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'''Carter William Page''' (born June 3, 1971) is an American [[petroleum industry]] consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to [[Donald Trump]] during his [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential election campaign]].<ref name="The Washington Post 26 September 2016">{{cite news|last1=Rogin|first1=Josh|title=Trump's Russia adviser speaks out, calls accusations 'complete garbage'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/09/26/trumps-russia-adviser-speaks-out-calls-accusations-complete-garbage/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 26, 2016 |access-date=September 29, 2016}}</ref> Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy Capital, a one-man investment fund and consulting firm specializing in the Russian and Central Asian oil and gas business.<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="Politico 23 September 2016">{{cite news |url-status=live |last1=Ioffe|first1=Julia|author-link1=Julia Ioffe|title=Who Is Carter Page?|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/the-mystery-of-trumps-man-in-moscow-214283/ |work=Politico |date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=September 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924010026/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/the-mystery-of-trumps-man-in-moscow-214283|archive-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Yahoo! News 23 September 2016">{{cite news|last1=Isikoff|first1=Michael|title=U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html |publisher=Yahoo! News |date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref>
'''Carter William Page''' (born June 3, 1971) is an American [[petroleum industry]] consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to [[Donald Trump]] during his [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential election campaign]].<ref name="The Washington Post 26 September 2016">{{cite news|last1=Rogin|first1=Josh|title=Trump's Russia adviser speaks out, calls accusations 'complete garbage'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/09/26/trumps-russia-adviser-speaks-out-calls-accusations-complete-garbage/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 26, 2016 |access-date=September 29, 2016}}</ref> Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy Capital, a one-man [[investment fund]] and [[consulting firm]] specializing in the Russian and Central Asian oil and gas business.<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="Politico 23 September 2016">{{cite news |url-status=live |last1=Ioffe|first1=Julia|author-link1=Julia Ioffe|title=Who Is Carter Page?|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/the-mystery-of-trumps-man-in-moscow-214283/ |work=Politico |date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=September 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924010026/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/the-mystery-of-trumps-man-in-moscow-214283|archive-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Yahoo! News 23 September 2016">{{cite news|last1=Isikoff|first1=Michael|title=U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html |publisher=Yahoo! News |date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref>


Page was a focus of the [[Mueller special counsel investigation|2017 Special Counsel investigation]] into [[links between Trump associates and Russian officials]] and [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|Russian interference on behalf of Trump during the 2016 presidential election]].<ref name="nyt-what">{{cite news | work =The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/18/magazine/what-if-anything-does-carter-page-know.html | date = December 18, 2017 | title = What (if Anything) Does Carter Page Know? | first = Jason | last = Zengerle}}</ref> In April 2019, the [[Mueller Report]] concluded that the investigation did not establish that Page coordinated in Russia's interference efforts, but did establish that the [[Steele dossier]] was right about Page attending high-level meetings with Russians, even though he denied doing so.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Samuelsohn|first1=Darren|last2=Cheney|first2=Kyle|last3=Bertrand|first3=Natasha|author-link3=Natasha Bertrand|date=April 23, 2019|title=What you missed in the Mueller report|work=[[Politico]]|location=Arlington, VA|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/23/mueller-report-findings-1287072}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Marshall |date=June 14, 2019 |title=Explaining Republicans' claims about 'false information' in the Trump-Russia dossier |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/14/politics/trump-russia-dossier-carter-page-fisa/index.html |work=CNN |quote=But Steele was right that Page attended high-level meetings with Russians during his trip, even though Page was denying it at the time. }}</ref> In December 2019, the Inspector General for the Department of Justice, [[Michael E. Horowitz]], issued a report on his inquiry into the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'s (FBI) investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign and its ties to Russia. Horowitz found fault with specific aspects of the FBI's conduct, including omissions of facts and false statements to the [[United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court|FISA court]] when applying for a warrant to conduct surveillance on Page.
Page was a focus of the [[Mueller special counsel investigation|2017 Special Counsel investigation]] into the many suspicious<ref name="Harding_11/15/2017">{{cite web |last=Harding |first=Luke |title=How Trump walked into Putin's web |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=November 15, 2017 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/15/how-trump-walked-into-putins-web-luke |access-date=May 22, 2019 |quote=...the Russians were talking to people associated with Trump. The precise nature of these exchanges has not been made public, but according to sources in the US and the UK, they formed a suspicious pattern. }}</ref><ref name="Harding_Kirchgaessner_Hopkins_4/13/2017">{{cite web |last1=Harding |first1=Luke |last2=Kirchgaessner |first2=Stephanie |last3=Hopkins |first3=Nick |title=British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 13, 2017 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/13/british-spies-first-to-spot-trump-team-links-russia |access-date=May 13, 2019}}</ref> [[links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies]] and [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|Russian interference on behalf of Trump during the 2016 presidential election]].<ref name="nyt-what">{{cite news | work =The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/18/magazine/what-if-anything-does-carter-page-know.html | date = December 18, 2017 | title = What (if Anything) Does Carter Page Know? | first = Jason | last = Zengerle}}</ref> In April 2019, the [[Mueller report]] concluded that the investigation did not establish that Page coordinated in Russia's interference efforts.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Samuelsohn|first1=Darren|last2=Cheney|first2=Kyle|last3=Bertrand|first3=Natasha|author-link3=Natasha Bertrand|date=April 23, 2019|title=What you missed in the Mueller report|work=[[Politico]]|location=Arlington, VA|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/23/mueller-report-findings-1287072}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Marshall |date=June 14, 2019 |title=Explaining Republicans' claims about 'false information' in the Trump-Russia dossier |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/14/politics/trump-russia-dossier-carter-page-fisa/index.html |work=CNN |quote=But Steele was right that Page attended high-level meetings with Russians during his trip, even though Page was denying it at the time. }}</ref> In December 2019, the Inspector General for the Department of Justice, [[Michael E. Horowitz]], issued a report on his inquiry into the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'s (FBI) investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign and its ties to Russia. Horowitz found fault with specific aspects of the FBI's conduct, including omissions of facts and false statements to the [[United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court|FISA court]] when applying for a warrant to conduct surveillance on Page.


In 2019, the Justice Department determined the last two of four FISA warrants to surveil Page were invalid.<ref name="wsj.com">{{cite news |title=Justice Department Believes It Should Have Ended Surveillance of Trump Adviser Earlier |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-believes-it-lacked-legal-basis-for-continued-surveillance-of-trump-adviser-11579810061 |access-date=January 24, 2020 |quote=Judge Boasberg ordered the government to explain further the specific steps it intended to take in response to its belief that some of the surveillance collected against Mr. Page lacked a legal basis.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last=Sandler |first=Rachel |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/01/23/doj-says-two-wiretap-warrants-against-former-trump-aide-carter-page-are-invalid/ |title=DOJ Says Two Wiretap Warrants Against Former Trump Aide Carter Page Are Invalid |date=January 23, 2020 |work=Forbes |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> In 2020, Page unsuccessfully sued the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and former FBI Director James Comey for $75 million for allegedly unlawful surveillance.
In 2019, the Justice Department determined the last two of four FISA warrants to surveil Page were invalid.<ref name="wsj.com">{{cite news |title=Justice Department Believes It Should Have Ended Surveillance of Trump Adviser Earlier |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-believes-it-lacked-legal-basis-for-continued-surveillance-of-trump-adviser-11579810061 |access-date=January 24, 2020 |quote=Judge Boasberg ordered the government to explain further the specific steps it intended to take in response to its belief that some of the surveillance collected against Mr. Page lacked a legal basis.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last=Sandler |first=Rachel |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/01/23/doj-says-two-wiretap-warrants-against-former-trump-aide-carter-page-are-invalid/ |title=DOJ Says Two Wiretap Warrants Against Former Trump Aide Carter Page Are Invalid |date=January 23, 2020 |work=Forbes |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> Page has filed four lawsuits;{{explain|reason=against whom and what was the nature of allegations|date=March 2023}}<!-- see Talk:Carter Page#Judge's full quote --> all were dismissed by courts.

In December 2019, [[Rosemary Collyer]], a senior U.S. district judge and one of four FISA Court judges who approved a warrant authorizing the wiretapping of Page, issued an order saying the FBI "provided false information to the National Security Division (NSD) of the Department of Justice, and withheld material information from NSD which was detrimental to the FBI's case, in connection with four applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for authority to conduct electronic surveillance of a U.S. citizen named Carter W. Page".<ref name="Order">{{Cite news|url=https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/FisaOrderOnFBIMatters12172019.pdf?mod=article_inline&mod=article_inline|title=IN RE ACCURACY CONCERNS REGARDING FBI MATTERS SUBMITTED TO THE FISC|date=December 17, 2019|work=U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court}}</ref>


==Life and career==
==Life and career==
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===Education and military service===
===Education and military service===


