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Pyongyang Rescinds Invitation To S. Korea Journalists Covering Test Site

ADDS TO CLARIFY THE DATE WAS WHEN IT WAS PUBLISHED, NOT WHEN PHOTOGRAPHED – In this photo provided on Thursday, May 18, 2018, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the 7th central military commission at an undisclosed place in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea is banning a list of South Korean journalists from attending the dismantlement of its nuclear test site.
On Friday, South Korea’s unification minister announced that Pyongyang declined to accept a list of the country’s reporters slated to attend next month’s event.
The latest agitation from Pyongyang has left experts wondering if eliminating the test site will even happen.
North Korea has said its nuclear program is finished, and doesn’t need the test site anymore.
President Trump has threatened to continue a maximum pressure campaign against the rogue regime if Kim Jong Un decides to pull out of the summit on June 12th.

Trump endorses John Cox for California governor

In this March 8, 2018 photo, California gubernatorial candidate, businessman John Cox, a Republican, speaks at a conference in Sacramento, California.  (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

President Donald Trump backed San Diego businessman John Cox for California governor Friday in an announcement that could provide a boost for Republicans hoping to secure a spot on the ballot this November.
“California finally deserves a great Governor, one who understands borders, crime and lowering taxes,” Trump tweeted Friday. “John Cox is the man – he’ll be the best Governor you’ve ever had. I fully endorse John Cox for Governor and look forward to working with him to Make California Great again!”
Cox has said he voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson in the 2016 presidential race, but has also said he regrets that vote.
“I am honored and deeply grateful to my President and I am looking forward to working with him to make California great again,” Cox said in a statement, likening his experience in business to Trump’s.
Cox has also earned the backing of much of California’s GOP establishment, including U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.
Cox is facing off against Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen and several Democratic candidates in the primary. At the state Republican Party’s convention in San Diego this month, delegates favored Cox over Allen by a 55 to 41 percent margin, FOX 5 reported. Still, Cox remains below the 60 percent threshold required for an official endorsement.
Republicans hope that the remaining Democrats will split the vote enough to allow one of the GOP candidates onto the ballot in November. Per California law, all candidates will appear on the same primary ballot next month, and the top two finishers will advance to the November midterms, regardless of party.
Trump remains deeply unpopular in California. On Friday, Lt. Gov. and Democratic frontrunner Gavin Newsom uploaded an ad on Facebook calling Cox a “protégé” of Trump, spewing “the same hateful rhetoric as his role model,” the Sacramento Bee reported.  

Trump should pardon Oregon ranchers -- They aren't terrorists

In April, President Trump pardoned I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr., top aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was convicted in an abuse of prosecutorial discretion. Now the president should do the same thing for Dwight L. Hammond, Jr., 76, and his son Steven Dwight Hammond, 49, long-suffering ranchers in rural Oregon.
The Hammonds were charged with terrorism and sentenced in 2015 to five years in prison, despite the outraged protests of ranchers and other citizens.
The Oregonian, the state’s left-leaning newspaper, said in a January 2016 editorial: “The Hammonds broke the law and deserve to be punished” but said their sentence was excessive and that the president (then Barack Obama) “should consider” granting them clemency.
The Hammonds are the victims of one of the most egregious, indefensible and intolerable instances of prosecutorial misconduct in history. Their situation cries out for justice that can come only from President Trump.
The Hammonds’ crime? They set a legally permissible fire on their own property, which accidentally burned out of control onto neighboring federal land. Normally, that is an infraction covered by laws governing trespassing, and the guilty party is subject to paying for damages caused by the fire – if the neighboring land belongs to an ordinary citizen.
But not when a vindictive federal government is involved.
The Hammonds are cattle ranchers in southeastern Oregon’s Harney County, the state’s largest, but home to fewer than 8,000 people who eke out a living. The federal government owns 75 percent of the land in the county.

Congress passed the 1996 law in response to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to “deter terrorism.” Lawmakers did not have in mind a rancher’s efforts to eradicate noxious weeds or to prevent the spread of a lightning fire onto valuable crops.

