Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Tuesday he now recalls an email exchange with campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page about Page’s plans to go to Russia after Page’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee was made public.
“What I now recall is seeing that email, it has been brought back to my attention,” Lewandowski told Fox News. “I didn’t recall it at the time.”
“All I was clear about was, if you are going to travel, please do not pretend to be part of the campaign and say that you are part of the campaign because you are not,” he continued.
But Lewandowski said he didn’t know Page, reiterating claims he made prior to Page’s appearance before the panel, which is conducting a handful of congressional probes into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.
“To be clear, what I understand and what I recall, that email was sent on June 19th of 2016, so about 18 months ago,” Lewandowski said. “It also happened to be Father’s Day, on a Sunday, and it also happened to be the day prior to me being terminated from the campaign.”
“So with all due respect, there were many other things on my mind that day other than trying to understand why a volunteer was telling me he may or may not be traveling outside the country,” he added.
Page told the House Intelligence Committee he sought permission from Lewandowski to visit Russia in June 2016 and also informed Hope Hicks, who is now White House communications director, of his intentions to go abroad.
Page has previously acknowledged he met with Russian officials during the trip, including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, telling the campaign Dvorkovich “expressed strong support for Mr. Trump and a desire to work together toward devising better solutions in response to the vast range of current international problems.”
