KUSHNER SOUGHT SECRET BACK CHANNEL WITH RUSSIA: SOURCE

WASHINGTON Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a top White House adviser, proposed a secret back channel between the Kremlin and the Trump transition team during a December meeting with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Kushner, pictured, spoke with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about creating that line of communication to facilitate sensitive discussions aimed at exploring the incoming administration’s options with Russia as it was developing its Syria policy, a source told The Associated Press. The intent was to connect Trump’s chief national security adviser at the time, Michael Flynn, with Russian military leaders.

Kushner’s involvement was first reported by The Washington Post, which said he proposed using Russian diplomatic facilities for the discussions, apparently to make them more difficult to monitor. The Post reported that Kislyak was taken aback by the suggestion.

According to the source, 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 Feb. 1.