Page was raised in [[Poughkeepsie, New York]], and graduated from Poughkeepsie's [[Our Lady of Lourdes High School]] in 1989.<ref name="Page, Poughkeepsie Native, Linked to Trump-Russia" /> Page graduated with a [[Bachelor of Science]] from the [[United States Naval Academy]] in 1993; he graduated with distinction (top 10% of his class) and was chosen for the Navy's Trident Scholar program, which gives selected officers the opportunity for independent academic research and study.<ref name = "Gidda1">{{cite news |last=Gidda |first=Mirren |date=April 12, 2017 |title=Who is Carter Page and Why is the FBI Surveilling Him? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/carter-page-fbi-surveillance-us-presidential-election-russia-donald-trump-583066 |work=Newsweek |location=New York}}</ref><ref name="The Washington Post 8 July 2016">{{cite news | last = Mufson |first=Steven |author2=Tom Hamburger| date=July 8, 2016 | title=Trump Adviser's Public Comments, Ties to Moscow Stir Unease in Both Parties | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-advisers-public-comments-ties-to-moscow-stir-unease-in-both-parties/2016/08/05/2e8722fa-5815-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html | access-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a271110.pdf |title=Balancing Congressional Needs for Classified Information: A Case Study of the Strategic Defense Initiative |last=Page |first=Carter W. |date=May 17, 1993 |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center |location=Ft. Belvoir, Va. |access-date=April 4, 2017 |archive-date=February 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227035652/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a271110.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> During his senior year at the Naval Academy, he worked in the office of [[Les Aspin]] as a researcher for the [[United States House Committee on Armed Services|House Armed Services Committee]].<ref name="McClatchy">{{cite news |last=Hall |first=Kevin G. |date=April 14, 2017 |title=Why did FBI suspect Trump campaign adviser was a foreign agent? |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article144722444.html |publisher=McClatchy DC Bureau |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> He served in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] for five years, including a tour in western [[Morocco]] as an [[intelligence officer]] for a [[United Nations peacekeeping]] mission, and attained the rank of [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]].<ref name="McClatchy" /><ref name="nbc-who">{{cite news |last1=Dilanian |first1=Ken |last2=Memoli |first2=Mike |date=February 5, 2018 |title=Who is Carter Page and what does he have to do with the Russia probe? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/who-carter-page-what-does-he-have-do-russia-probe-n844821 |work=NBC News |location=New York, NY}}</ref> In 1994, he completed an [[Master of Arts|MA]] degree in National Security Studies at [[Georgetown University]].<ref name="McClatchy" /> After leaving active duty in 1998, Page was a member of the Navy's [[United States Navy Reserve|inactive reserve]] until 2004.<ref name="nbc-who"/>
Page was raised in [[Poughkeepsie, New York]], and graduated from Poughkeepsie's [[Our Lady of Lourdes High School]] in 1989.<ref name="Page, Poughkeepsie Native, Linked to Trump-Russia" /> Page graduated with a [[Bachelor of Science]] from the [[United States Naval Academy]] in 1993; he graduated with distinction (top 10% of his class) and was chosen for the Navy's Trident Scholar program, which gives selected officers the opportunity for independent academic research and study.<ref name = "Gidda1">{{cite news |last=Gidda |first=Mirren |date=April 12, 2017 |title=Who is Carter Page and Why is the FBI Surveilling Him? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/carter-page-fbi-surveillance-us-presidential-election-russia-donald-trump-583066 |work=Newsweek |location=New York}}</ref><ref name="The Washington Post 8 July 2016">{{cite news | last = Mufson |first=Steven |author2=Tom Hamburger| date=July 8, 2016 | title=Trump Adviser's Public Comments, Ties to Moscow Stir Unease in Both Parties | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-advisers-public-comments-ties-to-moscow-stir-unease-in-both-parties/2016/08/05/2e8722fa-5815-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html | access-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a271110.pdf |title=Balancing Congressional Needs for Classified Information: A Case Study of the Strategic Defense Initiative |last=Page |first=Carter W. |date=May 17, 1993 |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center |location=Ft. Belvoir, Va. |access-date=April 4, 2017 |archive-date=February 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227035652/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a271110.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> During his senior year at the Naval Academy, he worked in the office of [[U.S. Representative]] [[Les Aspin]] as a researcher for the [[United States House Committee on Armed Services|House Armed Services Committee]].<ref name="McClatchy">{{cite news |last=Hall |first=Kevin G. |date=April 14, 2017 |title=Why did FBI suspect Trump campaign adviser was a foreign agent? |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article144722444.html |publisher=McClatchy DC Bureau |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> He served in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] for five years, including a tour in western [[Morocco]] as an [[intelligence officer]] for a [[United Nations peacekeeping]] mission, and attained the rank of [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]].<ref name="McClatchy" /><ref name="nbc-who">{{cite news |last1=Dilanian |first1=Ken |last2=Memoli |first2=Mike |date=February 5, 2018 |title=Who is Carter Page and what does he have to do with the Russia probe? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/who-carter-page-what-does-he-have-do-russia-probe-n844821 |work=NBC News |location=New York, NY}}</ref> In 1994, he completed an [[Master of Arts|MA]] degree in National Security Studies at [[Georgetown University]].<ref name="McClatchy" /> After leaving active duty in 1998, Page was a member of the Navy's [[United States Navy Reserve|inactive reserve]] until 2004.<ref name="nbc-who"/>


===Further education and business===
===Further education and business===


After leaving the Navy, Page completed a fellowship at the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], and in 2001 he received an [[Master of Business Administration|MBA]] degree from [[New York University]].<ref name="Gidda1" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Lucas |first=Ryan |date=November 7, 2017 |title=Carter Page Tells House Intel Panel He Spoke To Sessions About Russia Contacts |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/11/07/562537269/inquiry-widens-following-disclosure-of-trump-aides-told-about-russia-contacts |page=Transcript, page 41 |work=NPR.org |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> In 2000, he began work as an investment banker with [[Merrill Lynch]] in the firm's [[London]] office, was a vice president in the company's Moscow office,<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /> and later served as [[Chief operating officer|COO]] for Merrill Lynch's energy and power department in New York.<ref name="The Washington Post 8 July 2016" /> Page has stated that he worked on transactions involving [[Gazprom]] and other leading Russian energy companies. According to business people interviewed by ''[[Politico]]'' in 2016, Page's work in Moscow was at a subordinate level, and he himself remained largely unknown to decision-makers.<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" />
After leaving the Navy, Page completed a [[fellowship]] at the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], and in 2001 he received an [[Master of Business Administration|MBA]] degree from [[New York University]].<ref name="Gidda1" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Lucas |first=Ryan |date=November 7, 2017 |title=Carter Page Tells House Intel Panel He Spoke To Sessions About Russia Contacts |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/11/07/562537269/inquiry-widens-following-disclosure-of-trump-aides-told-about-russia-contacts |page=Transcript, page 41 |work=NPR.org |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> In 2000, he began work as an [[investment banker]] with [[Merrill Lynch]] in the firm's [[London]] office, was a vice president in the company's Moscow office,<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /> and later served as [[Chief operating officer|COO]] for Merrill Lynch's energy and power department in New York.<ref name="The Washington Post 8 July 2016" /> Page has stated that he worked on transactions involving [[Gazprom]] and other leading Russian energy companies. According to business people interviewed by ''[[Politico]]'' in 2016, Page's work in Moscow was at a subordinate level, and he himself remained largely unknown to decision-makers.<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" />


After leaving Merrill Lynch in 2008, Page founded his own investment fund, Global Energy Capital, with partner James Richard and a former mid-level Gazprom executive, Sergei Yatsenko.<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=58104064 |title=Capital Markets: Company Overview of Global Energy Capital LLC |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomberg News |location=New York}}</ref> The fund operates out of a Manhattan [[Coworking|co-working space]] shared with a booking agency for wedding bands, and as of late 2017, Page was the firm's sole employee.<ref name="nyt-what" /> Other businesspeople working in the Russian energy sector said in 2016 that the fund had yet to actually realize a project.<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /> The building which contains Page's working space is connected to [[Trump Tower]] by an atrium, a fact Page referenced when describing his work for the 2016 Trump campaign in a 2017 letter to the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Intelligence Committee]].<ref>{{cite book |last=CBS News |date=July 22, 2018 |title=FBI releases Carter Page's surveillance records |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carter-page-fisa-documents-released-today-2018-07-21/ |location=CBSNews.com |publisher=New York, NY}}</ref>
After leaving Merrill Lynch in 2008, Page founded his own investment fund, Global Energy Capital, with partner James Richard and a former mid-level [[Gazprom]] executive, Sergei Yatsenko.<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=58104064 |title=Capital Markets: Company Overview of Global Energy Capital LLC |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomberg News |location=New York}}</ref> The fund operates out of a Manhattan [[Coworking|co-working space]] shared with a [[booking agency]] for wedding bands, and as of late 2017, Page was the firm's sole employee.<ref name="nyt-what" /> Other businesspeople working in the Russian energy sector said in 2016 that the fund had yet to actually realize a project.<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /> The building which contains Page's working space is connected to [[Trump Tower]] by an [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]], a fact Page referenced when describing his work for the 2016 Trump campaign in a 2017 letter to the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Intelligence Committee]].<ref>{{cite book |last=CBS News |date=July 22, 2018 |title=FBI releases Carter Page's surveillance records |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carter-page-fisa-documents-released-today-2018-07-21/ |location=CBSNews.com |publisher=New York, NY}}</ref>


Page received a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree from [[SOAS, University of London]] in 2012, where he was supervised by [[Shirin Akiner]].<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="Gidda1" /> His doctoral dissertation on the transition of Asian countries from communism to capitalism was rejected twice before ultimately being accepted by new examiners.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sabur |first=Rozina |date=December 22, 2017 |title=Carter Page, Donald Trump's former adviser, blamed British academics after two failed PhD attempts |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/22/carter-page-donald-trumps-former-adviser-blamed-british-academics/ |work=The Telegraph |location=London, UK}}</ref> One of his original examiners later said Page "knew next to nothing" about the subject matter and was unfamiliar with "basic concepts" such as [[Marxism]] and [[state capitalism]].<ref name="phd-bias">{{cite news |last=Harding|first=Luke |date=December 22, 2017 |title=Ex-Trump adviser Carter Page accused academics who twice failed his PhD of bias |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/22/trump-carter-page-phd-thesis-trump |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> He sought unsuccessfully to publish his dissertation as a book; a reviewer described it as "very analytically confused, just throwing a lot of stuff out there without any real kind of argument."<ref name="nyt-what" /> Page blamed the rejection on anti-Russian and anti-American bias.<ref name="phd-bias" /> He later ran an [[International relations|international affairs]] program at [[Bard College]] and taught a course on energy and politics at [[New York University]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Scott |first=Shane |date=April 19, 2017 |title= Trump Adviser's Visit to Moscow Got the F.B.I.'s Attention |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/us/politics/carter-page-russia-trump.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref name=nyt-recruit/> In more recent years, he has written columns in ''Global Policy Journal'', a publication of [[Durham University]].<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /> In 2022, he earned an [[LLM]] ([[Cum Laude|cum laude]]) from [[Fordham University School of Law]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=University |first1=Fordham |title=GRADUATION PRIZES, AWARDS, AND LATIN HONORS 2022 |url=https://www.fordham.edu/download/downloads/id/16435/Graduation_prizes_awards_and_Latin_Honors_2022.pdf |website=Fordham University |publisher=Fordham University |access-date=13 October 2022}}</ref>
Page received a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree from [[SOAS, University of London]] in 2012, where he was supervised by [[Shirin Akiner]].<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="Gidda1" /> His doctoral dissertation on the transition of Asian countries from communism to capitalism was rejected twice before ultimately being accepted by new examiners.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sabur |first=Rozina |date=December 22, 2017 |title=Carter Page, Donald Trump's former adviser, blamed British academics after two failed PhD attempts |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/22/carter-page-donald-trumps-former-adviser-blamed-british-academics/ |work=The Telegraph |location=London, UK}}</ref> One of his original examiners later said Page "knew next to nothing" about the subject matter and was unfamiliar with "basic concepts" such as [[Marxism]] and [[state capitalism]].<ref name="phd-bias">{{cite news |last=Harding|first=Luke |date=December 22, 2017 |title=Ex-Trump adviser Carter Page accused academics who twice failed his PhD of bias |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/22/trump-carter-page-phd-thesis-trump |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> He sought unsuccessfully to publish his dissertation as a book; a reviewer described it as "very analytically confused, just throwing a lot of stuff out there without any real kind of argument."<ref name="nyt-what" /> Page blamed the rejection on anti-Russian and anti-American bias.<ref name="phd-bias" /> He later ran an [[International relations|international affairs]] program at [[Bard College]] and taught a course on energy and politics at [[New York University]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Scott |first=Shane |date=April 19, 2017 |title= Trump Adviser's Visit to Moscow Got the F.B.I.'s Attention |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/us/politics/carter-page-russia-trump.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref name=nyt-recruit/> In more recent years, he has written columns in ''Global Policy Journal'', a publication of [[Durham University]].<ref name="Politico 23 September 2016" /> In 2022, he earned an [[Master of Laws|LLM]] ([[Cum Laude|cum laude]]) from [[Fordham University School of Law]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=University |first1=Fordham |title=GRADUATION PRIZES, AWARDS, AND LATIN HONORS 2022 |url=https://www.fordham.edu/download/downloads/id/16435/Graduation_prizes_awards_and_Latin_Honors_2022.pdf |website=Fordham University |access-date=13 October 2022}}</ref>


