Trump admits son met Russian lawyer for information on opponent
Washington, Aug 6 : US President Donald Trump has admitted his son met a Russian lawyer in June 2016 "to get information on an opponent", but argues it was legal.
It is his most direct statement so far on the reason for Donald Trump Jr's meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016, BBC reported on Monday.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating US intelligence findings that Russians conspired to sway the election in Trump's favour. President Trump denies any collusion.
He has called the ongoing investigations in the US "the greatest political witch hunt in history".
Russia has repeatedly denied claims it interfered in the November 2016 presidential elections, where Trump defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
On Sunday, US media including the Washington Post and CNN reported that Trump was worried Donald Trump Jr could be in legal trouble because of the June 9, 2016 meeting with Veselnitskaya. They cited multiple unnamed sources.
Trump responded: "Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower.
"This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. "I did not know about it!"
Trump's latest tweet appears to contradict a previous statement from the Trump camp about the meeting.
When the meeting was first reported by the New York Times, Donald Trump Jr said in a statement that he and Veselnitskaya had mostly discussed a suspended programme for Americans to adopt Russian children.
However, he subsequently admitted he had agreed to the meeting after being told he would be offered information that would prove detrimental to Clinton. He also released the email exchange that brought about the meeting.
US media then reported that the US president had been involved in the initial statement his son issued on the meeting.
This was initially denied by Trump's team, but his lawyers later confirmed that he had in fact dictated his son's statement.
US commentators have argued that Trump's new admission that the meeting was to gain information about Clinton shows that the earlier statement was misleading.
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Police crack whip against inciteful social media posts
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): Police have registered a case on their own after discovering a series of alarming and provocative posts on Instagram, allegedly aimed at inciting communal hatred, glorifying violence and threatening revenge attacks in the city.
According to the FIR, filed by Police Sub-inspector Anita Nikkam of the Kankanady Town Police Station, the officer who was monitoring social media platforms on December 2 as per the instructions of senior officials, came across multiple Instagram accounts sharing inflammatory content.
The FIR states that posts and stories on 16 Instagram accounts reportedly carried images of unknown individuals brandishing weapons, including pistols, revolvers, swords and machetes, some with their faces masked.
Police said the posts were crafted to instil fear, provoke violence, create hostility between communities and disrupt public order in Mangaluru.
The FIR states that the content appeared to be part of a larger attempt to incite hatred between religions and communities, encourage unlawful activities, and disturb peace and communal harmony.
The complaint notes that Mangaluru is a 'sensitive region', and that the posts indicated a coordinated attempt to create fear, trigger riots, conspiracies and criminal acts through social media.
Police have initiated action under relevant sections of law and are tracing the individuals behind the Instagram accounts.
Further investigation is under way.
