Amidst allegations of Russian collusion, Carter Page spoke to Jake Tapper of CNN’s “State of the Union.” According to The Washington Post , Page denied all allegations, saying: “I’ve never been an agent of a foreign power by any stretch of the imagination.”
Page, who was a former campaign adviser to President Trump, addressed the allegations for the first time this Sunday. The first allegations came last week after “wiretap application documents” stated Page was “engaged in clandestine intelligence activities on behalf of Russia.” The documents specifically identified Page as a target of recruitment by the Russian government. The dossier featuring a number of redacted documents was released just before Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and after it was confirmed that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
The summit left many baffled as to the true nature of Trump’s relationship with Putin. When asked about the 2016 election and the evidence of Russian interference, Trump answered by saying he had no reason to think “Russia ‘would’ interfere in the election.” Trump later walked back the statement, saying that he really meant he had no reason to think Russia “ wouldn’t ” meddle with the election.
The documents also stated that “Page went around the world bragging about his connections to Russia even before the [presidential] campaign.”
Page has now stated that officials have “fabricated evidence” in an attempt to heighten their monitoring of him. The document claims that Page spoke to Russian officials to get “incriminating information about Hillary Clinton,” but Page says there is no truth to these allegations.
“It’s really spin. I sat in on some meetings. To call me an adviser is way over the top. … This is really nothing,” said Page.
He went on to state that some of the meetings he referred to included numerous people, even individuals from the Obama administration. Page continues to deny allegations that he was recruited by Russians.
“There was nothing in terms of nefarious behavior,” he said.
President Trump has stated this incident further proves that the “Justice Department was conducting illegal surveillance on his campaign.”
“Looking more & more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC. … An illegal Scam!” he tweeted.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who serves on the Intelligence Committee, insists that the Justice Department’s surveillance of Page doesn’t mean a broader search.
“I don’t believe that them looking into Carter Page means they were spying on the campaign.”