===Foreign policy and ties to Russia===
===Foreign policy and ties to Russia===
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In August 2013, Page wrote, "Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Carter Page Touted Kremlin Contacts in 2013 Letter |url=https://time.com/5132126/carter-page-russia-2013-letter/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |last1=Calabresi |first1=Massimo |last2=Abramson |first2=Alana |date=February 4, 2018 |access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> Page described his role differently in 2018: "I sat in on some meetings, but to call me an advisor is way over the top."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/22/politics/donald-trump-fisa-tweet/index.html|title=Carter Page says FISA warrant accusations 'so ridiculous' and 'misleading'|last=Tatum|first=Sophie|work=CNN|access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref>
In August 2013, Page wrote, "Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Carter Page Touted Kremlin Contacts in 2013 Letter |url=https://time.com/5132126/carter-page-russia-2013-letter/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |last1=Calabresi |first1=Massimo |last2=Abramson |first2=Alana |date=February 4, 2018 |access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> Page described his role differently in 2018: "I sat in on some meetings, but to call me an advisor is way over the top."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/22/politics/donald-trump-fisa-tweet/index.html|title=Carter Page says FISA warrant accusations 'so ridiculous' and 'misleading'|last=Tatum|first=Sophie|work=CNN|access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref>


Also in 2013, [[Evgeny Buryakov]] and two other Russians attempted to recruit Page as an intelligence source, and one of them, Victor Podobnyy, described Page as enthusiastic about business opportunities in Russia but an "idiot".<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="nyt-recruit">{{cite news | work =The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/us/politics/carter-page-trump-russia.html | title = Russian Spies Tried to Recruit Carter Page Before He Advised Trump | date = April 4, 2017 | first = Adam | last = Goldman}}</ref> "I also promised him a lot," Podobnyy reported to a fellow Russian intelligence officer at the time, according to an FBI transcript of their conversation, which was covertly recorded. "How else to work with foreigners?" Podobnyy added.<ref name="nyt-recruit" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alimwatkins/a-former-trump-adviser-met-with-a-russian-spy#.qwGOegqoqd|title=A Former Trump Adviser Met With A Russian Spy|last=Watkins|first=Ali|date=April 3, 2017|work=Buzzfeed News|access-date=September 22, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/01/26/buryakov-complaint.pdf|title=Sealed complaint, United States v. Evgeny Buryakov, Igor Sporyshev, and Victor Podobnyy|last=Monaghan|first=Gregory|date=January 23, 2015|website=US Department of Justice|access-date=September 22, 2018}}</ref>
Also in 2013, [[Evgeny Buryakov]] and two other Russians attempted to recruit Page as an intelligence source, and one of them, Victor Podobnyy, described Page as enthusiastic about business opportunities in Russia but an "idiot".<ref name="nyt-what" /><ref name="nyt-recruit">{{cite news | work =The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/us/politics/carter-page-trump-russia.html | title = Russian Spies Tried to Recruit Carter Page Before He Advised Trump | date = April 4, 2017 | first = Adam | last = Goldman}}</ref> "I also promised him a lot," Podobnyy reported to a fellow Russian intelligence officer at the time, according to an FBI transcript of their conversation, which was covertly recorded. "How else to work with foreigners?" Podobnyy added.<ref name="nyt-recruit" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alimwatkins/a-former-trump-adviser-met-with-a-russian-spy#.qwGOegqoqd|title=A Former Trump Adviser Met With A Russian Spy|last=Watkins|first=Ali|date=April 3, 2017|work=BuzzFeed News|access-date=September 22, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/01/26/buryakov-complaint.pdf|title=Sealed complaint, United States v. Evgeny Buryakov, Igor Sporyshev, and Victor Podobnyy|last=Monaghan|first=Gregory|date=January 23, 2015|website=US Department of Justice|access-date=September 22, 2018}}</ref>


Page was the subject of a [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]] (FISA) warrant in 2014, at least two years earlier than was indicated in the stories concerning his role in the [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential campaign]] of [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Evan |last2=Brown |first2=Pamela |last3= Prokupecz |first3=Shimon |date=August 4, 2017 |title=One year into the FBI's Russia investigation, Mueller is on the Trump money trail |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/mueller-investigation-russia-trump-one-year-financial-ties/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |location=Atlanta, GA}}</ref> 2017 news accounts about the warrant indicated it was granted because of Page's ties to Buryakov, Podobnyy, and the third Russian who attempted to recruit him, Igor Sporyshev.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FISA%20Warrant%20Application%20for%20Carter%20Page.pdf |title=Verified Application, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court: In Re Carter Page |last=Boyd |first=Stephen E. |date=February 7, 2020 |website=Judiciary.Senate.gov |publisher=Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice |pages=13–14}}</ref>
Page was the subject of a [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]] (FISA) warrant in 2014, at least two years earlier than was indicated in the stories concerning his role in the [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential campaign]] of [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Evan |last2=Brown |first2=Pamela |last3= Prokupecz |first3=Shimon |date=August 4, 2017 |title=One year into the FBI's Russia investigation, Mueller is on the Trump money trail |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/mueller-investigation-russia-trump-one-year-financial-ties/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |location=Atlanta, GA}}</ref> 2017 news accounts about the warrant indicated it was granted because of Page's ties to Buryakov, Podobnyy, and the third Russian who attempted to recruit him, Igor Sporyshev.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FISA%20Warrant%20Application%20for%20Carter%20Page.pdf |title=Verified Application, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court: In Re Carter Page |last=Boyd |first=Stephen E. |date=February 7, 2020 |website=Judiciary.Senate.gov |publisher=Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice |pages=13–14}}</ref>
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===Trump 2016 presidential campaign===
===Trump 2016 presidential campaign===


Trump announced Page as a foreign policy adviser in his campaign on March 21, 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/03/21/a-transcript-of-donald-trumps-meeting-with-the-washington-post-editorial-board/|title=Opinion - A transcript of Donald Trump's meeting with The Washington Post editorial board|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 24, 2018}}</ref> On September 23, 2016, ''Yahoo News'' reported U.S. intelligence officials investigated [[Links between Trump associates and Russian officials|alleged contacts between Page and Russian officials subject to U.S. sanctions]], including [[Igor Sechin]], the president of state-run Russian oil conglomerate [[Rosneft]].<ref name="Yahoo! News 23 September 2016" /> Page promptly left the Trump campaign.<ref name="The Washington Post 26 September 2016" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/us/politics/carter-page-russia-trump.html|title=Trump Adviser's Visit to Moscow Got the F.B.I.'s Attention|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 19, 2017|first1=Scott|last1=Shane|first2=Mark|last2=Mazzetti|first3=Adam|last3=Goldman |author3-link=Adam Goldman}}</ref> Upon his departure, Trump campaign communications director [[Jason Miller (communications strategist)|Jason Miller]] said of Page, "He’s never been a part of our campaign. Period." Another campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, stated, "we are not aware of any of his activities, past or present."
Trump announced Page as a foreign policy adviser in his campaign on March 21, 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/03/21/a-transcript-of-donald-trumps-meeting-with-the-washington-post-editorial-board/|title=Opinion - A transcript of Donald Trump's meeting with The Washington Post editorial board|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 24, 2018}}</ref> On September 23, 2016, ''Yahoo News'' reported U.S. intelligence officials investigated [[Links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies|alleged contacts between Page and Russian officials subject to U.S. sanctions]], including [[Igor Sechin]], the president of state-run Russian oil conglomerate [[Rosneft]].<ref name="Yahoo! News 23 September 2016" /> Page promptly left the Trump campaign.<ref name="The Washington Post 26 September 2016" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/us/politics/carter-page-russia-trump.html|title=Trump Adviser's Visit to Moscow Got the F.B.I.'s Attention|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 19, 2017|first1=Scott|last1=Shane|first2=Mark|last2=Mazzetti|first3=Adam|last3=Goldman |author3-link=Adam Goldman}}</ref> Upon his departure, Trump campaign communications director [[Jason Miller (communications strategist)|Jason Miller]] said of Page, "He’s never been a part of our campaign. Period." Another campaign spokesman, [[Steven Cheung (politician)|Steven Cheung]], stated, "we are not aware of any of his activities, past or present."
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/297599-trump-campaign-backs-away-from-adviser-suspected-of-ties-to-kremlin|title=Trump camp backs away from adviser suspected of Kremlin ties|first=Harper|last=Neidig|date=September 24, 2016|access-date=July 24, 2018}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/297599-trump-campaign-backs-away-from-adviser-suspected-of-ties-to-kremlin|title=Trump camp backs away from adviser suspected of Kremlin ties|first=Harper|last=Neidig|date=September 24, 2016|access-date=July 24, 2018}}</ref>


