After Santa Fe shooting, NFL star JJ Watt offers to pay for funerals

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt will reportedly pay for the funerals of those who were killed in Friday's shooting at a Texas high school.  (Reuters)

Pro football star J.J. Watt is once again aiding the Houston area in a time of tragedy, as the community deals with Friday’s horrific school shooting that left at least 10 dead and 10 more injured in Santa Fe, Texas.
The Houston Texans defensive end – who raised millions of dollars for relief efforts following Hurricane Harvey last year – reportedly said he will pay for the funerals of those who were killed Friday morning at Santa Fe High School when 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis allegedly opened fire on his classmates, FOX 26 reported.
School officials have been notified of Watt’s intention.
The suspect, identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was taken into custody and charged with capital murder of multiple persons and aggravated assault against a public servant, authorities said.
Watt took to Twitter shortly after the shooting, calling the tragedy “absolutely horrific.”
The Texans released a statement offering “thoughts and heartfelt condolences to the victims, their families and all those affected.”
“On behalf of the Texans organization, we are saddened by the tragic events at Santa Fe High School this morning and extend our thoughts and heartfelt condolences to the victim, their families and all those affected,” the statement read. “We are grateful for the brave first responders, law enforcement officials and medical personnel. The Texans family will continue to pray for our neighbors.”
Watt, 29, who was drafted by the Texans in 2011 after playing college football in his native Wisconsin, became something of an icon in the state of Texas last year after he raised about $37 million to aid those affected by Hurricane Harvey, ESPN reported.

Little Rocket Man Cartoons

Pennsylvania Democrat resigns as mayor after allegedly soliciting 'police informant' for sex

In this April 20, 2018, file photo, Bloomsburg Mayor Eric Bower, right, is escorted out of the State Police barracks in Bloomsburg, Pa., by Trooper Jason Raynes after being video arraigned by District Judge Doug Brewer on misdemeanor charges including criminal solicitation and patronizing prostitutes.  (AP)

A Democratic mayor from Pennsylvania has resigned nearly a month after he was arrested for allegedly soliciting a woman for sex — a woman who turned out to be a police informant.
Bloomsburg Mayor Eric Bower, 36, initially claimed the accusations were made up because of his “political position.”
He was arrested on April 20 after investigators said he showed up at a Hampton Inn with condoms and $200 in cash. According to the attorney general’s office, the woman, whom Bower solicited for sex that day, was “a Pennsylvania State Police confidential informant.”
Police said Bower met with the informant on several different occasions, with the most recent meetup resulting in his arrest.
“Bower negotiated a fee for sex with the informant and arrived at the location with cash and condoms, where he was taken into custody by police,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN, POWERFUL NY DEMOCRAT ACCUSED OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DRUG ABUSE, RESIGNS AS STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Four days after his arrest, Bower told WNEP that the unidentified woman was a friend — he described their relationship as “very playful, you know.”
At the time he planned to fight the charges, claiming that it was a “setup because of my political position.”
However, the Democrat, who was elected in November, announced Thursday through the attorney general’s office that he would be waiving a preliminary hearing and immediately would vacate the mayor’s office.
He also stepped down from his post as a state constable.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that Bower “flouted the law.”
“No one is above the law,” Shapiro said in a statement. “I will not allow individuals in power to abuse the trust the public has placed in them. I’m rooting out public corruption wherever we find it, without fear or favor.”
SCHNEIDERMAN RESIGNATION LEAVES REPLACEMENT ATTORNEY GENERAL UP TP NEW YORK LEGILATURE
But Bower’s attorney, Patrick O’Connell, said that the decision to step down was done for the good of Bloomsburg, a small town northwest of Philadelphia.
“The town of Bloomsburg needs to focus on the tasks that it needs to focus on, running an efficient local government, which is challenging enough. But these charges caused a circus environment. Eric Bower recognized that and for the better of the town, decided to resign,” O’Connell said.
Earlier reporting at the time of Bower’s arrest by WOLF cited him as saying that he planned to “hold” his position as mayor and fight the charges against him. Now that he has resigned, it remains unclear if he will continue to dispute the allegations against him.

