It is, I suppose, an illustration of just how diminished and even sordid our political life has become these days that L'Affaire Epstein is the hot political show of the summer. But there it is. We'll see if it has legs for an extended run into the new fall season.
Here's what we know: Media megastar and ex-"Apprentice" co-producer and host Donald Trump has sued media megamogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for defamation in federal district court [SD FL]. [The Complaint is available here] The suit is based on a front-page WSJ story asserting that a "letter bearing Trump's name" appeared in a 2003 birthday album celebrating Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. The story described the letter this way:
"The letter bearing Trump's name, which was reviewed by the Journal, is bawdy—like others in the album. It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman's breasts, and the future president's signature is a squiggly "Donald" below her waist, mimicking pubic hair. The letter concludes: "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."
