First Draft on Politics: Trump Admits Meeting's Aim

President Trump claimed that the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting was “totally legal,” though it is a key subject of the investigation by the special counsel. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, August 6, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [President Trump with his son Donald Jr. last month. Mr. Trump denied a report that he is worried about the legal exposure for his son, who hosted a June 2016 meeting between some of Mr. Trump’s top campaign advisers and a Kremlin-connected lawyer.]( President Trump with his son Donald Jr. last month. Mr. Trump denied a report that he is worried about the legal exposure for his son, who hosted a June 2016 meeting between some of Mr. Trump’s top campaign advisers and a Kremlin-connected lawyer. Samuel Corum for The New York Times Good Monday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - President Trump said that the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top campaign aides and a Kremlin-connected lawyer was [designed to “get information on an opponent”]( — the starkest acknowledgment yet that a statement he dictated last year about the encounter was misleading. - Two of America’s biggest steel manufacturers — both with deep ties to Trump administration officials — [have successfully objected]( to hundreds of requests by American companies that buy foreign steel to exempt themselves from Mr. Trump’s stiff metal tariffs. - North Korea’s top diplomat accused the United States of [failing to live up to]( Mr. Trump’s agreement with its leader, Kim Jong-un, warning that the country would not start denuclearizing unless Washington took reciprocal actions. - The Republican nominee for Senate in Virginia, Corey Stewart, likes to engage the racial fringes of his party, [creating a dilemma]( for mainstream G.O.P. leaders wary of his views. One of his paid staff members recently took part in a Facebook chat planning a second Unite the Right white nationalist rally this month. - Just days before Tuesday’s primary against a powerful and long-tenured incumbent, Cori Bush’s campaign for Congress in St. Louis [has become a test case]( for how effectively the insurgent left can convert its energy into upheaval at the ballot box. [See what’s coming up next on the primary calendar »]( — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT [The Upshot]( Get the best of The Upshot’s news, analysis and graphics about politics, policy and everyday life delivered to your inbox. [• Sign Up »]( [Accused of Harassment, and Seeking Redemption at the Ballot Box]( By JULIE TURKEWITZ AND ALAN BLINDER [David Sawyer, a Washington state representative, is running for re-election after being accused of unwelcome advances and inappropriate remarks by at least eight women. One of his campaign signs lay uprooted on a lawn in Tacoma.]( David Sawyer, a Washington state representative, is running for re-election after being accused of unwelcome advances and inappropriate remarks by at least eight women. One of his campaign signs lay uprooted on a lawn in Tacoma. David Ryder for The New York Times In Arizona, the list of women accusing former State Representative Don Shooter of sexual harassment includes a Republican colleague, a Democratic legislator, at least two lobbyists, a newspaper intern and the former publisher of The Arizona Republic. “I’m a sucker for the pretty ladies,” Mr. Shooter is said to have told one woman while shaking his pelvis in her face. More than 1,000 miles to the northwest, State Representative David Sawyer, a Washington Democrat, has been accused of unwelcome advances, inappropriate remarks or other misconduct by at least eight women, including former legislative aides and a lobbyist he asked to be his “arm candy.” Almost a year into an antiharassment movement that has prompted a coast-to-coast cultural reckoning, Mr. Shooter and Mr. Sawyer are among more than a dozen politicians who have been accused of misconduct and are running for state legislatures again anyway. [Read more »](  [President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia meeting with Steven Seagal at the Kremlin in 2016. Russian officials said Mr. Seagal was named a special representative to promote humanitarian ties between Russia and the United States.]( [Steven Seagal Appointed by Russia as Special Envoy to the U.S.]( By MELISSA GOMEZ Russian officials said the action star’s new role would include promoting cooperation in culture, arts and youth exchanges. The position is unpaid. [LeBron James speaking at the opening ceremony for the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, which is a partnership between his philanthropic foundation and the city’s public schools to serve at-risk children. President Trump took aim at Mr. James and Don Lemon, the CNN anchor, on Twitter.]( [Trump Mocks LeBron James’s Intelligence and Calls Don Lemon ‘Dumbest Man’ on TV]( By CHRISTINA CARON The president lashed out at the N.B.A. star and the CNN anchor after they criticized him in an interview. [Brett M. Kavanaugh’s decision in 1998 to rejoin the Starr investigation, after it had expanded to include the Monica Lewinsky case, has forever connected him to an inquiry that Democrats called a partisan witch hunt.]( [The Partisan Battle Brett Kavanaugh Now Regrets]( By MICHAEL D. SHEAR AND ADAM LIPTAK The Supreme Court nominee, despite his own doubts, left his Washington law firm to rejoin the investigation into President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. [Maria Butina, who was charged last month with being a covert Russian agent, passionately promoted gun rights and better relations with Russia, charming a string of older men along the way. Clockwise from top right: Ms. Butina in 2014 with James W. Porter II, then president of the N.R.A.; Wayne LaPierre, the group’s executive vice president; and Rick Santorum, the former senator.]( [Beyond the N.R.A.: Maria Butina’s Peculiar Bid for Russian Influence]( By MATTHEW ROSENBERG, MIKE MCINTIRE, MICHAEL LAFORGIA, ANDREW E. KRAMER AND ELIZABETH DIAS Ms. Butina, who is accused of being a secret Russian agent, sought powerful connections outside the gun rights group, including a Rockefeller heir, an Eisenhower and an array of Republican lawmakers. [“If I could have put the N.R.A. out of business, I would have done it 20 years ago,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said of the National Rifle Association. The two sides are locked in a legal battle in federal court.]( [N.R.A. Suit Claims Cuomo’s ‘Blacklisting’ Has Cost It Millions of Dollars]( By JACEY FORTIN Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has filed a motion to dismiss the case, in which the gun rights group claims state regulators have conspired to keep businesses from working with it. [Sharice Davids, a leading Democrat in a top congressional primary in Kansas on Tuesday, is a lesbian and Native American who wants “L.G.B.T. people sitting in the room while decisions are being made.”]( [A ‘Rainbow Wave’? 2018 Has More L.G.B.T. Candidates Than Ever]( By LIAM STACK AND CATIE EDMONDSON A record number of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender candidates are running for office in November, as the Trump administration and state-level politicians have moved to roll back some legal protections. [The Santa Clarita Valley Signal was sold in June to one of its former publishers, Richard Budman, and his wife, Chris. Mr. Budman denied in an interview that the paper was being influenced by his political views.]( [When a Local Paper Gets New Owners, Partisan Strife Hits Its Doorstep]( By ZACH SCHONBRUN Some residents north of Los Angeles are worried about The Santa Clarita Valley Signal’s priorities after comments and tweets by the Republican couple who bought it. [Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a Democrat, spoke with voters during a campaign round table at a diner in North Bergen, N.J. Mr. Menendez is running for re-election in November, and he is still dogged by ethics questions even after his federal corruption trial ended in a hung jury.]( [In Deeply Blue New Jersey, an Unexpected Battle for Senate]( By NICK CORASANITI What seemed like an easy path to re-election for Senator Robert Menendez is turning into an expensive and nasty fight, causing concern among Democrats. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. And consider [subscribing to get unlimited access to nytimes.com and our apps.]( ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:washington-newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). 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