John Sununu, former chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, defended the Trump administration’s reported attempt to set up a private line of communication with Russia during the transition period, and said these sorts of “backchannels” are commonplace.
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, has been accused by Democrats of possibly working too closely with Russia, and seeing to set up a line of communication that could not be overheard by the Obama administration. But Sununu said that happens all the time during the transition.
Fmr. Bush aide @GovernorSununu defends Trump camp’s Russia ties: “You guys have made back channel a derogatory term” https://t.co/NNppCHquax— New Day (@NewDay) May 30, 2017
“In the 10 weeks between an election and an inauguration, there is a lot of discussion going on between all members, or potential members of an administration with all kinds of folks,” he told CNN.
“When I was named chief of staff, a lot of ambassadors that were slight acquaintances tried to become good friends in that 10 weeks. It is not unusual,” he added.
Sununu said backchannel talks are a positive element in the government, and blamed the press for overhyping Kushner’s effort with Russia.
“You guys have made ‘backchannel’ a derogatory term. A backchannel is a positive asset,” he said. “Nixon could not have done China without a backchannel. Kennedy used backchannels.”
Sununu also said he doesn’t believe Kushner tried to avoid being monitored by the Obama administration. But he said if that was the case, his fears were proven true given all the leaks to the press about Kushner’s actions.
“There might have been concern that the intelligence community was feeding Obama the information that he probably shouldn’t have had,” he said.
“And you know what? With what you’re reporting now on what has come out from deep sources in the intelligence community, if that was a concern, and I doubt it was, but if that was a concern, they were pretty smart to have those feelings, weren’t they?” Sununu asked.
