President Donald Trump's top advisers are 'not concerned' following reports that his son-in-law and a top Russian diplomat may have discussed setting up a secret communications channel.
In a press conference in Sicily, Saturday, advisers H.R. McMaster and Gary Cohn declined to comment on new revelations about Jared Kushner's communications with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, but noted that the U.S. frequently sets up backchannels to countries for discreet communications.
McMaster said, "we have back channel communications with a number of countries."
He added, "What that allows you to do is communicate in a discreet manner so I’m not concerned."
Chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, however, declined to answer questions about Kushner. "We’re not going to comment on Jared," he said.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Kislyak told his superiors that he and Kushner discussed setting up a back channel between Trump's transition team and the Kremlin.
The White House in March confirmed that Kushner and Kislyak met at Trump Tower in December for what one official called a brief courtesy meeting.
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