Back Channels With Foreign Officials 'Regular Course of Business' - Connway

US officials setting up back-channels to communicate with foreign officials has long been a common practice, President Donald Trump's senior aide Kellyanne Conway said in an interview on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Her comment came in response to recent media reports that Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner discussed setting up back-channels of communication with the Kremlin.

"Back channels like this are the regular course of business," Conway told Fox News. "It's very important to recognize that president has expressed full confidence in Jared Kushner," she added.

On Friday, the Washington Post reported that Kushner and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn met with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak last December to suggest setting up secret communication channels with Russia to shield talks before the inauguration from being monitored.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly defended Kushner on Saturday, telling NBC that back-channel communication is not uncommon and that he didn't 't see "any big issue here relative to Jared."

National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster also told reporters over the weekend that Washington maintains back-channel communications with officials in a number of foreign nations, and that the method allows for discreet communication.