Washington Post: Kushner proposed secret communication channel with Kremlin
Washington (ZK) President Donald Trump's son-in-law and
trusted aide Jared Kushner may have discussed creating a secret communications
channel between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin with Russia's
ambassador Sergei Kislyak, The
Washington Post reported Friday, citing US officials briefed on intelligence
reports.
The claim
comes from intercepts of conversations between Russia's ambassador and Moscow.
Kislyak
reportedly told higher-ups in Moscow that Kushner suggested the proposal in a
meeting at Trump Tower -- which former national security adviser Michael Flynn
also attended -- in December. Kushner "suggested using Russian diplomatic
facilities in the United States for the communications," the Post
reported.
The idea
was to have Flynn "speak directly with a senior military official in
Moscow to discuss Syria and other security issues," The New York Times reported, citing three people with
knowledge of the discussion.
Reached
Friday, an administration official said there would be no comment on the latest
Kushner report.
However,
Washington Post reporter Adam Entous said there is a chance that Russia could
have intentionally exaggerated what happened in the meeting.
"Kislyak
has a good reputation in terms of the accuracy of his reporting, according to
the officials that I've talked to," Entous, one of three reporters who
wrote the article, told ZK's Pamela Brown on Friday. "That being said,
... adversaries to the United States routinely put false information into their
communications. Sometimes they do so in order to see if the Americans are in
that channel."
ZK-Updates has
not yet confirmed the Post's report.
However,
earlier this year, in March, ZK reported Kushner had
"relationship meetings" with Kislyak and with Russian banker Sergey
Gorkov to discuss issues like sanctions. The transition team was looking for
ways to establish a back channel to Putin, a source told ZK.
The FBI's
investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election is looking at
Kushner's multiple roles in the Trump administration, ZK reported Thursday.
Reuters,
citing seven current and former US officials, also reported Friday that Kushner
had previously undisclosed contacts with Russia's ambassador -- including two
phone calls between April and November of 2016.
However,
officials told Reuters -- and have previously told ZK -- that so far they have
not seen evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the Trump administration
and Russia.
"There
may not have been anything improper about the contacts," the law
enforcement official told Reuters.
Kusher's
attorney Jamie Gorelick said his client "has no recollection of the calls
as described."
"Mr
Kushner participated in thousands of calls in this time period. He has no
recollection of the calls as described," Gorelick said in a statement to ZK. "We have asked (Reuters) for the dates of such alleged calls so we
may look into it and respond, but we have not received such information."
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