Kushner sought secret back channel with Russia

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President Trump during his trip to Saudi Arabia
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29 May, 2017

The disclosure of the back channel put White House advisers on the defensive Saturday, as Trump wrapped up his first foreign trip as president.

According to the person familiar with the Kushner meeting, the Trump team eventually felt there was no need for a back channel once Rex Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of state, which took place February 1. Kushner, a key White House adviser, had meetings late past year with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov.

Kushner spoke with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about facilitating sensitive discussions to explore the incoming administration's options with Russian Federation as it developed its Syria policy, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press.

Russia, a pivotal player in Syria, has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, often at the expense of civilians during a long civil war.

At the time, a White House official dismissed it as a brief courtesy meeting.

Several RNC figures and Trump allies also attended the Thursday meeting: RNC Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel; RNC Chief of Staff Sara Armstrong; former Trump campaign digital strategist Brad Parscale; Trump campaign committee director Michael Glassner; and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Walsh, who now advises a pro-Trump nonprofit group.

He added: "If Republicans will not join in demanding this of the White House, Democrats would be more than justified in grinding the Senate to a halt and opposing any new Trump nominees". He added: "Whenever you see the words "sources say" in the fake news media, and they don't mention names.it is very possible that those sources don't exist". But they did not dismiss the idea that the administration would go outside normal USA government and diplomatic channels for communications with other countries.

"There is no way Jared Kushner should have a top-level security clearance right now", said Brian Fallon, who served as press secretary to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and before that as a spokesman for the Department of Justice.

"If not, then there's no way he can maintain that kind of a clearance", Schiff told ABC's "This Week".

Mr Trump refused to bend on the pact after three days of contentious private debate and intense lobbying by other leaders that began on Wednesday with an appeal by Pope Francis.

But a former head of the US National Security Agency harshly condemned Kushner's alleged effort to set up a secret communications line, saying if it is true, it would reveal a unsafe degree of ignorance or naivete.

"But I can't keep out of my mind the thought that, if an American intelligence officer had done anything like this, we'd consider it espionage".

Kushner suggested setting up the secure backchannel, according to the report, and even proposed using communications equipment in stateside Russian diplomatic facilities.

The Russian envoy, Sergey Kislyak, ambassador to the United States, told his superiors that he was "taken aback" by Kushner's suggestion, the newspaper said.

Obama administration officials have previously told the AP that the frequency of Flynn's discussions with Kislyak raised enough red flags that aides discussed the possibility Trump was trying to establish a one-to-one line of communication - a back channel - with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Flynn was sacked in February, officials saying he misled Vice President Mike Pence about whether he and the ambassador had discussed USA sanctions against Russian Federation in a phone call. Flynn remains under federal investigation in Virginia over his foreign business ties.

Regarding Kushner, former FBI agent Jim Treacy said Friday: "If there is an investigation on anybody, would other folks around that person be of interest to the FBI as far as being interviewed?"

President Trump also declined to endorse the Paris climate accords on Saturday, ending his first foreign trip much as he began it: at odds with several of his nation's allies and under a cloud of questions back home about his ties to Russian Federation.

Federal investigators and several congressional committees are looking into any connections between Russian Federation and the Trump campaign, including whether there was any collaboration to help Trump and harm his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

From left, senior advisor of President Donald Trump Jared Kushner, his wife Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump and First lady Melania pose for a family photo during their visit to the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums, at the Vatican, following their meeting with Pope Francis, Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

But he said that in general, "We have backchannel communication with a number of countries". "It allows you to communicate in a discreet manner".

White House counsellor to the president Kellyanne Conway has been involved in related talks, including with prominent Trump backers outside Washington and on Capitol Hill, and has contacted people from Trump's campaign network, asking them to be more involved in supporting the president, according to three GOP consultants working with the White House.

Trump called his maiden trip overseas a "home run", but while the White House had hoped it would serve as a reset, attention on the Russian Federation probe has only increased.

The latest reports in the Russian Federation matter said Kushner spoke with Russia's ambassador to the United States about setting up secret communications with Moscow during the presidential transition.

Those contacts included two phone calls between April and November past year, two sources told Reuters. He also failed to disclose earlier phone calls with Russian officials, according to a Reuters report.

Federal investigators and several congressional committees are looking into any connections between Russian Federation and the Trump campaign, including allegations that there may have been collaboration to help Trump and harm his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

On Saturday, The Associated Press confirmed that the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, requested information and documents earlier this month from Trump's campaign.


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