Marc Thiessen: North Korea is acting up because Trump has it cornered

While military exercises were the initial rationale for Pyongyang's tantrum, North Korea also made clear it has an issue with comments from National Security Adviser John Bolton; chief White House correspondent John Roberts reports.

WASHINGTON -- North Korea's recent temper tantrum over U.S.-South Korean military exercises and its threat to pull out of its upcoming summit with President Trump are signs that Trump's North Korea strategy is working.
Over the past several months, Trump has boxed in Kim Jong Un. First, he ramped up economic pressure on Pyongyang while making clear that, unlike his predecessors, he was willing to take military action. Yet when Kim offered to meet face-to-face, Trump shocked everyone (probably including Kim) by reportedly accepting on the spot. Instead of rejecting the offer, or using it as a bargaining chip to elicit concessions, Trump said "yes" and put the two nations on a faster track to nuclear negotiations than anyone had anticipated.
Then, the president began shaping the parameters of an agreement -- starting with making clear what kind of deal he would not cut. The North Koreans want a nuclear deal like the one President Barack Obama gave to Iran: sanctions relief up front, billions of dollars in cash, a weak inspection regime and sunset clauses on the back end. By withdrawing from the Iran deal last week, Trump sent Pyongyang a crystal-clear message: I don't cut deals like that.
He then used his senior officials to lay out the parameters of the kind of accord he would cut. Kim wants to get paid for the promise of denuclearization. Appearing on "Face the Nation," national security adviser John Bolton played the bad cop and explained that that is not happening. Trump will only pay for actual denuclearization. The president, Bolton said, is looking for "a manifestation of the strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons [that] doesn't have to be the same as Libya but it's got to be something concrete and tangible it may be that Kim Jong Un has some ideas and we should hear him out."
While Bolton set expectations for denuclearization, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played the good cop and held out the twin carrots of security and prosperity if Kim agrees. "If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize," Pompeo said, "the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on par with our South Korean friends." That stunning offer is deeply destabilizing for Kim. If he goes to a summit with Trump and refuses to accept a deal that provides his country with prosperity on par with South Korea, then he can no longer blame the West for the misery of the North Korean people.
In other words, Trump and his national security team have put Kim in a corner, offering him peace, security and prosperity, but only if he first denuclearizes completely, verifiably and irreversibly. Little wonder that North Korea is lashing out.
Kim might be looking for a pretext to get out of his meeting with Trump, and the military exercises provide a perfect excuse.
He may also be testing Trump to see how badly he wants the summit. Or he may be trying to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea in advance of the talks. He knows South Korean President Moon Jae-in is deeply invested in his "Sunshine Policy" with Pyongyang. If the North threatens a little rain, perhaps the South -- which desperately wants the summit -- will pressure Trump to cancel the military exercises or be more flexible at the bargaining table.
Trump needs to show Kim that he won't respond to threats by refusing to call off the exercises. Through back channels, he needs to reaffirm his willingness to provide North Korea with security and prosperity in exchange for immediate denuclearization but also make clear that if North Korea refuses, the alternative is not the status quo. Sanctions will be ramped up, and military action is possible. Above all, Trump should take North Korea's recent outburst as a signal that Pyongyang is feeling the heat.
A cornered animal roars, precisely because it is cornered. Stand firm, Mr. President, and don't let up the pressure.
Marc Thiessen is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Thiessen served as chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush and to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Giuliani: Trump wants to 'come forward and tell the truth, if he gets a fair hearing'

President Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday night that he had a "hopeful communication" with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team about the parameters for a possible presidential interview.
"I think it was a good-faith attempt to really narrow the focus quite dramatically of the questioning," Giuliani told host Sean Hannity.
Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor, said Mueller's investigators had responded to five information requests from the president's attorneys. Giuliani previously claimed that the lack of response had forced Trump's legal team to postpone a decision about an interview with the special counsel.
"The president has a great desire to come forward and tell the truth if he gets a fair hearing," Giuliani said. "Our job is to make sure that he gets a fair hearing from Mueller. Now, we’re not convinced that he will."
Giuliani previously had warned that an in-person interview of Trump by investigators would be considered a "perjury trap." On Thursday, he told Hannity: "If we thought there was any kind of trap, he's not doing [the interview] and there's a whole argument that there is a trap here."
Even if Trump ultimately does not agree to an interview, Giuliani insisted Thursday that Mueller's team "could write their report right now, today."
"Every explanation that they need [has] already [been] given by President Trump in interviews," he said, referencing an interview Trump gave to Lester Holt of NBC News shortly after he fired FBI Director James Comey last year.
"He explained precisely why he fired Comey for a non-corrupt reason," said Giuliani, who added: "By the way, he didn't have to have a reason for firing Comey and everything we've learned since then is, 'My goodness, he should have fired him earlier.'"

Trump administration set to resurrect ban on abortion counseling at federally-funded clinics

The Department of Health and Human Services will be announcing its proposal to ban counseling for abortion services at federally-funded clinics, according to a new report.  (Reuters)

Following pressure from pro-life Republicans in Congress ahead of the midterm elections, the Trump administration is reportedly planning to resurrect a Reagan-era rule banning federally-funded family planning clinics from discussing abortion with women.
The rule would also prohibit the clinics from sharing space with abortion providers, a senior White House official told the Associated Press Thursday.
That practice, known as "co-location," was specifically decried by more than 150 House members and more than 40 senators earlier this month in letters to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar.
HHS will be announcing its proposal Friday, the official said on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to confirm the plans before the announcement.
The policy has been derided as a "gag rule" by abortion rights supporters and medical groups, and it is likely to trigger lawsuits that could keep it from taking effect. However, it's guaranteed to galvanize activists on both sides of the abortion debate ahead of the congressional midterm elections.
The Reagan-era rule never went into effect as written, although the Supreme Court ruled that it was an appropriate use of executive power. The policy was rescinded under President Bill Clinton, and a new rule went into effect which allowed "nondirective" counseling to include a range of options for women.
GOP LAWMAKERS ASK TRUMP TO CRACK DOWN ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Abortion is a legal medical procedure. Doctors' groups and abortion rights supporters say a ban on counseling women trespasses on the doctor-patient relationship. They point out that federal family planning funds cannot be currently used to pay for abortion procedures.

"I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged."

Abortion opponents say a taxpayer-funded family planning program should have no connection whatsoever to abortion.
"The notion that you would withhold information from a patient does not uphold or preserve their dignity," said Jessica Marcella of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, which represents family planning clinics. "I cannot imagine a scenario in which public health groups would allow this effort to go unchallenged."
She said requiring family planning clinics to be physically separate from facilities in which abortion is provided would disrupt services for women across the country.
But Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said, "Abortion is not health care or birth control and many women want natural health care choices, rather than hormone-induced changes."
OPINION: SORRY, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: YOUR RADICAL PRO-ABORTION CULTURE WAR IS FAILING
Abortion opponents allege the federal family planning program in effect cross-subsidizes abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood, whose clinics are also major recipients of grants for family planning and basic preventive care. Hawkins' group is circulating a petition to urge lawmakers in Congress to support the Trump administration's proposal.
Known as Title X, the nation's family-planning program serves about 4 million women a year through clinics, at a cost to taxpayers of about $260 million.
Planned Parenthood clinics also qualify for Title X grants but they must keep the family-planning money separate from funds used to pay for abortions. The Republican-led Congress has unsuccessfully tried to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood, and the Trump administration has vowed to religious and social conservatives that it would keep up the effort.

Russian Witch Hunt Cartoons

Mueller's team of Dem donors under fire from Trump as probe hits one-year mark

Robert Mueller's team includes investigators Andrew Weissmann, Jeannie Rhee and James Quarles (from left to right).

