Trump Cancels North Korea Summit
President Donald Trump has canceled his historic summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month. The meeting, which would have marked the first face-to-face encounter between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, was set for June 12.
"Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting," Trump wrote in a letter to Kim, which was released Thursday morning.
The news came as North Korea made a show of dismantling a nuclear test site, but also on the heels of some sharp words from the North Korean government about America denuclearization demands.
Doubts had grown in recent days about whether the summit would actually happen. North Korea abruptly canceled talks with South Korea out of anger over joint military tests with the U.S. in the Korean peninsula. While Trump had repeatedly played up the historic significance of the meeting, he also often leavened his optimism with a cautious "we'll see."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, said President Trump canceled his planned summit with North Korea in part because the United States did not receive replies from Pyongyang on preparations for the meeting.
“I don’t believe in that sense that we’re in a position to believe that there could be a successful outcome. I think that’s what the president communicated pretty clearly in his letter. I can add to that. Over the past many days, we have endeavored to do what Chairman Kim and I had agreed, which was to put teams, preparation teams together to begin to work to prepare for the summit and we have received no response to our inquiries from them.”
White House to Host Bipartisan Briefing on Russia Investigation
The Justice Department has invited House Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi, to attend what was initially slated to be a highly classified, Republican-only briefing about the FBI's use of an informant to gather information from Trump campaign aides.
Pelosi confirmed on Thursday that she had been invited to the noon briefing, but has designated Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, to attend in her place. Previously, Democrats had only been invited to a second meeting at 2 p.m. to discuss the topic.
Both briefings are being hosted by FBI Director Chris Wray, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The attendees at the first briefing were Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Speaker Paul Ryan, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy.
At the 2 p.m. briefing on Capitol Hill, Kelly, Rosenstein, Wray, and Coats will brief all “Gang of Eight” members, including Schiff and Gowdy.
Both briefings were announced by the Justice Department on Wednesday, saying that they will hold back-to-back meetings on Thursday. The two briefings are expected to cover the use of a confidential informant in the early months of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign.
The briefings follow President Trump's angry denunciations of what he has described as "Spygate" over the FBI's use of a secret informant to determine whether aides from the Trump campaign were meeting with Russian officials.
Chicago Bishop Demands Mayor Emanuel Remove Statue of George Washington
After last year’s Charlottesville, Virginia riots and President Trump’s comments on the removal of historical monuments, Chicago Bishop James E. Dukes has responded and released a letter to Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel demanding the renaming of the south side park as well as the removal of the George Washington statue that resides there. The park is named “Jackson Park” after Andrew Jackson.
In a letter addressed to the Mayor and posted to Facebook, Dukes called for the removal. He argued that their “active participation in the slave trade” makes them unfit for the honor of being held as heroes.” The letter read, “We as Chicagoans must now take the microscope and place it on the statues, monuments and parks that we give honor to. We cannot allow slavery and racism to be awarded in our communities by honoring individuals that indeed partook in the very institution that has kidnapped, murdered, raped, and terrorized our forefather and mothers.”
“Therefore, I call on the immediate removal of President George Washington and President Andrew Jackson names from the parks located on the southwest side of Chicago. They should not have the distinct honor of being held as heroes when they actively participation in the slave trade. I fully expect that the Chicago Park District will not be a place that embraces racism, slavery and its treacherous tentacles. But rather, Chicago will be a beacon of hope for a better tomorrow for all its’ residents.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel rejected efforts aimed at renaming Jackson Park and removing the George Washington statue from Chicago’s south side. “The nation’s first and seventh presidents both fought for a more perfect union through efforts to keep the country unified,” the mayor said.
Hundreds of Chicago Cops Protest Rahm Emanuel at City Hall
Wednesday is being referred to as “Blue Wednesday” in Chicago as the city’s Fraternal Order of Police organized a unified public demonstration against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who the FOP calls “anti-police.” Approximately 200 Off-duty members of the Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago protested Mayor Rahm Emanuel inside and outside City Hall late Wednesday morning for "turning his back on police."
The anger towards Emanuel is in response to the Chicago Police Board’s recent decision to put Officer Robert Rialmo on a no-pay status for the 2015 fatal shooting of Quintonio Legrier and Bettie Jones. The shooting was deemed unjustified by the board, but was ruled justified by Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson.
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) alleges the mayor has “turned his back” on his police department by being more concerned with “pandering to police-hating media” and by allowing the American Civil Liberties Union to have a seat at the negotiating table.
George Soros Tries to Tip Local California DA Race With $1.5 Million Donation
George Soros is attempting to tip several district attorney races in California by donating millions of dollars to his preferred candidates.
Soros leads an association of private funders, the American Civil Liberties Union and other social justice groups and Democratic activists targeting four of the 56 district attorneys positions up for election on June 5.
Wealthy donors are spending millions of dollars to back would-be prosecutors who want to reduce incarceration, crack down on police misconduct and revamp a bail system they contend “unfairly imprisons poor people before trial”.The cash infusion in the nonpartisan elections turns underdog challengers into contenders for one of the most powerful positions in local justice systems, threatening conventional law-and-order politics.
The effort is part of a years-long campaign by liberal groups to reshape the nation’s criminal justice system. George Soros has spent over $2.7 million this week alone in California, according to The LA Times and has spent more than $16 million in 17 local races in other states since 2014. His candidates have won 13 of those races.
Independence Fund Story
A long time Independence Fund donor learned about the track chair program years ago from O’Reilly. The donor says that they will match up to 40 track chair donations made by Independence Day. So please go to https://www.independencefund.org/get-involved/donate/ and give any amount of money that you can to help our vets!
Mail Time!
- The NFL players don't want to stay in the locker room and take a knee. Without the attention, what good is their protest? And remind me, exactly what are they protesting?
- Bill, I just listened to your segment on smoking marijuana in NYC. How on earth did this same city, who elected Rudy Giuliani, vote for Bill De Blasio to be mayor? This makes me not want to bring my kids to NYC again.
- Hello Bill, I have been following you for over 18 years, first on Fox News and currently as a Bill O'Reilly Premium Member. I have remained a follower because of what I perceive to be a widening chasm between your journalistic craft and that of the greater industry. Since migrating to BOR.COM I have learned a great deal about ethical journalistic practices; have you considered offering an online course on journalism?
Word of the Day: Meretricious
