TRUMP SUES HIS CHEERLEADER: President Trump yesterday sued the Wall Street Journal for its reporting on a birthday greeting that the newspaper  says Trump wrote to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on his 50^th birthday. The suit claims that The Journal falsely claimed President Trump “authored, drew and signed” a lewd birthday  letter to Epstein.

  The suit demands $10 billion in damages claiming that “given the timing” of the article, “the overwhelming financial and reputational harm suffered by President Trump will continue to multiply.”

  This happened in the midst of the outcry about releasing the full Epstein investigative files to see whether he did or did not commit suicide in in jail, and to  identify the rich and famous men who had sex with underage girls. 

  The letter attributed to Trump had a drawing of a naked woman on it with Trump’s signature in place of  pubic hair, the Journal article said. They did not publish an image of the letter that they said included the greeting,  “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” 

  Trump claims the letter is a fake, that it was not written in his kind of language, and that he does not draw pictures. The NY Times then promptly published online several whimsical drawings Trump had done of the Manhattan skyline and the George Washington Bridge, some of which he donated for charity auctions. One of the drawings is of a money tree, with bills falling like leaves. Trump wrote in his 2008 book, “Trump Never Give Up,” “It takes me a few minutes to draw something, in my case, it’s usually a building or a cityscape of skyscrapers.”

  Trump’s lawsuit names several people and entities, including Rupert Murdoch, the kingpin of News Corp and the owner of Fox News, which has been a mouthpiece for Trump and his MAGA movement. Trump in social media postings called The Journal a “pile of garbage” and said, “This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media.”

  In lawsuits against the press, Trump has ignored the landmark Supreme Court decision New York Times v. Sullivan, which found that public figures suing for libel and slander must prove “actual malice”  and knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.

  Trump has proved in his previous lawsuits against ABC News and CBS that regardless of how baseless his claims might be, he can win settlements from corporate owners without going to trial. It doesn’t matter whether the news outlet reported the truth.

BLINDED BY SCIENCE: Under a president and administration that does not believe in climate change and global warming, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will eliminate its scientific division and start firing hundreds of chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists.

  It’s not only a move by the Trump administration to slash the federal work force, but also to eliminate science that does not agree with the President’s beliefs and political agenda. The EPA’s  Office of Research and Development  does such things as analyzing the risks of hazardous chemicals, the impact of wildfire smoke on public health, and the contamination of drinking water by hydraulic fracturing … “fracking.” Word of eliminating the office was reported in March, but the EPA denied it.

  In January the EPA deleted or buried its website information about climate change, but restored it to prominence after an outcry from environmentalists.

THE BRAZILIAN: Police in Brazil yesterday raided the home and political headquarters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, searching the properties and ordering him to wear an electronic ankle tag to keep him from fleeing.

  Brazil’s Supreme Court also barred Bolsonaro from social media, speaking to foreign officials, or approaching foreign embassies. Bolsonaro, a right winger admired by Donald Trump, is on trial accused of attempting to overturn the   results of the 2022 presidential election, which he lost to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 

  Trump has threatened to levy 50 percent tariffs on Brazil if the trial is not stopped. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his allies on the court, and immediate family members as punishment for  what he calls a “political witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.

THE SPIN RACK:  Two weeks after the devastating flash floods in the Texas hill country, 132 people are confirmed dead and 100 still listed as missing. — Three officers were killed yesterday in an explosion at a law enforcement training facility in East Los Angeles. The cause of the explosion was not explained but the facility houses the sheriff’s department bomb squad. — Oregon’s Mt. Rainier has been rocked by 800 minor earthquakes in the past 30 days, raising questions about whether the volcano is coming to life. 

BELOW THE FOLD:  Speaking at an artificial intelligence conference in Pennsylvania this week, President Trump immediately wandered into a tangent about how his uncle John Trump had been the longest serving professor at MIT … and that Uncle John held three degrees in “nuclear, chemical, and math.”

  The President also said that one of Uncle John’s students had been Ted Kaczynski, who went on to become the elusive and infamous Unabomber. Trump even told about having a conversation with Uncle John about what  Kaczynski had been like as a student.

  The investigative comedians at The Daily Show on Comedy Central into Trump’s tale. Host Jordan Klepper pointed out that Uncle John had not  been the longest serving professor at MIT … that he didn’t have the three degrees the President claimed, and that Ted Kaczynski never  attended MIT.

 The comedy journalist noted that Trump’s uncle John died in 1985 and the identity of the Unabomber was not revealed until 1996.

  The Daily show did confirm, however, that Donald Trump is the President of the United States.

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