Trump Sues WSJ Over Epstein Reporting; Colossal Biosciences Aims to De-extinct Moa Bird

Trump's Lawsuit Against The Wall Street Journal

• ⚖️ President Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, its parent company Rupert Murdoch, and the journalists who wrote a story about a letter he allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein.
• 📰 The lawsuit claims the reporting, which stated Trump sent a letter with adult content for Epstein's 50th birthday, is libelous and fabricated.
• 🧐 The Wall Street Journal reportedly did contact Trump, who denied the story, but proceeded with publication.
• 🔍 Trump's former lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, also stated he has no recollection of the alleged letter and suggested the WSJ might have fabricated it, though he also acknowledged the possibility of having written something for Epstein's birthday.

Efforts to Unseal Epstein Grand Jury Testimony

• 🏛️ The DOJ has formally asked a judge to release parts of Jeffrey Epstein's grand jury testimony, a move initiated after President Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to do so.
• ⏳ Critics, like former prosecutor Ro Khanna, argue that releasing only grand jury testimony might not reveal information about powerful individuals involved and could take months to process.
• 🔑 Alan Dershowitz advocates for releasing all Epstein-related documents, including bank records, flight logs, and interview notes, believing transparency is key, though he cautions against drawing conclusions solely from accusations.
• 🤝 Dershowitz also supports Gillian Maxwell testifying before Congress, suggesting she be granted use immunity as she is considered a key figure who knows everything about Epstein's activities.

Colossal Biosciences and De-extinction Efforts

• 🦖 Colossal Biosciences is working to bring back extinct species, including the Moa bird, with funding from Peter Jackson.
• 🐦 The Moa, a 500 lb flightless bird hunted to extinction, is considered sacred by the Māori people of New Zealand, and Colossal is collaborating with the Ngāti Research Center on this project.
• 🐺 The company has already successfully integrated three direwolves (Romulus, Remus, and Khesi) into a semi-wild environment on a secure preserve, with the animals exceeding the size of normal grey wolves.
• 🌱 De-extinction efforts are framed as building technologies and systems models that can aid conservation of existing species, with Colossal open-sourcing its technologies for broader use.
• 🧬 Colossal aims to engineer sustainable populations of de-extinct species with enough genetic diversity to thrive independently.

Other News and Commentary

• 📺 Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" is reportedly being cancelled by CBS due to economic reasons, despite its high ratings, sparking debate about corporate decisions and political influence.
• 💥 A tragic explosion at an LA County Sheriff's Department training facility killed three deputies while they were moving an unexploded device recovered the previous night.
• 🎤 Chris Cuomo discusses the lawsuit against the WSJ, noting the unprecedented nature of a sitting president suing a media outlet and the potential for the discovery process to backfire.