Conservative journalist Bill Kristol tweeted Saturday that back-channel networks are "suspicious" only when they involve "the president-elect's son-in-law" and Russia.
Here are Kristol's posts:
Kristol, editor at large of The Weekly Standard, took to Twitter after The Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is now a senior adviser, talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about a back-channel network to discuss Syria and Moscow.
Kushner, according to the report, sought the discussions in December to explore the incoming administration's options with Russia as it was developing its Syria policy.
The intent was to connect Trump's chief national security adviser at the time, Michael Flynn, with Russian military leaders, the AP reports.
Russia has long backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, often at the expense of civilians, during the long civil war.
No such network was necessary, the administration decided, after Rex Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of state – moving toward more official communications channels with Moscow.
The Washington Post reported Friday that Kushner had proposed the network to Kislyak when they talked in December and that the Russian had reported it to his supervisors in Moscow.
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