Of course. Ask yourself these questions. If the Trump campaign was already in collusion with the Russians, why would they need a secret back channel? And ask this one. If they wanted it to be secret why would they discuss it on communications they would know were being monitored by the U.S.
Not to mention, that the leaker leaking this confirms to them what lines are in fact being monitored.
It’s like a flag: Let’s see what we can say, to see if someone will leak it, and then we’ll know they’re monitoring us.
Via Fox News:
A December meeting between Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and one of the senior advisers in the Trump administration, and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak at Trump Tower focused on Syria, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Monday.
During the meeting the Russians broached the idea of using a secure line between the Trump administration and Russia, not Kushner, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News. That follows a recent report from The Washington Post alleging that Kushner wanted to develop a secure, private line with Russia.
The idea of a permanent back channel was never discussed, according to the source. Instead, only a one-off for a call about Syria was raised in the conversation.