The long and winding special counsel Russia investigation that President Trump has routinely decried as a “witch hunt” hit the one-year mark on Thursday – giving Trump’s legal team an opening to renew criticism of the probe’s focus and its investigators.
Legal team member Rudy Giuliani told Fox News on Wednesday that Mueller already has assured them the president can't be indicted.
And he said earlier this week that the president's lawyers would use the 'anniversary' to double down on calls to wrap up the investigation. Expect vocal reminders from the president's team Thursday that the past year has yielded no collusion-related charges.
“This case is essentially over. They’re just in denial,” Giuliani told Fox News' John Roberts.
Trump himself already has started to ramp up accusations of alleged political bias on the Mueller team itself, composed of largely registered Democrats or Democratic donors. This could be a recurring theme if the case continues to drag on.
“The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice…and just wait ‘till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!” Trump tweeted last week.
Mueller’s team is composed of 17 attorneys, 13 of which are Democrats. At least nine have donated to Democratic candidates and causes. Mueller, however, is said to be a life-long Republican and served as FBI director under former Republican President George W. Bush.
Among the team members is Jeannie Rhee, a former partner at WilmerHale—the high-profile law firm where Mueller worked prior to taking on the special counsel role—and former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. She is a registered Democrat and donated a total of $5,400 to Hillary Clinton in 2015 and 2016. Rhee also donated a combined $4,800 to former President Barack Obama in 2008, and the same amount again in 2011. Rhee has contributed smaller amounts of money to the Democratic National Committee and multiple Democrats running for Congress.

Rhee also represented Obama Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes during the House Select Committee on Benghazi’s investigation of the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack, as well as the Clinton Foundation in 2015 against a racketeering lawsuit brought by conservative legal activist group Freedom Watch. And Rhee represented Clinton in a lawsuit seeking access to her private emails.
Another attorney on Mueller’s team is James Quarles, who served as former assistant special prosecutor for the Watergate Special Prosecution Force and also was a former partner at WilmerHale. He is a registered Democrat and has donated significant sums to Democratic candidates: $2,700 to Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016, and more than $7,000 to Obama over the last decade. Quarles did, however, donate $2,500 to former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, in 2015.

Then there's Andrew Weissmann, former general counsel at the FBI and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. He is a registered Democrat and donated a combined $2,300 to Obama’s campaign in 2008. In 2006, Weissmann contributed at least $2,000 to the DNC.

Another attorney, on detail from the Southern District of New York, is Andrew Goldstein, a registered Democrat who donated a combined $3,300 to Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and 2012.
The Special Counsel’s Office told Fox News last year that they had no comment on allegations of potential bias on the team.
Justice Department policies and federal law prohibit discriminating based on political affiliation when it comes to hiring for nonpolitical positions.
In the lead-up to the one-year mark, Trump on Tuesday blasted what he estimated to be a $10 million “Russian Witch Hunt,” boasting that despite the drawn-out investigation, his approval numbers are improving.
Giuliani also said in a recent interview with Bloomberg that it's time to end the investigation, and warned they are prepared for battle: “We don’t want to signal our action if this doesn’t work—we are going to hope they listen to us—but obviously we have a Plan B and C.”
He did not specify what those plans might be.
Other attorneys on Mueller’s team -- like Elizabeth Prelogar, Brandon Van Grack, Rush Atkinson, Kyle Freeny, and Greg Andres -- are registered Democrats and have contributed smaller sums of money to Democratic candidates.
Whether Mueller is sitting on any damaging information about the president remains to be seen. In claiming there would not be an indictment, Giuliani made clear Mueller is bound by a 1999 Justice Department memo under the Clinton administration.
The next big question is whether Trump will agree to an interview with Mueller.
Giuliani told Fox News this week that the president's legal team hoped to make a decision about a Mueller-Trump interview by the May 17 anniversary -- but has not received a response from the special counsel on various requests for information.
While Trump insists there has been "no collusion," Mueller’s team has secured numerous indictments and received several guilty pleas from people involved in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign -- though none of those charges dealt with collusion.
WHO'S BEEN CHARGED BY MUELLER IN THE RUSSIA PROBE SO FAR? 
Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn was charged and pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his communications with the Russian ambassador; former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted on 32 counts in February, and also charged in a 12-count indictment in October; and former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI.
Mueller’s team has also charged 13 Russian nationals for allegedly interfering in the election.