U.S. and world news for July 18

(COVER PHOTO OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ANKLES – CREDIT: Jeenah Moon/REUTERS/REUTERS via CNN Newsource)

Vance calls for Wall Street Journal to release letter it says Trump sent to Epstein

Vice President Vance has called on the Wall Street Journal to make public the actual letter it reported that Donald Trump sent to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein celebrating Epstein’s birthday. President Trump vowed to sue the Journal and owners Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. after the newspaper published a report describing the bawdy letter that was part of a leather-bound album of congratulatory messages prepared for Epstein. The politically conservative Wall Street Journal described the letter as bearing Trump’s “Donald” :signature and a drawing of a naked woman. “I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.”

Trump orders Bondi to release Epstein grand jury testimony

While still not releasing all of the government files on the Jeffrey Epstein case, Donald Trump says he has ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to release grand jury testimony in the Epstein case. Bondi must first go to court to have the testimony unsealed, a process that often takes up to a year. Included would be testimony from victims of Epstein’s sex crimes, but it’s not known whether the names of the victims along with other sensitive material might be redacted. Trump’s MAGA supporters have been pressing for him to release what has been described as a client list containing the names of high-profile people for whom Epstein supplied underage girls for sex. After first saying she had the list on her desk for review, Bondi subsequently denied that such a list exists.

Stephen Colbert’s late night show canceled

Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert’s show has been canceled by CBS. On last night’s show, he announced that CBS was canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, citing financial pressures. “The Late Show” is typically the highest-rated show in late-night. The network’s decision comes just two weeks after Paramount, the parent company of CBS, paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit lodged by President Trump against CBS News. It was reported that in addition to the money, Paramount agreed to other demands by Trump. Colbert, who is one of the staunchest critics of Trump on television, condemned the Paramount settlement on air, likening it to a “big fat bribe.” “The Late Show” franchise has been a cornerstone of the CBS lineup for more than 30 years.

House joins Senate in passing cuts that include public broadcasting funding

House Republicans approved a package of $9 billion in spending cuts overnight, handing a win to President Donald Trump. Roughly $8 billion will be pulled from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs and another $1.1 billion will be withdrawn from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS. The measure will now head to the president’s desk to be signed into law. A study published recently in The Lancet estimated that the USAID funding cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030. As for public broadcasting, Trump and many Republicans have long accused PBS and NPR of being “biased,” but public media officials said critics distort what actually airs. Although the funding will start to dry up in the fall, some stations are already laying off staff, preparing to cut programs and searching for “new funding models.”

Emil Bove nomination moves forward

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday to advance the nomination of Emil Bove, President Trump’s former personal attorney, to a federal judgeship. The decision came over the loud protests of Democrats who walked out of the committee proceedings. Bove’s nomination has been contentious. Earlier this week, more than 75 former federal and state judges called on the panel to reject Bove, saying his “egregious record of mistreating law enforcement officers, abusing power, and disregarding the law itself disqualifies him for this position.” In June, a whistleblower letter from a terminated DOJ employee alleged that Bove and other top officials intended to ignore court orders and mislead federal judges. Bove rebuffed such claims during his confirmation hearing.

Sentences for police officers

The former police officer who was found guilty of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor — when she was shot and killed in her Louisville, Kentucky home during a botched “no-knock” raid in 2020 — will face sentencing on Monday. Although Brett Hankison wasn’t the officer who killed Taylor, he did fire blindly through her window. In a court filing, the Department of Justice asked that Hankison be sentenced to just 1 day in jail. And in Philadelphia, a former police officer who shot and killed a motorist during a traffic stop was sentenced on Thursday and then immediately granted parole. A judge sentenced Mark Dial to 9-1/2 months in jail for voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry — but then granted him parole because he had already been jailed for 10 months following his arrest in 2023. The city’s district attorney and the victim’s family condemned the sentence.

Trump has problem with veins in his legs

President Donald Trump was examined for swelling in his legs and has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, the White House has announced. Swelling of his ankles has been visible for some time. In addition, Trump has experienced bruising on the back of a hand. The bruising has been covered with make-up. Trump, 79, underwent a “comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies” with the White House Medical Unit, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, reading a letter from the president’s physician, Capt. Sean Barbabella. The letter stated that “bilateral lower extremity venous Doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.”