Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss is the SISTER of Eric Prince of BlackWater fame

did anyone else know this already?

A Trump associate reportedly set up a secret meeting to establish a back-channel between Trump and Moscow

Days before President Donald Trump's inauguration, Blackwater founder Erik Prince met with a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles islands to create a communication back-channel between Trump and Russia, according to The WP.

Officials with the United Arab Emirates brokered the January 11 meeting in the hopes of helping to encourage Russia to distance itself from Iran, a major Kremlin ally. The Trump administration has often expressed its skepticism of Iran, and Trump often derided the US nuclear deal with Iran on the campaign trail.

A former intelligence official in the Obama administration who met with Trump transition officials told the Post that "separating Russia from Iran was a common theme" on Trump's team. The Trump administration sees Iran as a threat to the US, and both Iran and Russia have been working to expand their power in the Middle East in recent years.

Prince reportedly approached Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, after Zayed met with Trump transition officials in New York in December. That meeting included former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and current Trump administration advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner.

[link to www.businessinsider.com]

The Intercept reported earlier this year that Eric Prince was "lurking in the shadows of the incoming Trump administration" as an unofficial adviser. Prince's wife reportedly posted photos from Trump's campaign headquarters on election night.