Trump son defends meeting Russian 'with Clinton material'

Donald Trump Jr at Trump Tower in New York City, 18 January 2017Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionDonald Trump Jr said "no meaningful information" on Mrs Clinton was provided
President Donald Trump's son has hit back at US media reports of his meeting with a Russian lawyer who said she had damaging material about Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump Jr denied issuing inconsistent statements about last year's meeting.
He also suggested it was normal practice to receive information about a political opponent.
US officials are investigating alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
The president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign head, Paul J Manafort, were also at the meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Mr Trump Jr insists she provided "no meaningful information" on Mrs Clinton, his father's rival for the presidency.
On Monday he tweeted sarcastically: "Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent."
He then tweeted: "No inconsistency in statements... In response to further Q's [questions] I simply provided more details."
And he linked to a piece in the New York Post headlined "The Times' exposé' on Donald Trump Jr is a big yawn".
Later, Mr Trump Jr tweeted: "Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know", after a Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said it should interview him.
The White House says there was nothing inappropriate about Mr Trump Jr's meeting with the Russian lawyer.

When was the meeting and how did it come to light?

It took place on 9 June 2016 at New York's Trump Tower, just two weeks after Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination.
It is thought to be the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and members of President Trump's inner circle.
After the New York Times first reported the meeting on Saturday, Mr Trump Jr released a statement which confirmed that it had taken place but did not mention whether it was related to the presidential campaign.
However, another Times report, on Sunday, said Mr Trump Jr had agreed to the meeting after being offered information that would potentially prove detrimental to Mrs Clinton.
The paper cited three White House advisers briefed on the meeting, and two others with knowledge of it, as its sources.
Mr Trump Jr said that an acquaintance he had known from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant had set up the meeting. The Washington Post said that figure was music publicist Rob Goldstone, who has links to the Russian music industry.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr Trump Jr said he had been asked to meet "an individual who I was told might have information helpful to the campaign".
"I was not told her name prior to the meeting. I asked Jared [Kushner] and Paul [Manafort] to attend, but told them nothing of the substance."

What was discussed at the meeting?

Mr Trump Jr's statement continues: "After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs Clinton.
"Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.
"She then changed subjects and began discussing the adoption of Russian children and mentioned the Magnitsky Act.
"It became clear to me that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting."
Ms Veselnitskaya said on Saturday that "nothing at all was discussed about the presidential campaign" and insisted she had "never acted on behalf of the Russian government and have never discussed any of these matters with any representative of the Russian government".

What is the Magnitsky Act and who is Natalia Veselnitskaya?

Adopted by Congress in 2012, the act allows the US to withhold visas and freeze financial assets of Russian officials thought to have been involved in human rights violations.
It is named after a Moscow lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who had accused Russian officials of tax fraud but was himself arrested and died in police custody.
The US law so incensed President Vladimir Putin that he suspended a programme allowing Americans to adopt Russian children.
Mr Veselnitskaya is a lawyer whose clients include companies and individuals said to be close to the Kremlin and she has been at the forefront of a campaign - backed by the Russian state - to overturn the Magnitsky Act.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted the Kremlin had no idea who she was: "We cannot keep a close watch on the meetings of all Russian lawyers inside the country and abroad."

Analysis: One piece of an unseemly puzzle?

Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter
If it walks like collusion and talks like collusion... what exactly is it?
For the first time there appears to be direct evidence that three individuals in US President Donald Trump's inner circle met with a well-connected Russian prior to the presidential election where the campaign - including the possibility of damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton - was discussed.
Donald Trump Jr has denied that anything relevant came out of the meeting but that could be beside the point. Intent is key and this may end up just one piece of a particularly unseemly puzzle.
This is also troubling news for the two other principals involved - son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chair Paul J Manafort - who are both embroiled in their own Russia-related controversies.
In May the president insisted that he had not colluded with the Russians. "But I can only speak for myself," he said. Some in his administration may have swallowed hard at that line - and now three individuals, if the New York Times is right, are leaking dynamite to the press.
Try as they might, the Trump team cannot seem to escape this Russia-related vortex. It makes one wonder what grim reality spins beneath the surface, pulling everyone down.

How has the rest of the Trump team responded?

Mr Kushner and Mr Manafort have not commented, although Mr Kushner's lawyer said her client had previously disclosed the meeting on security clearance forms. Mr Manafort has disclosed the meeting to congressional investigators.
Jared KushnerImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionJared Kushner has not yet commented on the Donald Trump Jr statement
A spokesman for President Trump's legal team said on Sunday that the president was "not aware of and did not attend" the meeting.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said the meeting was a "big nothing burger".
The New York Times said Mr Trump Jr had told the paper in March that he had not met any Russian nationals to discuss campaign-related matters.

Why is Russia being investigated?

It is alleged that Russian hackers stole information linked to the Clinton campaign and passed it to Wikileaks so it could be released and help tip the election towards Mr Trump.
Congressional committees and a special prosecutor are investigating whether there was any collusion between the Trump team and the Russians.
The investigations have yet to reveal any evidence of collusion, something the president has always denied.
Last week Mr Trump said interference in the election "could well have been" carried out by countries other than Russia and interference "has been happening for a long time".

