Kelly defends plan for Russia back channel as a ‘good thing’

Washington: Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is defending an alleged effort by top White House adviser Jared Kushner to create back-channel communications with Russia, describing it as a “good thing” as the Trump administration sought to quell mounting questions over secret ties to the Kremlin.

Speaking on Sunday’s news shows, Kelly said he didn’t know whether the reports by The Associated Press and other news outlets involving Kushner, who is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, were true. But Kelly said such back-channel communications don’t bother him and would not be harmful to US security interests.

“It’s both normal, in my opinion, and acceptable,” Kelly said. “Any way that you can communicate with people, particularly organisations that are maybe not particularly friendly to us, is a good thing.”

Kelly appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and ABC’s “This Week”.