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Donald Trump's Eldest Son Faces Questions In US Congress About Russia

Trump Jr., like his father, denies collusion with Russia. US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 campaign to boost Donald Trump's chances

WASHINGTON:  President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., returned to Congress on Wednesday to face questions from lawmakers about alleged Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion with Moscow by his father's presidential campaign.

Trump arrived shortly before 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) for what was expected to be several hours of questioning by members of the House of Representatives ,.Committee, one of three main congressional committees investigating the matter.

Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller is also conducting a broad investigation of the matter. He has announced the first indictments of Trump associates, and President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.

Trump Jr.'s appearance on Wednesday came amid mounting criticism of the Russia probes by some of his father's fellow Republicans in Congress, who accuse investigators of bias against Trump.

The committee meeting was conducted behind closed doors, and Trump Jr. was not seen by reporters waiting outside the meeting room, although congressional officials confirmed he had arrived.

The younger Trump testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September. The Senate Intelligence Committee has also said it wants to talk to him.

Lawmakers said they want to question him about a meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York at which he had said he hoped to get information about the "fitness, character and qualifications" of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democrat his father defeated in last year's race for the White House.

Trump Jr., like his father, denies collusion with Russia. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 campaign to boost Trump's chances of defeating Clinton. Moscow denies any such effort.

Some of Trump's fellow Republicans criticized Mueller, the FBI and the Department of Justice at a news conference on Wednesday, ahead of congressional testimony on Thursday by the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray.

The Republican House members accused Justice, the FBI and Mueller of being biased against President Trump and having been too easy on Clinton during the investigation of her use of a private email server while leading the State Department.

While the Republicans have complained about the FBI, Clinton has made no secret of her belief that then-FBI Director James Comey's announcement, shortly before the election, that the bureau was investigating potential new evidence in the lengthy email probe helped cost her the White House.

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz accused investigators of "unprecedented bias" against the president over the Russia matter, compared with their treatment of Clinton.

Republican Representative Jim Jordan told the news conference that investigators have "two standards of justice."

Trump and some of his closest Republican allies in Congress, have frequently criticized the Justice Department, arguing that it has focused too many resources on the Russia investigation while neglecting conservative concerns.

Separately on Wednesday, Representative Bob Goodlatte, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Department of Justice, announced a hearing next week with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, citing "serious concerns" about reports on the political motives of staff on Mueller's team.

And Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said he was asking the FBI for documents relating to the activities of FBI agent Peter Strzok after reports the agent had shown political bias while handling matters in both the Clinton and Trump investigations.

Republicans control majorities in both the House and Senate.

Other lawmakers, Republicans as well as Democrats, say the goal of their investigation is to guarantee the integrity of U.S. elections, not to target Trump and his associates.

Is Donald Trump winning?

Is Donald Trump winning?

This president has played a lot of golf since he won the election. He seems to do a lot of his business on the lush ,trump properties - senators are invited to come and play a round while he can bend their ear to back this or that cause.

The way the president does business is not always pretty. There seems to be unnecessary noise and more collateral damage than there needs to be.

But who cares that you shanked the ball off the 3rd or hit the ball into the trees on the 5th and found the water on the 14th? It's all about how you get yourself out of the rough.

The recovery shot. The scramble out of trouble. And every time you think that President Trump finds his ball buried under the sand in a huge bunker, he seems somehow to chip the ball into the hole and emerge smiling.

The president's former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators

The headlines have been dominated in recent days - understandably - by what is unfolding with the investigation of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, into whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

We have seen former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the FBI, but more interesting is the fact that Flynn is now co-operating with the Mueller investigation.

Trump-Russia story in 200 words

And we have seen some rather odd tweets from the president's account, which now we're being told weren't written by him.

Every day - sometimes it seems every hour - there is a new development that will dominate the news cycle. Stories that you think will last a week because of their seeming enormity come and go like passing spring showers, as we await the next downpour.

President retweets videos from a far-right British group and gets into spat with Theresa May - been and gone.

He says FBI reputation is in tatters - a passing squall.

Supporting Roy Moore for the vacant Alabama Senate seat, even though he's an alleged paedophile (which he denies)? Whatever.

Rows with basketball players for not being grateful enough barely make a puddle.

Congress is poised to send a bill for tax cuts to the president's desk

And it's my suspicion that in millions of homes across America (particularly those that voted for Donald Trump just over a year ago) this is all filtered out as so much noise and static.

Of more interest will be the Senate passing a tax reform bill. And yes, while it will help billionaires more than it will low-paid America (I suspect not that many will benefit from the tax relief on private jets), it will nevertheless benefit them a bit.

Trump travel ban – all you need to know

And there are signs that wages are picking up for blue-collar workers. Unemployment is very low, which means in some sectors there are labour shortages, which in turn means that pay is having to rise to attract workers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is seeing big growth in demand for production and transportation jobs.

Meanwhile, big business America is promising that the slashing of the corporation tax rate that Congress is promising will filter through to greater investment, which in turn will lead to more jobs and higher wages. There is a buoyancy out there.

Wall Street, the focal-point of the US financial sector, is enjoying exuberant times

And if you are someone whose pension is tied up in the stock market, you will be looking at the performance of Wall Street and thinking that every day is Christmas, as this president will repeatedly remind you.

The performance of shares (a fickle indicator) has been extraordinary. Confidence is returning.

OK, if you are being pernickety then yes, this bull run on the stock market predates Donald Trump coming to power - the market has been on an upward tick for years.

And ditto - the promise of trickle-down economics has been made before with decidedly mixed results.

But President Trump is nothing if not a great marketeer - and he will make sure he owns every favourable economic indicator that emerges.

And he will make sure every American will be told to believe it is all down to him. Just look at his Twitter feed - the multiple exclamation marks tell you what he thinks.

And then you look at the president's travel ban from six Muslim-majority countries - something which has caused a good deal of outrage around the world, but which was one of his populist key promises during the campaign.

The battle is not finished yet, and it may be months or even years before the Supreme Court delivers a final verdict.

The travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries was recently upheld by the Supreme Court

But the justices gave the president an important fillip this week. They voted by seven to two to allow the wholesale implementation of the measure, pending the outcome of the various legal challenges. That was an important legal victory.

What sticking points remain on US tax plan?

And there are a whole range of smaller ticket items where the president has slashed at regulations that were unpopular with his grassroots supporters. For these people he is doing what he promised.

I suspect the latest twist in the Russia probe is being met with a barely stifled yawn. And this is having a positive effect on all those jittery Republican lawmakers, as they eye the midterms next November.

There is a bit of a change in mood... if tax reform gets through, if the markets continue to rise, if the president can stay out of too much trouble (he's never going to be a choirboy, they accept) then maybe there are more victories to be had.

Going back to golf, one of the great sayings is that there are no pictures on a scorecard. In other words it may not be elegant, your swing may be a heave, you might get lucky with the ball rebounding off the tree - you can win ugly, but as long as you win, that's all the scorecard is going to record.

This president only cares about the scorecard.