The Hammond Ranch is near the unincorporated community of Diamond, with fewer than 100 residents. Located on Steens Mountain since it was established in 1964, the ranch is made up of 12,872 acres of deeded private land. Dwight Hammond began running the ranch in his early 20s; for his son, it is the only life he knows.
Like most Western ranches in federally dominated counties, the Hammond Ranch holds grazing rights on nearby federal land. In this case, that is 26,421 acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
In the “high desert” environment of Harney County – and throughout the West – federal, state and private landowners use controlled or prescribed burns for prairie restoration, forest management and to reduce the buildup of underbrush that could fuel much bigger fires.
But sometimes the controlled fires get out of control and sweep onto neighbors’ land. That is legally deemed a trespass, and the landowner who set the fire is liable for any damages.
Only the federal government has the power to cite the trespasser criminally for his or her actions. That is what happened to the Hammonds.
It did not happen in a vacuum. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has long coveted the Hammond Ranch for inclusion in its surrounding Malheur Wildlife Refuge. The federal agency pressured members of the Hammond family for decades to follow all of their neighbors in selling their property to the federal government.
For their part, Bureau of Land Management officials, agents and armed rangers too often have had an adversarial and thorny relationship with ranchers and grazing permittees, which worsened during the Obama administration.
In 2001, after alerting the Bureau of Land Management, the Hammonds set a legal fire to eradicate noxious weeds. It spread onto 139 acres of vacant federal land. According to a government witness, the fire actually improved the federal land, as natural fires often do.
In 2006, Steven Hammond started another prescribed fire in response to several blazes ignited by a lightning storm near his family’s field of winter feed. The counter-blaze burned a single acre of federal land. According to Steven Hammond’s mother, “the backfire worked perfectly, it put out the fire, saved the range and possibly our home.”

“We thought we lived in America where you have one trial and you have one sentencing.” She said that federal officials “just keep playing political, legal mind games with people and people’s lives.”

The Bureau of Land Management took a different view. It filed a report with Harney County officials alleging several violations of Oregon law. However, after a review of the evidence, the Harney County district attorney dropped all charges in 2006. 
The Bureau of Land Management did not give up. In 2011, federal prosecutors – referencing both the 2001 and 2006 fires – charged the Hammonds with violating the ‘‘Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,” which carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years.
Mugshots of the father and his son accompanied headlines calling them “arsonists.” Their wife and mother said: “I would walk down the street or go in a store, people I had known for years would take extreme measures to avoid me.”
In 2012, the Hammonds went to trial. As the jury was deliberating, they agreed not to appeal the jury verdicts in exchange for the government dismissal of a slew of ancillary charges, including “conspiracy” to commit the offense.
The jury found both Hammonds guilty of the 2001 fire and Steven Hammond guilty of the 2006 blaze; he was acquitted on charges the 2006 fire did more than $1,000 in damages.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan concluded the fires did not endanger people or property. He declared that the law the Hammonds were convicted of violating was aimed at more serious conduct than their case involved.
Hogan added that the Hammonds had “tremendous” character, and stated that the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution – barring “cruel and unusual punishment” – justified a sentence below the statutory minimum sentence.
Consequently, Judge Hogan sentenced Dwight Hammond to three months in prison and his son to a year and a day. Both served their sentences and then returned home.
But the federal government was not finished. Federal prosecutors, contending the agreement did not bar them from further action, appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which, without oral arguments, quickly issued a terse ruling reversing the Oregon federal district court.
“Given the seriousness of arson,” the appellate court ruled, “a five-year sentence is not grossly disproportionate to the offense.” The Hammonds are both still in prison today.
Congress passed the 1996 law under which the Hammonds were convicted in response to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City and the 1995 federal building bombing in Oklahoma City in order to “deter terrorism.”  Lawmakers did not have in mind a rancher’s efforts to eradicate noxious weeds or to prevent the spread of a lightning fire onto valuable crops.
That apparently did not matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service and officials who are supposed to provide adult supervision to prevent personal animus, agency vendettas and prosecutorial abuse.
“We didn’t think it could happen,” said Susie Hammond, the family matriarch. She is still trying to hold onto the ranch, upon which four local families other than the Hammonds rely. “We thought we lived in America where you have one trial and you have one sentencing.” She said that federal officials “just keep playing political, legal mind games with people and people’s lives.”
Now it’s up to President Trump to deliver justice to the Hammonds – something the federal government has long denied them.
William Perry Pendley is president of Mountain States Legal Foundation in Denver and author of "Sagebrush Rebel: Reagan’s Battle With Environmental Extremists and Why It Matters Today" (Regnery, 2013).

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.

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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.