Trump’s son, son-in-law to appear before US Senate

Washington, July 20

President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr, son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort have been asked to appear before US Senate committees next week to answer questions about the campaign’s alleged connections to Russia, officials said on Wednesday.

The three men are the closest associates of the President to be called to speak to lawmakers involved in probing Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Trump, who came into office in January, has been dogged by allegations that his campaign officials were connected to Russia, which US intelligence agencies have accused of interfering in last year’s election. Trump has denied any collusion. The US Senate Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday that it had called Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and Manafort to testify on July 26 at a hearing.

The president’s son released emails earlier this month that showed him eagerly agreeing to meet last year with a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The meeting was also attended by Manafort and Kushner, who is now a senior adviser at the White House. Kushner is scheduled to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, July 24, behind closed doors. A special counsel, Robert Mueller, is also conducting an investigation of Russian meddling in the US election and any collusion between Moscow and Trump’s campaign.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting one of the main investigations of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion by Trump associates, but the Judiciary committee has been looking into related issues.

The public Judiciary hearing will look into rules governing the registration of agents working for foreign governments in the United States and foreign attempts to influence US elections. — Reuters

Do-over: 1 in 8 who voted for Trump want to ‘change their vote’

• About one in eight persons who voted for President Donald Trump said they would not do so again after witnessing Trump’s tumultuous first six months in office, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 2016 voters.
• While most of the people who voted for Trump on November 8 said they would back him again, the erosion of support within his winning coalition of older, disaffected, mostly white voters poses a potential challenge for the president
• Trump, who won the White House with the slimmest of margins, needs every last supporter behind him to push his agenda through a divided Congress and potentially win a second term in 2020