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10:55 AM ET, July 18, 2025

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 Top Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album.  One Was From Donald Trump.  —  The leather-bound book was compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell.  The president says the letter ‘is a fake thing.’  —  It was Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday, and Ghislaine Maxwell was preparing a special gift to mark the occasion.
RELATED:
David Wildstein / New Jersey Globe:
Habba tells staff she loves her job, hopes to stay as she awaits judicial meeting (Updated)  —  U.S. Attorney Alina Habba told her staff on Thursday that her tenure as a federal prosecutor could come to an end on Tuesday when she hits the 120-day limit for appointments made by the U.S. Attorney General …
Rolling Stone:
Team Trump Was on ‘F-cking Warpath’ to Kill Story About Salacious Letter to Epstein  —  The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump wrote a birthday note to his “pal” about how they have “certain things in common”  —  Donald Trump wrote a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s …
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Trump's WSJ Epstein Fury … On Thursday, anticipation rippled through political and media circles as insiders awaited a potentially explosive Wall Street Journal story examining Donald Trump's ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.  The article, said to be in the works for days …
Meredith Kile / People:
Ex-Casino Boss Claims Trump and ‘Best Friend’ Jeffrey Epstein Were Once Caught Bringing Underage Girls to Casino Floor  —  A former executive at Trump's Atlantic City casino told CNN that the duo brought three girls to the gambling floor who were not yet 21.  The White House is calling his story “fabricated”
Discussion: New Republic
Stephen Fowler / NPR:
Trump threatens to sue ‘Wall Street Journal’ over article about his Epstein ties  —  The controversy surrounding President Trump and the so-called Epstein files has moved back to the legal system as he threatens to sue The Wall Street Journal and wants some case files released.
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Trump's approval hits new low as Epstein pressure mounts  —  This is one of those classic weeks in a Trump presidency where too many stories are moving too fast for an individual writer to keep up.  There are new tariffs, expansion of deportation operations, a will-he-or-won't-he dance …
Discussion: Newsweek and MSNBC
Newsweek:
Trump Responds After Report on Birthday Letter to Jeffrey Epstein  —  President Donald Trump threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal over a news article published on Thursday saying he sent a letter to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Epstein's 50th birthday.  —  The Context
Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing / Politico:
Trump rails against ‘NOTHING’ Epstein case after WSJ report
Joe Walsh / CBS News:
Trump orders Bondi to seek release of Jeffrey Epstein-related grand jury testimony
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
An Enigma Wrapped in a Wonderful Secret
Discussion: CNN
Douglas Murray / New York Post:
How many voters really care about Jeffrey Epstein?
Discussion: Reuters and CNN
Charisma Madarang / Rolling Stone:
Trump Claims He ‘Never Wrote a Picture in My Life.’ He Actually Drew Plenty of Them
Discussion: New Jersey Online and USA Today
Politico:   Playbook: ‘Another wonderful secret’
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Scoop: Why Dems didn't try to thwart Trump's funding clawback  —  House Democrats passed up what appeared to be a golden opportunity to block a bill codifying $9 billion in DOGE cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid.  In leadership's telling, victory was never a real possibility.
Discussion: Punchbowl News
RELATED:
NBC News:
Trump's cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid clear Congress  —  The $9 billion package passed the House and the Senate with only Republican votes through the rarely used “rescissions” process.  Trump is now expected to sign it into law.  —  WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House voted 216-213 …
New York Times:
Congress Just Gave Away Spending Power to Trump
Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway
New York Times:
Where Congress's Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR  —  President Trump's proposal to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasters threatens scores of radio and TV stations across the United States that air PBS and NPR programs.
Discussion: UPI and Salt Lake Tribune
RELATED:
Miriam Waldvogel / The Hill:
How will PBS/NPR cuts impact your local stations?  —  Congressional Republicans stripped more than $1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) this week, a move that could force local radio and television stations to consolidate, cut services or shutter altogether, particularly in rural areas.
Tom Jones / Poynter:
Defunding NPR and PBS passed the Senate — and it's a direct hit to rural America
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS to Cancel ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Citing ‘Financial Decision’  —  TV's ongoing problems with late night have come for Stephen Colbert, with CBS announcing Thursday that it plans to end his “Late Show” after the next TV season, citing a “financial decision.”
