Ex-NSA head on Kushner: “Ignorance, Chaos, Hubris”

Former head of the National Security Agency (NSA) Michael Hayden on Saturday said White House adviser and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is naive and ignorant if reports that he sought to create a secure communication channel with Russia are true.

“Well, Michael, right now, I’m going with naiveté and that’s not particularly very comforting for me,” Hayden told CNN’s Michael Smerconish.

“I mean what manner of ignorance, chaos, hubris, suspicion, contempt would you have to have to think that doing this with the Russian ambassador was a good or appropriate idea?” 

{mosads}Hayden’s comments come one day after The Washington Post reported that Kushner spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about setting up a private communication channel that would have utilized Russia’s diplomatic facilities. U.S. intelligence, according to the report, picked up Russia’s communications about the conversation between Kislyak and Kushner.

The former head of the NSA and CIA said Kushner’s reported action says a lot about both the presidential campaign and the state of American society.

“It says an awful lot about the campaign, Michael,” said Hayden. 

“It says an awful lot about us as a society that we could actually harbor those kinds of feelings that the organs of the state would be used by my predecessor to come after me or to intercept my communications or to disrupt my administration in a way that made it seem legitimate to me to use the secure communications facilities of a foreign power.” 

Hayden added that while it is possible Russia could be engaging in a disinformation campaign, regarding the communications, his instincts say no.