOs might testify at the same hearing, or precisely when the hearing would take place given the coronavirus pandemic."

Market Links

• Tim Sweeney raises $750m at Epic Games (Bloomberg)

• David Rubin pushes the Oscars back two months (Variety)

• Barbara Fedida faces an investigation at ABC News (NBC)

• Norm Pearlstine faces an 'uprising' at L.A. Times (NPR)

• Almar Latour hears from 150 Journal staffers (WSJ)

Alex Trautwig/Getty

⚾ Sports report

MLB 'not confident' of return

Talk of TV Land: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday that he's "not confident" there will be a 2020 baseball season amid the league owners' failure to reach an agreement with the MLB Players Association, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports.

• "I'm not confident. I think there's real risk; and as long as there's no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue," Manfred told ESPN.

The backstory: The MLB and the Players Association have been locked in a bitter dispute over player compensation. Some believe Manfred and the owners are delaying negotiations to justify a shorter schedule, which would enable them to pay players less.

• The latest roadblock is that, as a condition for play, league owners have asked the players union to waive legal claims that the owners have negotiated in bad faith.

How it's playing: Not great, Bob! One player has publicly accused Manfred of holding the game and its fans "for ransom." Another says "the MLB should be embarrassed."

• Meanwhile, the AP reports that a letter from inside the league says several players and staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

🏈 Meanwhile, over at the NFL, Ezekiel Elliott and several other players on the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, raising new questions about the NFL's plan to start its season as scheduled on Sept. 10.

⚽ What's next: Some good news. The Champions League is planning to resume in August with a "Final Eight" tournament held over 11 days in Lisbon.

🎾 Meanwhile, The United States Tennis Association is still planning to hold the 2020 U.S. Open this fall in Queens.

See you tomorrow.