RELATED:
RELATED:
Anna Wilde Mathews / Wall Street Journal:
Obamacare Insurers Seek Double-Digit Premium Hikes Next Year  —  Some enrollees could be hit with increases of more than 20% because of federal changes and higher health expenses  —  If you buy your own health insurance, you are probably going to pay more next year—a lot more.
Discussion: KFF, Forbes and The Colorado Sun
Brooke Shafer / The Hill:
ICE will soon have nation's Medicaid data: What to know  — Agreement will allow ICE officials access to 79M patients' data  — Information includes addresses, racial information and more  — Opponents concerned over data privacy, civil rights issues
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients' personal data, including addresses, to ICE
Terrence McCoy / Washington Post:
Spurred by Bolsonaro's son, Trump mulls sanctions on Brazilian judge  —  If implemented, the sanctions against supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes would dramatically escalate a widening feud between the United States and Brazil.  —  Summary  —  RIO DE JANEIRO — A son …
Discussion: El País, Bloomberg and Foreign Policy
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Bolsonaro Ordered to Wear Ankle Monitor After Police Search
Discussion: Reuters and Fox News
Andreas Kluth / Bloomberg:
The State Department Upheaval Makes China Great Again  —  Never before has a country forfeited so much soft power with so little justification amid such intense competition with a rival.  —  She had not seen the axe coming for her specifically, one Foreign Service Officer told me.
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Trump's new Alcatraz could cost $2 billion … - A “supermax” prison complex that would cost more than $2 billion. … - A scaled-back prison that would cost $1 billion and not occupy the entire island.  — Putting the project out to bid for private prison contractors to build and operate.
David R. Lurie / Public Notice:
The emerging coup  —  Lawless authoritarian regimes don't give up power willingly. … 👇  —  Six months into the second Trump administration, two things are becoming clear: First, the president remains a nearly entirely non-strategic actor, motivated only by an abiding desire …
Wall Street Journal:
White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’  —  Order would be one of several expected to outline Trump's vision for winning AI race with China  —  White House officials are preparing an executive order targeting tech companies with what they see as “woke” artificial-intelligence models …
more at Techmeme »
ABC News:
Unreleased Epstein files include logbooks for private island, records show  —  The Department of Justice released an index of the evidence earlier this year.  —  Jeffrey Epstein in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., July 30, 2008.  —  Uma Sanghvi/The Palm Beach Post via AP
Discussion: Alternet.org and Scripting News
Associated Press:
For Sale: Trump is leveraging power of his office to reap profits for family businesses  —  If one theme has emerged in President Donald Trump's second term, it's this: He's leveraged the power of his office for personal gain unlike anyone before in history.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Noah Lanard / Mother Jones:
The Shocking Rise of One of the Tech Right's Favorite Posters
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Vile, Corrupt Attack on Adam Schiff Is Already Backfiring
Sawyer Loftus / ProPublica:
The USDA Wouldn't Let Her Give Up Her House When She Couldn't Pay Her Mortgage. Instead, It Crushed Her With Debt.
Discussion: Bangor Daily News
New York Times:
The Seeds of Democratic Revival Have Already Been Sown
Alex Thompson / Axios:
How trolling Trump became a strategy for Newsom
Jan Wolfe / Reuters:
US judge weighs putting new block on Trump's birthright citizenship order
Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:
Debate Ignites at U.S. School Over Netanyahu's Hall of Fame Status
 Earlier Items: 
Mike Fox / MSNBC:
ICE detentions are an affront to the Fourth Amendment — and we're all paying the price
Wall Street Journal:
How Sam Altman Outfoxed Elon Musk to Become Trump's AI Buddy
more at Techmeme »
Associated Press:
Most US adults think the GOP tax bill will help the wealthy and harm the poor, AP-NORC poll finds
Discussion: Salon
Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:
Rep. Jim Jordan faces deposition about OSU sex abuse scandal
Discussion: The Hill, The Independent and MSNBC
Cameron Peters / Vox:
DOJ seeks a single-day prison sentence for an officer convicted in the Breonna Taylor raid
The White House:
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Creates New Classification of Federal Employee to Help Serve the American People
Discussion: The Hill and Washington Examiner
Shane Harris / The Atlantic:
Former Intel Chief Banned From Dog's Graduation Ceremony
Discussion: Raw Story
US Department of Justice:
Former Voice of America Employee Indicted for Threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
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