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Battle for Mosul: Iraq PM Abadi formally declares victory


Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has formally declared victory over so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul.
Mr Abadi waved a national flag with troops after announcing the "collapse of the terrorist state of falsehood".
Earlier, clashes were reported in a small part of Old City where a few dozen IS militants were holding out.
The battle for Mosul has taken almost nine months, left large areas in ruins, killed thousands of civilians and displaced more than 920,000 others.
Commanders from the US-led coalition that has provided air and ground support to Iraqi forces said the urban combat had been most intense since World War Two.
Mr Abadi made the declaration of victory at the operations room of the Counter-Terrorism Service, whose elite forces were the first to enter Mosul in November.
Using a pejorative term for IS based on an Arabic acronym of its former name, he said: "I announce from here the end and the failure and the collapse of the terrorist state of falsehood and terrorism, which the terrorist Daesh announced from Mosul."
But Mr Abadi warned that more challenges lay ahead.
"We have another mission ahead of us - to create stability, to build and clear Daesh cells.





"And that requires an intelligence and security effort, and the unity which enabled us to fight Daesh," he added, before waving an Iraqi national flag.

The US-led coalition confirmed that while areas of the Old City still had to be cleared of explosive devices and possible IS fighters in hiding, the Iraqi security forces had Mosul "firmly under their control".
The senior American commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Stephen Townsend, congratulated the Iraqi security forces on their "historic victory against a brutal and evil enemy".



"Make no mistake; this victory alone does not eliminate [IS] and there is still a tough fight ahead. But the loss of one of its twin capitals and a jewel of their so-called caliphate is a decisive blow," he said.
Mr Abadi had to delay declaring the "liberation" of Mosul on Sunday because a pocket of resistance remained in the Old City, on the western bank of the River Tigris, that was only about 180m (200 yards) long and 45m wide.
Iraqi army officers believed only a few dozen militants were left inside along with their wives and children, who they said were being used as human shields.
Gunfire and explosions were heard coming from the area earlier on Monday.



Mosul has been devastated by the battle, with the UN estimating that more than 5,000 buildings have been damaged and 490 destroyed in the Old City alone.
"It's a relief to know that the military campaign in Mosul is ending. The fighting may be over, but the humanitarian crisis is not," said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Lise Grande.
"Many of the people who have fled have lost everything. They need shelter, food, health care, water, sanitation and emergency kits. The levels of trauma we are seeing are some of the highest anywhere. What people have experienced is nearly unimaginable."
IS militants overran Mosul in June 2014, before seizing control of large parts of northern and western Iraq. The following month, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his first and only public appearance as IS leader at the city's Great Mosque of al-Nuri, and gave a speech proclaiming the creation of a "caliphate".



IS blew up the mosque almost exactly three years later as Iraqi troops prepared to retake it - a move Iraq's prime minister called a "formal declaration of defeat".
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Mosul says the jihadists may have lost militarily in the city, but this is not their end in Iraq nor the end of their twisted ideology.
IS still controls territory in three areas of Iraq - around Hawija, 130km (80 miles) south-east of Mosul; around Tal Afar, 65km west; and from Ana to Al-Qaim in the Euphrates river valley, 250km to the south-west.
It also holds a string of towns along the Euphrates in Syria, including Albu Kamal and Mayadin, but its stronghold of Raqqa is besieged by US-backed fighters.

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Rio's Valongo slave wharf becomes Unesco heritage site


A wharf in Rio de Janeiro where nearly a million African slaves are estimated to have landed has been declared a World Heritage site by the UN cultural organisation, Unesco.
The Valongo wharf operated for three centuries and became the biggest entry point for African slaves in Brazil.
Its remains were discovered during renovation work for the 2016 Olympics.
Brazil was the main destination for African slaves in the Americas.
After the long journey across the Atlantic, emaciated African captives were kept in the wharf area to recover and gain weight, so they could be sold on at slave markets.
Many did not survive and were buried at a nearby cemetery.
Unesco says the Valongo wharf should have the same place in history as Hiroshima and Auschwitz "to make us remember those parts of the history of humanity that must not be forgotten".
"It is a unique memorial, containing the last remaining vestiges of the slaves' arrival," anthropologist Milton Guran told AFP news agency.

Car park mass grave

Many Brazilians were unaware of the area's importance until a few years ago.
Remains of the wharf were discovered by chance in 2011, when a couple doing refurbishment in their house come across a mass grave, with bones and skulls.
The wharf and the complex surrounding it were constructed in 1779 as part of an effort to move what was regarded as an unsightly trade to an area far from the city centre, says the BBC's Julia Carneiro.
A few blocks from the wharf is a cemetery where, between 1770 and 1830, thousands of slaves were buried.
Slave trade in Brazil was banned in 1831, after Brazil declared its independence from Portugal. But it continued illegally until slavery was abolished in 1888.
Some four million slaves arrived to work in plantations and domestic workers from the 17th to the end of the 19th century. That amounts to 40% of slaves taken to the Americas.
After Brazil was declared a republic in 1889, the Valongo site was used as a landfill and eventually a square was built over the wharf.
Until recently, it was buried underneath a square, a street and a car park.