Shortly after Page left the Trump campaign, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] obtained another warrant from the [[United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]] (FISC) in October 2016 to surveil Page's communications and read his saved emails.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Matthew|last1=Rosenberg|author-link1=Matthew Rosenberg|first2=Matt|last2=Apuzzo|author-link2=Matt Apuzzo|title=Court Approved Wiretap on Trump Campaign Aide Over Russia Ties|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/us/politics/carter-page-fisa-warrant-russia-trump.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 13, 2017 |page=A13 |access-date=April 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/us/politics/barr-trump-campaign-spying.html|title=Barr Asserts Intelligence Agencies Spied on the Trump Campaign|first1=Nicholas|last1=Fandos|first2=Adam|last2=Goldman|date=April 10, 2019|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> To issue the warrant, a federal judge concluded there was [[probable cause]] to believe that Page was a [[foreign agent]] knowingly engaging in clandestine intelligence for the Russian government.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Beckwith |first1=Ryan Teague |last2=Abramson |first2=Alana |date=February 1, 2018 |title=Who Is Carter Page? Meet the Donald Trump Advisor at the Center of the GOP Memo |url=https://time.com/5128614/carter-page-gop-memo-fisa-warrant/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |location=New York, NY |publisher=[[Meredith Corporation]] |access-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> The initial 90-day warrant was subsequently renewed three times.<ref name=WashPo12april17>{{cite news|last1=Nakashima|first1=Ellen|last2=Barrett|first2=Devlin|last3=Entous|first3=Adam|title=FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor Trump adviser Carter Page|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 12, 2017|page=A1}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported on May 18, 2018, that the surveillance warrant expired around October 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/us/politics/trump-fbi-informant-russia-investigation.html|title=F.B.I. Used Informant to Investigate Russia Ties to Campaign, Not to Spy, as Trump Claims|date=May 18, 2018|access-date=May 20, 2018|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> The FBI did not use a so-called "filter team" to prevent irrelevant information from being seen by investigators, and it was later determined that use of such a team is not required.<ref name="auto"/>
Shortly after Page left the Trump campaign, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] obtained another warrant from the [[United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]] (FISC) in October 2016 to surveil Page's communications and read his saved emails.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Matthew|last1=Rosenberg|author-link1=Matthew Rosenberg|first2=Matt|last2=Apuzzo|author-link2=Matt Apuzzo|title=Court Approved Wiretap on Trump Campaign Aide Over Russia Ties|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/us/politics/carter-page-fisa-warrant-russia-trump.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 13, 2017 |page=A13 |access-date=April 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/us/politics/barr-trump-campaign-spying.html|title=Barr Asserts Intelligence Agencies Spied on the Trump Campaign|first1=Nicholas|last1=Fandos|first2=Adam|last2=Goldman|work=The New York Times |date=April 10, 2019|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> To issue the warrant, a federal judge concluded there was [[probable cause]] to believe that Page was a [[foreign agent]] knowingly engaging in clandestine intelligence for the Russian government.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Beckwith |first1=Ryan Teague |last2=Abramson |first2=Alana |date=February 1, 2018 |title=Who Is Carter Page? Meet the Donald Trump Advisor at the Center of the GOP Memo |url=https://time.com/5128614/carter-page-gop-memo-fisa-warrant/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |location=New York, NY |publisher=[[Meredith Corporation]] |access-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> The initial 90-day warrant was subsequently renewed three times.<ref name=WashPo12april17>{{cite news|last1=Nakashima|first1=Ellen|last2=Barrett|first2=Devlin|last3=Entous|first3=Adam|title=FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor Trump adviser Carter Page|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 12, 2017|page=A1}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported on May 18, 2018, that the surveillance warrant expired around October 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/us/politics/trump-fbi-informant-russia-investigation.html|title=F.B.I. Used Informant to Investigate Russia Ties to Campaign, Not to Spy, as Trump Claims|work=The New York Times |date=May 18, 2018|access-date=May 20, 2018|via=NYTimes.com |last1=Goldman |first1=Adam |last2=Mazzetti |first2=Mark |last3=Rosenberg |first3=Matthew }}</ref> The FBI did not use a so-called "filter team" to prevent irrelevant information from being seen by investigators, and it was later determined that use of such a team is not required.<ref name="auto"/>


In January 2017, Page's name appeared repeatedly in the [[Steele dossier]] containing [[Steele dossier#Allegations|allegations of close interactions]] between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sengupta|first1=Kim|title=US Senate calls on British spy Christopher Steele to give evidence on explosive Trump-Russia dossier|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-russia-christopher-steele-dossier-us-senate-intelligence-hotel-british-spy-mi6-evidence-a7608456.html |date=March 2, 2017 |access-date=March 6, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Bensinger| first=Ken|author2=Miriam Elder | author3-link=Mark Schoofs| author3=Mark Schoofs | date = January 10, 2017 | title = These Reports Allege Trump Has Deep Ties To Russia | publisher = [[BuzzFeed]] News | location = New York | url = https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia | access-date = January 12, 2017| author2-link=Miriam Elder}} See also the attached full transcript of [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.html#document/p1 the dossier].</ref><ref>First major new report, from Bernstein, et al., at CNN: {{cite news | author1 = Evan Perez|author2=Jim Sciutto|author3-link=Jake Tapper|author3=Jake Tapper |author4-link=Carl Bernstein|author4=Carl Bernstein | date = January 10, 2017 | title = Intel Chiefs Presented Trump with Claims of Russian Efforts to Compromise Him | publisher = CNN | url = https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html | access-date = January 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>Editorial regarding the journalist issues raise by the published leak and subsequent story: {{cite news | author = Wemple, Erik | date = January 10, 2017 | title = BuzzFeed's Ridiculous Rationale For Publishing the Trump-Russia Dossier | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] News | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/01/10/buzzfeeds-ridiculous-rationale-for-publishing-the-trump-russia-dossier/ | access-date = January 12, 2017}}</ref> By the end of January 2017, Page was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], the [[National Security Agency]], the [[Director of National Intelligence]], and the [[Financial Crimes Enforcement Network]].<ref name="nytimes011917">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html|title=Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates|last1=Schmidt|first1=Michael S.|author-link1=Michael S. Schmidt|first2=Matthew|last2=Rosenberg|author-link2=Matthew Rosenberg|first3=Adam|last3=Goldman|author-link3=Adam Goldman|first4=Matt|last4=Apuzzo|author-link4=Matt Apuzzo|date=January 19, 2017| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 20, 2017}}</ref> Page was not accused of any wrongdoing.<ref name="ballhaus">{{cite news |last1= Ballhaus |first1=Rebecca |last2=Tau |first2=Byron |title=Former Trump Aide Carter Page Was on U.S. Counterintelligence Radar Before Russia Dossier |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=February 2, 2018 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-trump-aide-carter-page-was-on-u-s-counterintelligence-radar-before-russia-dossier-1517486401 |quote=Court documents, testimony show foreign-policy adviser was known to authorities as early as 2013… Mr. Page hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing.}}</ref>
In January 2017, Page's name appeared repeatedly in the [[Steele dossier]] containing [[Steele dossier#Allegations|allegations of close interactions]] between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sengupta|first1=Kim|title=US Senate calls on British spy Christopher Steele to give evidence on explosive Trump-Russia dossier|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-russia-christopher-steele-dossier-us-senate-intelligence-hotel-british-spy-mi6-evidence-a7608456.html |date=March 2, 2017 |access-date=March 6, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Bensinger| first=Ken|author2=Miriam Elder | author3-link=Mark Schoofs| author3=Mark Schoofs | date = January 10, 2017 | title = These Reports Allege Trump Has Deep Ties To Russia | publisher = [[BuzzFeed]] News | location = New York | url = https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia | access-date = January 12, 2017| author2-link=Miriam Elder}} See also the attached full transcript of [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.html#document/p1 the dossier].</ref><ref>First major new report, from Bernstein, et al., at CNN: {{cite news | author1 = Evan Perez|author2=Jim Sciutto|author3-link=Jake Tapper|author3=Jake Tapper |author4-link=Carl Bernstein|author4=Carl Bernstein | date = January 10, 2017 | title = Intel Chiefs Presented Trump with Claims of Russian Efforts to Compromise Him | publisher = CNN | url = https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html | access-date = January 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>Editorial regarding the journalist issues raise by the published leak and subsequent story: {{cite news | author = Wemple, Erik | date = January 10, 2017 | title = BuzzFeed's Ridiculous Rationale For Publishing the Trump-Russia Dossier | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] News | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/01/10/buzzfeeds-ridiculous-rationale-for-publishing-the-trump-russia-dossier/ | access-date = January 12, 2017}}</ref> By the end of January 2017, Page was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], the [[National Security Agency]], the [[Director of National Intelligence]], and the [[Financial Crimes Enforcement Network]].<ref name="nytimes011917">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html|title=Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates|last1=Schmidt|first1=Michael S.|author-link1=Michael S. Schmidt|first2=Matthew|last2=Rosenberg|author-link2=Matthew Rosenberg|first3=Adam|last3=Goldman|author-link3=Adam Goldman|first4=Matt|last4=Apuzzo|author-link4=Matt Apuzzo|date=January 19, 2017| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 20, 2017}}</ref> Page was not accused of any wrongdoing.<ref name="ballhaus">{{cite news |last1= Ballhaus |first1=Rebecca |last2=Tau |first2=Byron |title=Former Trump Aide Carter Page Was on U.S. Counterintelligence Radar Before Russia Dossier |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=February 2, 2018 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-trump-aide-carter-page-was-on-u-s-counterintelligence-radar-before-russia-dossier-1517486401 |quote=Court documents, testimony show foreign-policy adviser was known to authorities as early as 2013… Mr. Page hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing.}}</ref>


The [[Presidency of Donald Trump|Trump Administration]] attempted to distance itself from Page, saying that he had never met Trump or advised him about anything,<ref name="nyt-what" /> but a December 2016 Page press conference in Russia contradicts the claim that Page and Trump never met.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Meara Morales |first=Kelly |date=February 6, 2018 |title=Carter Page told George Stephanopoulos he never met Donald Trump. Here's a video of him telling Russian media they had 'a number of meetings.' |url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/753642/carter-page-told-george-stephanopoulos-never-met-donald-trump-heres-video-telling-russian-media-number-meetings |work=The Week |location=New York, NY |access-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref> Page responded to a question about his contact with Trump saying, "I've certainly been in a number of meetings with him and I've learned a tremendous amount from him."<ref>{{cite news |last=Savaransky |first=Rebecca |date=February 6, 2018 |title=Carter Page told Russian TV he was in 'a number of meetings' with Trump |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/372547-carter-page-previously-said-he-has-been-in-a-number-of-meetings-with |work=The Hill |location=Washington, DC |access-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref> The [[Mueller Report]] found that Page produced work for the campaign, traveled with Trump to a campaign speech and "Chief policy adviser [[Sam Clovis]] expressed appreciation for Page's work and praised his work to other Campaign officials".<ref>''[https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf Mueller Report]'', vol. I, p. 98: "In May 2016, Page prepared an outline of an energy policy speech for the Campaign and then traveled to [[Bismarck, North Dakota]], to watch the candidate deliver the speech. Chief policy advisor Sam Clovis expressed appreciation for Page's work and praised his work to other Campaign officials."</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/19/heres-what-trump-his-associates-said-time-now-read-what-mueller-report-tells-us/|title=Here's what Trump and his associates said at the time. Now, read what the Mueller report tells us.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 19, 2019|first1=Michael|last1=Brice-Saddler|first2=Jacqueline|last2=Alemany |access-date=April 21, 2019 }}</ref>
The [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump Administration]] attempted to distance itself from Page, saying that he had never met Trump or advised him about anything,<ref name="nyt-what" /> but a December 2016 Page press conference in Russia contradicts the claim that Page and Trump never met.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Meara Morales |first=Kelly |date=February 6, 2018 |title=Carter Page told George Stephanopoulos he never met Donald Trump. Here's a video of him telling Russian media they had 'a number of meetings.' |url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/753642/carter-page-told-george-stephanopoulos-never-met-donald-trump-heres-video-telling-russian-media-number-meetings |work=The Week |location=New York, NY |access-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref> Page responded to a question about his contact with Trump saying, "I've certainly been in a number of meetings with him and I've learned a tremendous amount from him."<ref>{{cite news |last=Savaransky |first=Rebecca |date=February 6, 2018 |title=Carter Page told Russian TV he was in 'a number of meetings' with Trump |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/372547-carter-page-previously-said-he-has-been-in-a-number-of-meetings-with |work=The Hill |location=Washington, DC |access-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref> The [[Mueller Report]] found that Page produced work for the campaign, traveled with Trump to a campaign speech and "Chief policy adviser [[Sam Clovis]] expressed appreciation for Page's work and praised his work to other Campaign officials".<ref>''[https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf Mueller Report]'', vol. I, p. 98: "In May 2016, Page prepared an outline of an energy policy speech for the Campaign and then traveled to [[Bismarck, North Dakota]], to watch the candidate deliver the speech. Chief policy advisor Sam Clovis expressed appreciation for Page's work and praised his work to other Campaign officials."</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/19/heres-what-trump-his-associates-said-time-now-read-what-mueller-report-tells-us/|title=Here's what Trump and his associates said at the time. Now, read what the Mueller report tells us.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 19, 2019|first1=Michael|last1=Brice-Saddler|first2=Jacqueline|last2=Alemany |access-date=April 21, 2019 }}</ref>


