I’m sure there’s a perfectly innocent explanation for all of this Russia intrigue, right? Right? This thing keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. The Washington Post reported that Jared Kushner tried to set up a back-channel line of communication with the Russians, going as far as suggesting using Russian communication equipment at their embassy in order to avoid U.S. intelligence snooping. (We know this, apparently, because our snoops intercepted Russian communications with Moscow.)
Let’s hope this was all an innocent attempt to end the Syrian war by making nice-nice with the Russians without even our intelligence agencies knowing because well it would be so much better to just go directly to the Russian embassy— nope, sorry, even I can’t figure out a plausible innocent explanation for this one. Jared also somehow “forgot” to mention his very recent contacts with the Russian ambassador and the head of a Russian state-owned bank while he filled out his national security clearance form.
Remember that Kushner, Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, Erik Prince (of Blackwater infamy) and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi reportedly met to discuss arranging a secret meeting in the Seychelles to establish a back-channel line of communication with the Russians. Sheesh. These guys REALLY wanted to chat secretly with the Russians— this, while one of the top news stories was Russian meddling in our election!