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Austria bars Turkish minister from rally marking failed coup anniversary


The Austrian authorities have barred Turkey's economy minister from entering the country to attend a rally to mark the first anniversary of the failed coup attempt.
Nihat Zeybekci's visit would represent a danger to "public order and security", an Austrian spokesman said.
The Turkish government did not comment immediately on the decision.
Relations are already tense as Austria has criticised the Turkish government's response to the failed coup.
More than 50,000 people have been arrested and 140,000 dismissed or suspended during a state of emergency in place since the attempted military takeover last 15 July.
Thomas Schnoll, a spokesman for Austria's foreign ministry, told ORF radio: "I can confirm that Foreign Minister [Sebastian] Kurz has in fact forbidden the Turkish economy minister from entering the country."
However, Mr Zeybekci, he added, was always welcome to make a bilateral visit.
Austria has favoured freezing Turkish negotiations on eventual EU membership and is among several countries to have expressed disquiet at the Turkish government's crackdown following the coup attempt.
In March, it banned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from campaigning in the country for a referendum in Turkey, saying it could deepen divisions between his backers and Turks of Kurdish origin in Austria.
Other European countries have also acted against pro-Turkish government rallies.
The Netherlands said on Friday that Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Tugrul Turkes was not welcome to visit for a ceremony among expatriates, also to mark the anniversary of the coup attempt.

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Donald Trump backtracks on Russia joint cybersecurity unit


Donald Trump has backtracked on a proposal to work with Russia to create an "impenetrable" cybersecurity unit to prevent election hacking.
Hours after promoting the idea on Sunday, the US president said that he did not think it could actually happen.
The idea of a partnership with Russia was ridiculed by senior Republicans.
It comes after Mr Trump's first face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany on Friday, in which the pair discussed the issue.
Mr Trump described the outcome of the talks as positive and suggested closer co-operation between the two nations.
"Putin and I discussed forming an impenetrable cybersecurity unit so that election hacking, and many other negative things, will be guarded and safe," he said.
The initial proposal immediately prompted derision from Democrats, as well as some Republicans who questioned why the US would work with Russia after the Kremlin's alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.
Mr Trump shifted his position on Sunday night.
"The fact that President Putin and I discussed a cybersecurity unit doesn't mean I think it can happen. It can't," he tweeted.
However, he stressed that another issue discussed in his talks with Mr Putin, a ceasefire in south-western Syria, had come into effect.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had sought to defend the proposed cyber unit after Mr Trump's initial announcement.
Speaking on ABC's This Week programme, he described it as a "significant accomplishment" for Mr Trump.
"What we want to make sure is that we co-ordinate with Russia," he added.
However, Republican Senator Marco Rubio suggested that such an initiative would be like partnering with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on chemical weapons.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said: "It's not the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but it's pretty close."

Media captionTrump to Putin: "It's an honour to be with you"
A special prosecutor is investigating whether Trump associates colluded with alleged Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US election.
Both Mr Trump and Mr Putin said the allegations had been discussed.
However, the two sides described the content of the meeting differently.
Mr Trump said he "strongly pressed" the issue with Mr Putin, who had "vehemently denied" interfering in the US election.
He also said it was time to work more "constructively" with Russia.
President Putin said he believed President Trump had accepted his assurances that Moscow had not interfered in the vote.
However, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said interference in the 2016 election remained an impediment to better relations with Russia, while the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the US "can't trust Russia" and "won't ever trust Russia".

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'Comfort women': Researchers claim first known film

South Korea has released what it says is the first known footage of "comfort women" forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War Two.
Filmed by US troops in China, the clip was found by government-funded researchers at Seoul National University in US archives.
The 18-second clip shows several women lined up talking to a Chinese soldier.
South Korean activists estimate 200,000 women were forced into brothels for Japan's military.
They are believed to have been mainly from Korea, but also from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Until now, the only records of women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War Two had been photographs and survivor testimonials.
The research team says the footage was filmed by joint US-Chinese troops in China's Yunnan province which was previously occupied by Japan.
The seven Korean women were freed in 1944 and the officer speaking with them has been identified as a Chinese captain of the China-US Combined Force, the team said.
The issue has long strained the relationship between South Korea and Japan over a perceived lack of adequate apology and compensation from Japan.
In 2015, the two countries reached a settlement whereby Tokyo formally apologised and agreed to pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) to fund victims.
The issue though continues to plague ties, most recently when Japan temporarily withdrew its ambassador to South Korea over a "comfort women" statue placed outside the Japanese consulate in Busan.
A similar statue has also been placed outside Japan's consulate in Seoul, and Tokyo wants both these statues to be removed.

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