In October 2017, Page said he would not cooperate with requests to appear before the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Intelligence Committee]] and would assert his [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment right]] against [[self-incrimination]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/10/carter-page-russia-probe-243648 |title=Carter Page says he won't testify before Senate Intelligence panel in Russia probe|work=Politico |access-date=October 11, 2017}}</ref> He said this was because they were requesting documents dating back to 2010, and he did not want to be caught in a "[[perjury trap]]". He expressed the wish to testify before the committee in an open setting.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/politics/carter-page-subpoena-senate-intel-committee/index.html |first1=Jeremy |last1=Herb |first2=Manu |last2=Raju |title=Carter Page subpoenaed by Senate intel committee|work=CNN|access-date=November 1, 2017}}</ref>
In October 2017, Page said he would not cooperate with requests to appear before the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Intelligence Committee]] and would assert his [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment right]] against [[self-incrimination]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/10/carter-page-russia-probe-243648 |title=Carter Page says he won't testify before Senate Intelligence panel in Russia probe|work=Politico |access-date=October 11, 2017}}</ref> He said this was because they were requesting documents dating back to 2010, and he did not want to be caught in a "[[perjury trap]]". He expressed the wish to testify before the committee in an open setting.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/politics/carter-page-subpoena-senate-intel-committee/index.html |first1=Jeremy |last1=Herb |first2=Manu |last2=Raju |title=Carter Page subpoenaed by Senate intel committee|work=CNN|access-date=November 1, 2017}}</ref>


On July 21, 2018, the Justice Department released a heavily [[redaction|redact]]ed version of the October 2016 [[FISA]] warrant application for Page, which expressed in part the FBI's belief that Page "has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/us/politics/carter-page-fisa.html |title=Justice Dept. Releases Secret Carter Page Surveillance Documents at Center of Partisan Clash|access-date=July 21, 2018}}</ref> as well as that Page had been the subject of targeted recruitment by Russian intelligence agencies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/07/22/631260082/trump-administration-releases-classified-warrants-for-fbi-wiretap-of-carter-page|title=Trump Administration Releases Classified Warrants For FBI Wiretap Of Carter Page|last=Cheslow|first=Daniella|date=July 22, 2018|work=NPR|access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref> The application also said that Page and a Russian intelligence operative had met in secret to discuss compromising material (''[[kompromat]]'') the Russian government held against "Candidate #2" (presumed to be [[Hillary Clinton]]) and the possibility of the Russians giving it to the Trump campaign.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2018/07/21/fbi-releases-declassified-carter-page-fisa-application/|title=FBI releases declassified Carter Page FISA applications|newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]|date=July 21, 2018|first=Jamie|last=Dupree}}</ref> Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia [[Joseph diGenova]], who was under consideration to join Trump's legal team in 2018,<ref>{{cite news |date=March 25, 2018 |title=Lawyers Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing won't join Trump's Russia legal team |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawyers-joseph-digenova-victoria-toensing-not-joining-donald-trump-legal-team-russia-probe/ |work=CBS News |location=New York, NY}}</ref> argued before and after release of the Mueller Report that the FISA warrants to surveil Page were obtained illegally.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-07 |title=FISA court ordering target list shows it 'suspects' pattern of FBI seeking political dirt, Joe DiGenova says |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/fisa-court-ordering-target-list-shows-it-suspects-pattern-of-fbi-seeking-political-dirt-joe-digenova-says |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=Washington Examiner |language=en}}</ref> Other observers opposed diGenova's view, pointing out that the warrants were approved by four different judges, all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dilanian |first=Ken |date=July 23, 2018 |title=Why Team Trump is wrong about Carter Page, the dossier and that secret warrant |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/why-team-trump-wrong-about-carter-page-dossier-secret-warrant-n893666 |work=NBC News |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Balsamo |first=Michael |date=May 3, 2019 |title=What's known about surveillance of Trump campaign aides |url=https://www.apnews.com/f9b05595332242e9809f739d9a185177 |work=Associated Press |location=New York, NY}}</ref>
On July 21, 2018, the Justice Department released a heavily [[redaction|redact]]ed version of the October 2016 [[FISA]] warrant application for Page, which expressed in part the FBI's belief that Page "has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/us/politics/carter-page-fisa.html |title=Justice Dept. Releases Secret Carter Page Surveillance Documents at Center of Partisan Clash|work=The New York Times |date=July 21, 2018 |access-date=July 21, 2018 |last1=Savage |first1=Charlie }}</ref> as well as that Page had been the subject of targeted recruitment by Russian intelligence agencies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/07/22/631260082/trump-administration-releases-classified-warrants-for-fbi-wiretap-of-carter-page|title=Trump Administration Releases Classified Warrants For FBI Wiretap Of Carter Page|last=Cheslow|first=Daniella|date=July 22, 2018|work=NPR|access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref> The application also said that Page and a Russian intelligence operative had met in secret to discuss compromising material (''[[kompromat]]'') the Russian government held against "Candidate #2" (presumed to be [[Hillary Clinton]]) and the possibility of the Russians giving it to the Trump campaign.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2018/07/21/fbi-releases-declassified-carter-page-fisa-application/|title=FBI releases declassified Carter Page FISA applications|newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]|date=July 21, 2018|first=Jamie|last=Dupree|access-date=July 23, 2018|archive-date=January 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130060857/http://jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2018/07/21/fbi-releases-declassified-carter-page-fisa-application/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia [[Joseph diGenova]], who was under consideration to join Trump's legal team in 2018,<ref>{{cite news |date=March 25, 2018 |title=Lawyers Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing won't join Trump's Russia legal team |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawyers-joseph-digenova-victoria-toensing-not-joining-donald-trump-legal-team-russia-probe/ |work=CBS News |location=New York, NY}}</ref> argued before and after release of the Mueller Report that the FISA warrants to surveil Page were obtained illegally.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-07 |title=FISA court ordering target list shows it 'suspects' pattern of FBI seeking political dirt, Joe DiGenova says |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/fisa-court-ordering-target-list-shows-it-suspects-pattern-of-fbi-seeking-political-dirt-joe-digenova-says |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=Washington Examiner |language=en}}</ref> Other observers opposed diGenova's view, pointing out that the warrants were approved by four different judges, all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents.<ref name="Dilanian_7/23/2018">{{cite news |last=Dilanian |first=Ken |date=July 23, 2018 |title=Why Team Trump is wrong about Carter Page, the dossier and that secret warrant |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/why-team-trump-wrong-about-carter-page-dossier-secret-warrant-n893666 |work=[[NBC News]] |access-date=June 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Balsamo |first=Michael |date=May 3, 2019 |title=What's known about surveillance of Trump campaign aides |url=https://www.apnews.com/f9b05595332242e9809f739d9a185177 |work=Associated Press |location=New York, NY}}</ref>


The FBI applications to the FISA court to wiretap Page were partly founded on the Steele dossier.<ref name="Goldman_Savage_7/25/2020">{{cite web | last1=Goldman | first1=Adam | last2=Savage | first2=Charlie | title=The F.B.I. Pledged to Keep a Source Anonymous. Trump Allies Aided His Unmasking. | website=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 25, 2020 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/us/politics/igor-danchenko-steele-dossier.html | access-date=July 26, 2020}}</ref> Parts of Steele's dossier were based on information provided by [[Igor Danchenko]] and his network of sources.<ref name="Goldman_Savage_7/25/2020"/> Danchenko's identity was partially unmasked in July 2020 by U.S. Senator [[Lindsey Graham]] after leaders at the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI provided an unredacted report on the FBI's 2017 interview of Danchenko to him.<ref name="Goldman_Savage_7/25/2020"/> From the details revealed, anonymous researchers then determined Danchenko's identity and publicized it on social media.<ref name="Goldman_Savage_7/25/2020"/> The report also indicated that the FBI had not disclosed to the FISA court that Danchenko's declarations to the FBI "raised questions about [the Steele] dossier's credibility."<ref name="Goldman_Savage_7/25/2020"/>
The FBI applications to the FISA court to wiretap Page were partly founded on the Steele dossier,<ref name="Goldman_Savage_7/25/2020">{{cite web | last1=Goldman | first1=Adam | last2=Savage | first2=Charlie | title=The F.B.I. Pledged to Keep a Source Anonymous. Trump Allies Aided His Unmasking. | website=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 25, 2020 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/us/politics/igor-danchenko-steele-dossier.html | access-date=July 26, 2020}}</ref> and the dossier "played a central and essential role"<ref name="OIG_12/9/2019" />{{rp|vi}} in the FBI applications to the FISA court to wiretap Page.


In 2019 the Justice Department determined the last two of four FISA warrants to surveil Page were invalid.<ref name="wsj.com"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Rachel Sandler |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/01/23/doj-says-two-wiretap-warrants-against-former-trump-aide-carter-page-are-invalid/ |title=DOJ Says Two Wiretap Warrants Against Former|website=[[Forbes]] }}</ref>
In 2019 the Justice Department determined the last two of four FISA warrants to surveil Page were invalid.<ref name="wsj.com"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Rachel Sandler |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/01/23/doj-says-two-wiretap-warrants-against-former-trump-aide-carter-page-are-invalid/ |title=DOJ Says Two Wiretap Warrants Against Former|website=[[Forbes]] }}</ref>
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==Mueller report findings==
==Mueller report findings==


