White House counselor Kellyanne Conway defended Jared Kushner Tuesday morning, saying backchannel communications are “the regular course of business.”
“Backchannels like this are the regular course of business. And that’s really all that we know,” Conway told Fox News.
.@KellyannePolls reacts to claims that Jared Kushner tried to open ‘back channel’ with Russians pic.twitter.com/HDLsIBV7JR
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 30, 2017
“And I think it’s very important to recognize that the president has expressed full confidence in Jared Kushner and also went on to note the considerable progress and very large important portfolio that Jared oversees here at the White House.”
The Washington Post reported Friday Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, discussed with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak setting up a secret communications channel between Moscow and the Trump transition team.
He floated the idea of using U.S.-based Russian diplomatic facilities to avoid monitoring by the U.S. government.
Kushner has said he’s willing to meet with congressional investigators and the FBI to discuss the report.
Former national security officials have expressed concerns about the possibility Kushner reached out to Russia with hopes of setting up a secret communications channel.
But several top officials from the Trump administration, including national security adviser H.R. McMaster and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, defended Kushner and downplayed the report.
