Trump Jr dismisses legal concerns over Russian lawyer meeting
Washington, Aug 8 : US President Donald Trump's son has said his 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer was about "essentially nothing" relevant to claims of collusion.
Donald Trump Jr called the media uproar over the meeting "the ultimate distraction" from his father's success, BBC reported on Tuesday.
Trump Jr's meeting with a Kremlin-linked attorney at Trump Tower in New York could constitute a breach of US campaign rules, experts say.
The president argued the Trump Tower meeting was legal in a tweet on Sunday. Trump said his son took the meeting to "get information on an opponent", contradicting a previous statement from the Trump camp.
Speaking on the Laura Ingraham Show on Monday night, the president's son said the meeting with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya lasted 20 minutes and primarily focused on Russian adoptions.
Trump Jr has previously admitted he agreed to the introduction after he was promised damaging information about his father's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
He told Ingraham that adoptions were "the primary thing that we had spoken about in the meeting".
"You know that's not the premise that got them in the room... it was essentially a bait and switch to talk about that, and everyone has basically said that in testimony already," he said.
"It ended up being about essentially nothing that was relevant to any of these things. That's all it is and that's all they've got. "The president's eldest son also blamed Democrats for wanting to detract from his father's achievements.
"That is, I guess, the ultimate distraction from what's really going on in this country which is, you have a Republican president, a very conservative president, who is getting stuff done."
The meeting is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of his inquiry into Russia's alleged role to help Trump win the presidency.
Moscow has repeatedly denied claims it interfered in the November 2016 presidential elections.
President Trump and his son deny any collusion, and the president has tweeted that "collusion is not a crime".
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Guarantee schemes model for empowering poor, Cong will return to power in 2028: Siddaramaiah
Mangaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday expressed confidence that the Congress government would return to power in the state in 2028.
He asserted that the five guarantee schemes introduced in 2023 have become a model for empowering the underprivileged, women, the unemployed and economically weaker sections, not just in the state but in the entire country.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a Kambala event at Muduru-Paduru in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, he said the welfare measures reflected the vision of the Congress government to strengthen social and economic democracy.
"The five guarantees were introduced with the sole objective of empowering the poor, marginalised and weaker sections of society. These schemes have now become a model for ensuring social and economic justice," he said.
Siddaramaiah said democracy should not remain confined to political representation alone but must also ensure social and economic empowerment.
"A democracy that is only political has little meaning unless it is socially and economically vibrant," he said, adding that the state government was working towards that goal.
The CM also praised senior Congress leader and former minister B Ramanath Rai, who organised the event, describing him as one of the most honest leaders and recalling his role in bringing developmental works worth about Rs 5,000 crore to the constituency during his tenure as MLA and minister.
Despite his contributions, Rai had lost the Assembly election from Bantwal, Siddaramaiah said, expressing hope that he would contest again from the constituency in 2028 and secure victory.
He also lauded the people of the coastal region for preserving traditional cultural practices and organising Kambala races, terming the slush track buffalo race a popular folk sport of the state.