When the [[Mueller report]] was released in April 2019, it described Page's testimony about his role in the 2016 Trump campaign and connections to individuals in Russia as contradictory and confusing, and his contacts with Russians before and during the campaign as tangential and eccentric.<ref name="Graham">{{cite news |last=Graham |first=David A. |date=April 20, 2019 |title=What If Everything Mueller Told Us Had Been New? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/what-if-everything-mueller-told-us-was-new/587590/ |work=The Atlantic |location=Washington, DC}}</ref> He was not charged with any crimes, though the report indicated there were unanswered questions about his actions and motives: "The investigation did not establish that Page coordinated with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election." However, with incomplete "evidence or testimony about who Page may have met or communicated with in Moscow", "Page's activities in Russia – as described in his emails with the [Trump campaign] – were not fully explained."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scarborough |first1=Rowan |title=Carter Page exonerated by Mueller report |url=https://www.apnews.com/24bef8b12774fba2a42c8981eca7206e |website=[[Associated Press]] |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=May 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Sabrina |title=The key unanswered questions from the Mueller report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/18/mueller-report-key-unanswered-questions |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 19, 2019 |access-date=May 5, 2019}}</ref>
When the [[Mueller Report]] was released in April 2019, it described Page's testimony about his role in the 2016 Trump campaign and connections to individuals in Russia as contradictory and confusing, and his contacts with Russians before and during the campaign as [[tangential]] and eccentric.<ref name="Graham">{{cite news |last=Graham |first=David A. |date=April 20, 2019 |title=What If Everything Mueller Told Us Had Been New? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/what-if-everything-mueller-told-us-was-new/587590/ |work=The Atlantic |location=Washington, DC}}</ref> He was not charged with any crimes, though the report indicated there were unanswered questions about his actions and motives: "The investigation did not establish that Page coordinated with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election." However, with incomplete "evidence or testimony about who Page may have met or communicated with in Moscow", "Page's activities in Russia – as described in his emails with the [Trump campaign] – were not fully explained."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scarborough |first1=Rowan |title=Carter Page exonerated by Mueller report |url=https://www.apnews.com/24bef8b12774fba2a42c8981eca7206e |website=[[Associated Press]] |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=May 4, 2019 |archive-date=May 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504133924/https://www.apnews.com/24bef8b12774fba2a42c8981eca7206e |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Sabrina |title=The key unanswered questions from the Mueller report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/18/mueller-report-key-unanswered-questions |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 19, 2019 |access-date=May 5, 2019}}</ref>


==Horowitz Report findings==
==Horowitz Report findings==


{{Main|Inspector General report on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation}}
{{Main|Inspector General report on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation}}
In December 2019, [[Michael E. Horowitz]], the Inspector General for the Department of Justice, concluded an investigation into the circumstances of the FBI's investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign and its ties to Russia, codenamed [[Crossfire Hurricane (FBI investigation)|Crossfire Hurricane]].<ref name="Savage">{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Charlie |last2=Goldman |first2=Adam |last3=Benner |first3=Katie |date=December 9, 2019 |title=Report on F.B.I. Russia Inquiry Finds Serious Errors but Debunks Anti-Trump Plot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/us/politics/fbi-ig-report-russia-investigation.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York, NY |url-access=subscription}}</ref> On December 9, 2019, US Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified to Congress that the FBI showed no political bias at the initiation of the investigation into Trump and possible connections with Russia.<ref name="horowitz1">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/read-full-text-doj-ig-michael-horowitz-s-report-origins-n1098431|title=Read the full text: Justice Department watchdog report into origins of Russia probe|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref name="horowitz2">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/inspector-general-report-trump-russia-investigation/2019/12/09/d5940d88-184c-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html|title=Inspector general report says FBI had 'authorized purpose' to investigate Trump campaign's Russia ties but finds some wrongdoing|last=Barrett|first=Devlin|date=December 9, 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref name="horowitz3">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/09/fbi-russia-probe-report-released-by-justice-department-watchdog.html|title=Justice Department watchdog finds Trump-Russia probe was not tainted by political bias|last=Breuninger|first=Kevin|date=December 9, 2019|website=CNBC|language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> However, he also stated in a Senate hearing that he could not rule out political bias as a potential motivation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-watchdog-tell-senate-he-has-deep-concerns-about-fbi-n1099636|title=Watchdog tells Senate of deep concerns over FBI errors in Russia probe|website=NBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/12/09/785525132/justice-department-watchdog-report-on-russia-investigation-due-monday |title=IG Report On Russia Probe: No Evidence Of Bias, But Issues With Surveillance |publisher=NPR |date=December 9, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/474106-horowitz-we-found-no-bias |title=Horowitz: 'We found no bias' in decision to open probe |publisher=TheHill |date=December 11, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cournoyer |first=Caroline |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/inspector-general-report-michael-horowitz-testimony-justice-department-russian-investigation-today |title=Inspector General Michael Horowitz Horowitz defends Trump-Russia report but is "deeply concerned" about FBI's surveillance failures |publisher=Cbsnews.com |date=December 11, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> Horowitz said he had no evidence the warrant problems were caused by intentional malfeasance or political bias rather than "gross incompetence and negligence",<ref name="nyt_2019-12-11">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/us/politics/ig-horowitz-report-hearing.html|title=Withering Criticism of F.B.I. as Watchdog Presents Russia Inquiry Findings|first1=Charlie|last1=Savage|first2=Adam|last2=Goldman|date=December 11, 2019|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> adding his report was not an exoneration: "It doesn't vindicate anybody at the F.B.I. who touched this, including the leadership."<ref name="nyt_2019-12-11"/><ref name="wapo_2019-12-14" />
In December 2019, [[Michael E. Horowitz]], the [[United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Inspector General for the Department of Justice]], concluded an investigation into the circumstances of the FBI's investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign and its ties to Russia, codenamed [[Crossfire Hurricane (FBI investigation)|Crossfire Hurricane]].<ref name="Savage">{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Charlie |last2=Goldman |first2=Adam |last3=Benner |first3=Katie |date=December 9, 2019 |title=Report on F.B.I. Russia Inquiry Finds Serious Errors but Debunks Anti-Trump Plot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/us/politics/fbi-ig-report-russia-investigation.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York, NY |url-access=subscription}}</ref> On December 9, 2019, US Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified to Congress that the FBI showed no political bias at the initiation of the investigation into Trump and possible connections with Russia.<ref name="horowitz1">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/read-full-text-doj-ig-michael-horowitz-s-report-origins-n1098431|title=Read the full text: Justice Department watchdog report into origins of Russia probe|website=NBC News|date=December 9, 2019 |language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref name="horowitz2">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/inspector-general-report-trump-russia-investigation/2019/12/09/d5940d88-184c-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html|title=Inspector general report says FBI had 'authorized purpose' to investigate Trump campaign's Russia ties but finds some wrongdoing|last=Barrett|first=Devlin|date=December 9, 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref name="horowitz3">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/09/fbi-russia-probe-report-released-by-justice-department-watchdog.html|title=Justice Department watchdog finds Trump-Russia probe was not tainted by political bias|last=Breuninger|first=Kevin|date=December 9, 2019|website=CNBC|language=en|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> However, he also stated in a Senate hearing that he could not rule out political bias as a potential motivation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-watchdog-tell-senate-he-has-deep-concerns-about-fbi-n1099636|title=Watchdog tells Senate of deep concerns over FBI errors in Russia probe|website=NBC News|date=December 11, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/12/09/785525132/justice-department-watchdog-report-on-russia-investigation-due-monday |title=IG Report On Russia Probe: No Evidence Of Bias, But Issues With Surveillance |publisher=NPR |date=December 9, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/474106-horowitz-we-found-no-bias |title=Horowitz: 'We found no bias' in decision to open probe |publisher=TheHill |date=December 11, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cournoyer |first=Caroline |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/inspector-general-report-michael-horowitz-testimony-justice-department-russian-investigation-today |title=Inspector General Michael Horowitz Horowitz defends Trump-Russia report but is "deeply concerned" about FBI's surveillance failures |publisher=Cbsnews.com |date=December 11, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> Horowitz said he had no evidence the warrant problems were caused by intentional malfeasance or political bias rather than "gross incompetence and negligence",<ref name="nyt_2019-12-11">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/us/politics/ig-horowitz-report-hearing.html|title=Withering Criticism of F.B.I. as Watchdog Presents Russia Inquiry Findings|first1=Charlie|last1=Savage|first2=Adam|last2=Goldman|work=The New York Times |date=December 11, 2019|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> adding his report was not an exoneration: "It doesn't vindicate anybody at the F.B.I. who touched this, including the leadership."<ref name="nyt_2019-12-11"/><ref name="wapo_2019-12-14" />


