Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page hit back Wednesday against allegations he either worked as an agent of a foreign government or colluded with one.
“This is – it’s just such a joke that it’s beyond words,” Page said.
Page’s comments were sparked by a Tuesday evening report claiming the FBI had successfully obtained a secret court order for a foreign surveillance warrant (FISA) to monitor communications in 2016. In doing so, the FBI would have needed to convince a judge they had probable cause that Page was acting on the behalf of a foreign government.
The Washington Post reported, “This is the clearest evidence so far that the FBI had reason to believe during the 2016 presidential campaign that a Trump campaign adviser was in touch with Russian agents.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Page, “Do you have any idea what might have been in the filing last year that convinced a judge to approve surveillance on you by the FBI?”
“Let’s not jump to any conclusions, and until there’s full evidence and a full investigation has been done, we just don’t know,” Page responded.
Last week, the New York Times also reported that Page had contacts in 2013 with individuals who are now known to have been Russian spies.
Tapper drilled down on the 2013 meetings, asking, “Did you think [the Russian] was trying to recruit you or get intelligence that would have been inappropriate for you to have shared?”
“He never made any indication that he was trying to recruit me,” Page said. “It was all just a casual conversation, exactly what I told my students at New York University. So — and no offer was made, and — and there was no negotiation whatsoever.”
Page is one of three main contacts that Democrats have focused on when investigating potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, the other two being longtime Trump associate Roger Stone and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. All three have agreed to testify to the ongoing investigation by the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee.
Some Republicans, meanwhile, have taken a different interpretation of reports. Radio host Rush Limbaugh said on his program, “This validates what Trump was saying about his campaign being surveilled. And it’s also the first time anything like this has ever happened.”
