Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page denied being an agent of Russia on Sunday, hours after the government released top-secret documents related to the surveillance warrants used to wiretap him under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The heavily redacted documents showed the FBI believed Page was collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government.
“This is so ridiculous,” Page told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It’s just beyond words. It’s just so misleading going through the 400-plus page documents. Where do we even begin? It’s literally a complete joke. It only continues. It’s just really sad. I’ve never been an agent of a foreign power by any stretch of the imagination.”
Page admitted, after being pushed by Tapper, that he had informally advised the Kremlin, but downplayed his role as having informal conversations.
“It’s really spin,” Page said. “I mean, I sat in on some meetings [with Russian officials], but to call me an adviser, I think, is way over the top.”
[Also read: Trump calls on Republicans to ‘get tough now’ after release of FISA documents on Carter Page]
The push to surveil Page has been the subject of a partisan fight within the House Intelligence Committee. The warrant was released publicly, along with three applications to renew the surveillance, in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by multiple media organizations.
The documents confirm the the FBI based its surveillance requests to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in part on a dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer hired by a research firm funded in part by former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Republicans have accused the FBI of relying too heavily on the Steele dossier and not disclosing the ties of his research to Clinton. Carter, on Sunday, accused the FBI of “misleading the courts.”
“This is just an attempt to distract from the real crimes that are shown in this misleading document,’ Page said.
But the documents show the FBI told the court it considered Steele a trusted, reliable source. The FBI told the court it believed the source of funding for the Steele research was “likely looking for information that could be used to discredit” Trump, even if it didn’t name who was behind it.
Democrats note the application also included evidence against Page unrelated to the Steele dossier.
The warrant to monitor Page was approved four times by judges appointed by GOP presidents.
The FISA document also says that Russian officials told Page the Kremlin had compromising material about Clinton. Page denied that happened, calling it “totally false.”