Horowitz did fault the FBI for overreaching and mistakes during the investigation. These included failing to disclose, when applying for a FISA warrant to surveil Page in October 2016, that he had provided the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] details of his prior contacts with Russian officials, including an incident the FBI indicated made Page's conduct suspicious.<ref name="Savage"/><ref name="McQuade_Rosenberg_8/19/2020"/> In June 2017, FBI received written confirmation from the CIA that Page was an "operational contact" (a source who reported information from routine activities in foreign countries) of the CIA from 2008 to 2013. However, FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith doctored the email from the CIA liaison by inserting the words "and not a source", before forwarding it to another FBI agent who provided the written material for the fourth FISA application, which was submitted later in the month.<ref name="wapo_2019-12-14">{{cite news |last1=Barrett |first1=Devlin |title=Ex-Trump campaign aide Carter Page notches victory after inspector general hammers FBI for surveillance missteps |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ex-trump-campaign-aide-carter-page-notches-victory-after-inspector-general-hammers-fbi-for-surveillance-missteps/2019/12/14/6daac5f2-1dda-11ea-b4c1-fd0d91b60d9e_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sarah N.|first=Lynch|date=2020-08-19|title=Ex-FBI lawyer pleads guilty to doctoring email in Russia probe of Trump campaign|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-clinesmith-idUSKCN25F16S|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201202015659/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-clinesmith-idUSKCN25F16S|archive-date=December 2, 2020|access-date=2020-12-01|website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref name="Savage"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf |title=Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation |last=Office of the Inspector General |date=December 2019 |website=Justice.gov |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |location=Washington, DC |page=79 |quote=Page had been approved as an operational contact for the other agency from 2008 to 2013.}}</ref><ref name="McQuade_Rosenberg_8/19/2020">{{cite web | last1=McQuade | first1=Barbara | last2=Rosenberg | first2=Chuck | title=A Recent Prosecution Shows the Hypocrisy of Flynn's Defenders | website=[[Lawfare (blog)|Lawfare]] | date=August 19, 2020 | url=https://www.lawfareblog.com/recent-prosecution-shows-hypocrisy-flynns-defenders | access-date=December 6, 2020}}</ref> According to the Horowitz Report, if the FISA court judges had been informed of Page's CIA relationship, his conduct might have seemed less suspicious, although the Report did not speculate on "whether the correction of any particular misstatement or omission, or some combination thereof, would have resulted in a different outcome."<ref name="Savage"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/inspector-general-report-trump-russia-investigation/2019/12/09/d5940d88-184c-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html|title=FBI was justified in opening Trump campaign probe, but case plagued by 'serious failures,' inspector general finds|first1=Devlin|last1=Barrett|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Horowitz referred Clinesmith to prosecutors for potential criminal charges.<ref>{{cite web|author=Charlie Savage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/us/politics/russia-investigation-inspector-general-report.html |title=Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts - The New York Times |work=The New York Times |date=November 22, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> On August 14, 2020, Clinesmith pleaded guilty to a felony for making a false statement by altering the email.<ref>Kalmbacher, Colin. [https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/heres-what-we-know-about-fbi-attorney-2-kevin-clinesmith-the-first-person-charged-in-durham-probe/ Here’s What We Know About ‘FBI Attorney 2’ Kevin Clinesmith, the First Person Charged in Durham Probe], ''[[Law & Crime]]'', August 14, 2020.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/politics/fbi-russia-clinesmith/index.html|title=Former FBI lawyer set to plead guilty to altering email during Russia investigation|author=Katelyn Polantz and David Shortell|website=CNN}}</ref> On January 29, 2021, Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months [[United States federal probation and supervised release|federal probation]] and 400 hours of [[community service]] after pleading guilty in August to making a false statement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gerstein |first=Josh |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/fbi-lawyer-trump-russia-probe-email-463750 |title=Ex-FBI lawyer spared prison for altering Trump-Russia probe email |work=[[Politico]] |date=2021-01-29 |access-date=2021-01-30 }}</ref>
Horowitz did fault the FBI for overreaching and mistakes during the investigation. These included failing to disclose, when applying for a FISA warrant to surveil Page in October 2016, that he had provided the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) details of his prior contacts with Russian officials, including an incident the FBI indicated made Page's conduct suspicious.<ref name="Savage"/><ref name="McQuade_Rosenberg_8/19/2020"/> In June 2017, FBI received written confirmation from the CIA that Page was an "operational contact" (a source who reported information from routine activities in foreign countries) of the CIA from 2008 to 2013. However, FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith illegally doctored the email from the CIA liaison by inserting the words "and not a source", before forwarding it to another FBI agent who provided the written material for the fourth FISA application, which was submitted later in the month.<ref name="wapo_2019-12-14">{{cite news |last1=Barrett |first1=Devlin |title=Ex-Trump campaign aide Carter Page notches victory after inspector general hammers FBI for surveillance missteps |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ex-trump-campaign-aide-carter-page-notches-victory-after-inspector-general-hammers-fbi-for-surveillance-missteps/2019/12/14/6daac5f2-1dda-11ea-b4c1-fd0d91b60d9e_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sarah N.|first=Lynch|date=2020-08-19|title=Ex-FBI lawyer pleads guilty to doctoring email in Russia probe of Trump campaign|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-clinesmith-idUSKCN25F16S|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201202015659/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-clinesmith-idUSKCN25F16S|archive-date=December 2, 2020|access-date=2020-12-01|website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref name="Savage"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf |title=Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation |last=Office of the Inspector General |date=December 2019 |website=Justice.gov |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |location=Washington, DC |page=79 |quote=Page had been approved as an operational contact for the other agency from 2008 to 2013.}}</ref><ref name="McQuade_Rosenberg_8/19/2020">{{cite web | last1=McQuade | first1=Barbara | last2=Rosenberg | first2=Chuck | title=A Recent Prosecution Shows the Hypocrisy of Flynn's Defenders | website=[[Lawfare (website)|Lawfare]] | date=August 19, 2020 | url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/recent-prosecution-shows-hypocrisy-flynns-defenders | access-date=December 6, 2020}}</ref> According to the Horowitz Report, if the FISA court judges had been informed of Page's CIA relationship, his conduct might have seemed less suspicious, although the Report did not speculate on "whether the correction of any particular misstatement or omission, or some combination thereof, would have resulted in a different outcome."<ref name="Savage"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/inspector-general-report-trump-russia-investigation/2019/12/09/d5940d88-184c-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html|title=FBI was justified in opening Trump campaign probe, but case plagued by 'serious failures,' inspector general finds|first1=Devlin|last1=Barrett|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Horowitz referred Clinesmith to prosecutors for potential criminal charges.<ref>{{cite web|author=Charlie Savage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/us/politics/russia-investigation-inspector-general-report.html |title=Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts - The New York Times |work=The New York Times |date=November 22, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> On August 14, 2020, Clinesmith pleaded guilty to a felony for making a false statement by altering the email.<ref>Kalmbacher, Colin. [https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/heres-what-we-know-about-fbi-attorney-2-kevin-clinesmith-the-first-person-charged-in-durham-probe/ Here’s What We Know About ‘FBI Attorney 2’ Kevin Clinesmith, the First Person Charged in Durham Probe], ''[[Law & Crime]]'', August 14, 2020.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/politics/fbi-russia-clinesmith/index.html|title=Former FBI lawyer set to plead guilty to altering email during Russia investigation|author=Katelyn Polantz and David Shortell|website=CNN|date=August 14, 2020 }}</ref> On January 29, 2021, Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months [[United States federal probation and supervised release|federal probation]] and 400 hours of [[community service]] after pleading guilty in August to making a false statement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gerstein |first=Josh |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/fbi-lawyer-trump-russia-probe-email-463750 |title=Ex-FBI lawyer spared prison for altering Trump-Russia probe email |work=[[Politico]] |date=2021-01-29 |access-date=2021-01-30 }}</ref>


In a December 10, 2019, interview on ''[[Hannity]]'', Page indicated that he had retained attorneys to review the Horowitz Report and determine whether he has grounds to sue.<ref>{{cite news |last=Creitz |first=Charles |date=December 10, 2019 |title=Carter Page: I have a 'team of attorneys' scouring Horowitz report for potential lawsuits|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/carter-page-horowitz-fisa-report-lawsuits-graham |work=Fox News}}</ref>
In a December 10, 2019, interview on ''[[Hannity]]'', Page indicated that he had retained attorneys to review the Horowitz Report and determine whether he has grounds to sue.<ref>{{cite news |last=Creitz |first=Charles |date=December 10, 2019 |title=Carter Page: I have a 'team of attorneys' scouring Horowitz report for potential lawsuits|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/carter-page-horowitz-fisa-report-lawsuits-graham |work=Fox News}}</ref>
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The Republican-controlled Committee released its final report on 2016 Russian election interference in August 2020, finding that despite problems with the FISA warrant requests used to surveil him, the FBI was justified in its counterintelligence concerns about Page.<ref name="Takeaways">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/us/politics/trump-russia-senate.html|title=8 Takeaways From the Senate Committee Report on Russian Interference|first1=Julian E.|last1=Barnes|first2=Charlie|last2=Savage|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 18, 2020}}</ref> The Committee found Page evasive and his "responses to basic questions were meandering, avoidant and involved several long diversions."<ref name="Takeaways"/> The Committee found that although Page's advisory role in the Trump campaign from March 2016 to September 2016 was insignificant, Russian operatives may have thought he was more important than he actually was.<ref name="Takeaways"/>
The Republican-controlled Committee released its final report on 2016 Russian election interference in August 2020, finding that despite problems with the FISA warrant requests used to surveil him, the FBI was justified in its counterintelligence concerns about Page.<ref name="Takeaways">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/us/politics/trump-russia-senate.html|title=8 Takeaways From the Senate Committee Report on Russian Interference|first1=Julian E.|last1=Barnes|first2=Charlie|last2=Savage|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 18, 2020}}</ref> The Committee found Page evasive and his "responses to basic questions were meandering, avoidant and involved several long diversions."<ref name="Takeaways"/> The Committee found that although Page's advisory role in the Trump campaign from March 2016 to September 2016 was insignificant, Russian operatives may have thought he was more important than he actually was.<ref name="Takeaways"/>

== Claim that Steele Dossier was "a significant portion" of FISA application ==

On April 18, 2017, CNN reported that, according to U.S. officials, information from the dossier had been used as part of the basis for getting the October 2016 [[FISA]] warrant to monitor Page.<ref name="Perez_Prokupecz_Raju_4/18/2017">{{cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Evan |last2=Prokupecz |first2=Shimon |last3=Raju |first3=Manu |title=FBI used dossier allegations to bolster Trump–Russia investigation |agency=[[CNN]] |date=April 18, 2017 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/politics/fbi-dossier-carter-page-donald-trump-russia-investigation/index.html |access-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Nakashima_Barrett_Entous_4/11/2017">{{cite news |first1=Ellen |last1=Nakashima |first2=Devlin |last2=Barrett |first3=Adam |last3=Entous |title=FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor former Trump adviser Carter Page |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 11, 2017 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html |access-date=April 24, 2018}}</ref> The Justice Department's inspector general revealed in 2019 that in the six weeks prior to its receipt of Steele's memos, the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team "had discussions about the possibility of obtaining FISAs targeting Page and Papadopoulos, but it was determined that there was insufficient information at the time to proceed with an application to the court."<ref name="OIG_12/9/2019">{{cite web |author=Office of the Inspector General U.S. Department of Justice |date=December 9, 2019 |title=Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation | website=[[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] | url=https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf |access-date=December 9, 2019 |author-link=United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General}}</ref>{{rp|101}}

The role of evidence from the dossier in seeking FISA warrants soon became the subject of much debate. How much of the evidence was based on the dossier? Was it a "significant portion"<ref name="Brown_Jarrett_3/17/2018" /> or only a "smart part" of the FISA application?<ref name="Dilanian_7/23/2018" />

In February 2018, the [[Nunes memo]] alleged FBI Deputy Director [[Andrew McCabe]]'s testimony backed Republican claims that the "dossier formed 'a significant portion' of the Carter Page FISA application".<ref name="Brown_Jarrett_3/17/2018" /> McCabe pushed back and said his testimony had been "selectively quoted" and "mischaracterized".<ref name="Brown_Jarrett_3/17/2018">{{cite web | last1=Brown | first1=Pamela | last2=Jarrett | first2=Laura | title=McCabe says Republicans 'mischaracterized' his testimony on Trump dossier | website=[[CNN]] | date=March 17, 2018 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/16/politics/mccabe-republicans-trump-dossier/index.html | access-date=June 19, 2023}}</ref> He also "denied having ever told Congress that the [FISA] warrant would not have been sought without information from the dossier".<ref name="McNamara_11/10/2020 a906">{{cite web | last=McNamara | first=Audrey | title=Andrew McCabe defends Trump campaign Russia probe during partisan hearing | website=[[CBS News]] | date=November 10, 2020 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andrew-mccabe-testifies-russia-probe-watch-live-stream-today-2020-11-10/ | access-date=June 19, 2023}}</ref>

Before the Crossfire Hurricane team received dossier material on September 19, 2016, they had already gathered enough evidence from their own sources to make them seriously consider seeking FISA warrants on Carter Page, but they needed a bit more, and, because their own sources "'corroborated Steele's reporting' with respect to Page",<ref name="Grant_Rosenberg_12/14/2018_2">{{cite web |last1=Grant |first1=Sarah |last2=Rosenberg |first2=Chuck |title=The Steele Dossier: A Retrospective | website=[[Lawfare (website)|Lawfare]] |date=December 14, 2018 |url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/steele-dossier-retrospective |access-date=December 29, 2019 | quote=Ranking Member Schiff describes the FBI's wholly independent basis for investigating Page's long-established connections to Russia, aside from the Steele dossier, and emphasizes that the Justice Department possessed information 'obtained through multiple independent sources that corroborated Steele's reporting' with respect to Page.}}</ref> the mutually independent corroborations gave them more confidence to make that decision.

