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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Tripura min thanks Centre for clearing final location survey for new railway line
Agartala (PTI): Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw for clearing the final location survey (FLS) for a new rail line between Jirania and Bodhjungnagar industrial estate in West Tripura.
The Ministry of Railways has accorded sanction for conducting an FLS for the construction of a new line, the NFR said in a statement on Monday.
The estimated cost of the 14-km stretch will be Rs 42 lakh, and the approval marks an important step toward strengthening railway infrastructure and enhancing industrial activities in the northeastern state, it said.
"The approval for the construction of this new railway line is an important step in strengthening the railway infrastructure in the state and increasing the mobility of various industries in the industrial city of Bodhjungnagar," the transport minister said in a Facebook post on Monday.
"The proposed new Jirania-Bodhjungnagar railway line, if commissioned, will play an important role as a rail corridor for the transport of goods from the industrial city of Bodhjungnagar and which will benefit the people of the state, including businessmen," he added.
After the completion of this survey, the construction of the new railway line will help encourage further industrial development in the districts adjoining West Tripura, which will significantly boost the local economy, he said.
"This important project will play a special role in improving the railway connectivity in the state and boost the economic growth of the region," the minister added.
"I express my heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Manik Saha and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for taking this step," he added.
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