The IG report described a changed situation after the FBI received Steele's memos and said the dossier then played a "central role" in the seeking of FISA warrants on Carter Page<ref name="OIG_12/9/2019" /> in terms of establishing FISA's low bar<ref name="Sanchez_12/11/2019">{{cite web |last=Sanchez |first=Julian |title=The Crossfire Hurricane Report's Inconvenient Findings |publisher=[[New York University School of Law|Just Security]] |date=December 11, 2019 |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/67691/the-crossfire-hurricane-reports-inconvenient-findings/ |access-date=December 23, 2019}}</ref> for [[probable cause]]: "FBI and Department officials told us the Steele reporting 'pushed [the FISA proposal] over the line' in terms of establishing probable cause."<ref name="OIG_12/9/2019" />{{rp|412}}<ref name="Herridge_Hymes_Segers_Quinn_12/9/2019">{{cite news |last1=Herridge |first1=Catherine |last2=Hymes |first2=Clare |last3=Segers |first3=Grace |last4=Quinn |first4=Melissa |title=Justice Department watchdog releases report on origins of Russia investigation |agency=[[CBS News]] |date=December 9, 2019 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ig-report-release-justice-department-watchdog-report-origins-russia-investigation-today-2019-12-09-live-updates/ |access-date=December 10, 2019}}</ref>

FBI Deputy Director [[Andrew McCabe]] mentioned the dossier's role in the start of the investigation and the FISA warrant:

{{blockquote|'We started the investigations without the dossier. We were proceeding with the investigations before we ever received that information,' McCabe told CNN. 'Was the dossier material important to the [FISA] package? Of course, it was. As was every fact included in that package. Was it the majority of what was in the package? Absolutely not.'<ref name="Robertson_3/27/2019">{{cite web |last=Robertson |first=Lori |title=Dossier Not What 'Started All of This' | website=[[FactCheck.org]] |date=March 27, 2019 |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2019/03/dossier-not-what-started-all-of-this/ |access-date=August 30, 2020}}</ref>}}

According to [[Ken Dilanian]], "The so-called dossier formed only a smart part of the evidence used to meet the legal burden of establishing 'probable cause' that Page was an agent of Russia."<ref name="Dilanian_7/23/2018"/>

In summary, the dossier formed a "smart part"<ref name="Dilanian_7/23/2018" /> of the evidence, "not the majority",<ref name="Robertson_3/27/2019" /> yet, like the proverbial "[[the last drop|last drop]]", it was just what was needed to push them "over the line"<ref name="OIG_12/9/2019" /> to make that decision. That's how it "played a central role"<ref name="OIG_12/9/2019" /> in the seeking of FISA warrants on Carter Page.


== Lawsuits ==
== Lawsuits ==
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=== Against DNC and Perkins Coie ===
=== Against DNC and Perkins Coie ===


In October 2018, Carter Page sued the DNC, Perkins Coie, and two Perkins Coie partners, for defamation.<ref name="Burke_10/15/2018">{{cite web | last=Burke | first=Michael | title=Carter Page files defamation lawsuit against DNC|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] | date=October 15, 2018 | url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/411556-carter-page-files-defamation-lawsuit-against-dnc | access-date=October 17, 2018}}</ref><ref name="WDOK">{{cite court |litigants=Page v. Democratic National Committee|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/398648478/Page-Order|vol=|reporter=|opinion=|pinpoint=|court=[[United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma|W.D. Okla.]]|date=January 31, 2019}}</ref> The lawsuit was dismissed on January 31, 2019. Page said he intended to appeal the decision.<ref name="WDOK" /><ref name="Hayes_1/31/2019">{{cite web | last=Hayes | first=Christal | title='I plan to appeal': Carter Page's lawsuit that accused the DNC of terrorism is dismissed|website=[[USA Today]]|date=January 31, 2019|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/31/carter-page-lawsuit-against-dnc-dismissed/2735861002/}}</ref>
In October 2018, Carter Page unsuccessfully sued the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC), [[Perkins Coie]], and two Perkins Coie partners, for [[defamation]].<ref name="Burke_10/15/2018">{{cite web | last=Burke | first=Michael | title=Carter Page files defamation lawsuit against DNC|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] | date=October 15, 2018 | url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/411556-carter-page-files-defamation-lawsuit-against-dnc | access-date=October 17, 2018}}</ref><ref name="WDOK">{{cite court |litigants=Page v. Democratic National Committee|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/398648478/Page-Order|vol=|reporter=|opinion=|pinpoint=|court=[[United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma|W.D. Okla.]]|date=January 31, 2019}}</ref> The lawsuit was dismissed on January 31, 2019. Page said he intended to appeal the decision.<ref name="WDOK" /><ref name="Hayes_1/31/2019">{{cite web | last=Hayes | first=Christal | title='I plan to appeal': Carter Page's lawsuit that accused the DNC of terrorism is dismissed|website=[[USA Today]]|date=January 31, 2019|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/31/carter-page-lawsuit-against-dnc-dismissed/2735861002/}}</ref>


On January 30, 2020, Page filed another defamation lawsuit (Case: 1:20-cv-00671, Filed: 01/30/20) against the DNC and Perkins Coie, naming Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann as defendants.<ref name="Shortell_1/30/2020">{{cite web | last=Shortell | first=David | title=Carter Page sues Democratic National Committee and law firm for defamation | website=[[CNN]] | agency=[[CNN]] | date=January 30, 2020 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/politics/carter-page-sues-dnc-dossier/index.html | access-date=January 31, 2020}}</ref> The suit was dismissed.<ref name="Wood_6/21/2021">{{cite web | last=Wood | first=Lauraann | date=June 21, 2021 | title=7th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Trump Staffer's Defamation Suit | publisher=[[Law360]] | url=https://www.lw.com/mediaCoverage/seventh-circuit-wont-revive-ex-trump-staffer-defamation-suit | access-date=September 14, 2021 }}</ref>
On January 30, 2020, Page filed another defamation lawsuit (Case: 1:20-cv-00671, Filed: 01/30/20) against the DNC and Perkins Coie, naming [[Marc Elias]] and [[Michael Sussmann]] as defendants.<ref name="Shortell_1/30/2020">{{cite web | last=Shortell | first=David | title=Carter Page sues Democratic National Committee and law firm for defamation | website=[[CNN]] | agency=[[CNN]] | date=January 30, 2020 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/politics/carter-page-sues-dnc-dossier/index.html | access-date=January 31, 2020}}</ref> The suit was dismissed.<ref name="Wood_6/21/2021">{{cite web | last=Wood | first=Lauraann | date=June 21, 2021 | title=7th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Trump Staffer's Defamation Suit | publisher=[[Law360]] | url=https://www.lw.com/mediaCoverage/seventh-circuit-wont-revive-ex-trump-staffer-defamation-suit | access-date=September 14, 2021 }}</ref>


=== Against Yahoo! News and ''HuffPost'' ===
=== Against Oath Inc. (Yahoo! News and ''HuffPost''). Filed by Carter Page ===


On February 11, 2021, Page lost a defamation suit he had filed against [[Yahoo! News]] and ''[[HuffPost]]'' for their articles which described his activities mentioned in the Steele dossier. The judge said that Page admitted the articles about his potential contacts with Russian officials were essentially true.<ref>Multiple sources:
On February 11, 2021, Page lost a defamation suit he had filed against [[Yahoo! News]] and ''[[HuffPost]]'' for their articles that described his activities mentioned in the Steele dossier. The judge said that Page admitted the articles about his potential contacts with Russian officials were essentially true.<ref name="multiple">Multiple sources:
* {{cite web | last=Leonard | first=Mike | date=February 11, 2021 | title=Carter Page Loses Libel Case Over 'Steele Dossier,' Russia Probe | publisher=[[Bloomberg Law]] | url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/carter-page-loses-libel-case-over-steele-dossier-russia-probe | access-date=February 13, 2021 }}
* {{cite web |last=Leonard |first=Mike |date=February 11, 2021 |title=Carter Page Loses Libel Case Over 'Steele Dossier,' Russia Probe |work=[[Bloomberg Law]] |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/carter-page-loses-libel-case-over-steele-dossier-russia-probe |access-date=February 13, 2021 |ref=none }}
* {{cite web | last=Leonard | first=Mike | date=March 16, 2021 | title=Carter Page Seeks to Revive Defamation Case Over His Russia Ties | publisher=[[Bloomberg Law]] | url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/carter-page-seeks-to-revive-defamation-case-over-his-russia-ties | access-date=March 17, 2021 }}
* {{cite web |last=Leonard |first=Mike |date=March 16, 2021 |title=Carter Page Seeks to Revive Defamation Case Over His Russia Ties |work=[[Bloomberg Law]] |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/carter-page-seeks-to-revive-defamation-case-over-his-russia-ties |access-date=March 17, 2021 |ref=none }}
* {{cite web | last=Montgomery | first=Jeff | date=February 11, 2021 | title=Del. Judge Nixes Carter Page Yahoo, HuffPost Defamation Suit | publisher=[[Law360]] | url=https://www.law360.com/corporate/articles/1354820/del-judge-nixes-carter-page-yahoo-huffpost-defamation-suit | access-date=February 13, 2021 }}</ref>
* {{cite web |last=Montgomery |first=Jeff |date=February 11, 2021 |title=Del. Judge Nixes Carter Page Yahoo, HuffPost Defamation Suit |website=[[Law360]] |url=https://www.law360.com/corporate/articles/1354820/del-judge-nixes-carter-page-yahoo-huffpost-defamation-suit |access-date=February 13, 2021 |ref=none }}</ref>


Page's suit targeted Oath for 11 articles, especially one written by Michael Isikoff and published by Yahoo! News in September 2016. The judge dismissed the suit on February 11, 2021,<ref name="Dismissal_2/11/2021">{{cite web | title=Page v. Oath Inc. Decided: February 11, 2021. Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim. GRANTED. (See App. 97) | website=supremecourt.gov | date=February 11, 2021 | url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-1369/221382/20220419132156933_Page%20v.%20Oath%20Inc.%20Appendix.FILE%20COPY.pdf | access-date=March 8, 2023 }}</ref> noting that "Page's arguments regarding Isikoff's description of the dossier and Steele were 'either sophistry or political spin'." He also said that Page "failed to allege actual malice by any of the authors, and that the three articles written by HuffPost employees were true".<ref name="Chase_2/14/2021">{{cite news | last=Chase | first=Randall | date=February 14, 2021 | title=Judge tosses Page defamation suit against Verizon company | work=[[Associated Press]] | url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-carter-page-lawsuits-delaware-elections-d811f86697c2bb53b0132e0965754f57 }}</ref> Page was represented by attorneys John Pierce<ref name="Lewis_3/12/2021">{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Don |title=Carter Page lawyer quits firm representing Page in lawsuit against the FBI |website=Sunlight Reports |date=March 12, 2021 |url=https://sunlight-reports.com/carter-page-lawyer-quits/ |access-date=October 13, 2021 |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421200240/https://sunlight-reports.com/carter-page-lawyer-quits/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[L. Lin Wood]], who was denied permission to represent Page because of his actions in the [[attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election]] in favor of President Donald Trump.<ref name="Chase_1/13//2021">{{cite news |last=Chase |first=Randall |title=Judge boots Trump attorney from Carter Page defamation suit |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=January 13, 2021 |url=https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-georgia-wisconsin-lawsuits-840308687a5e8de21c7f50d59f394892 |access-date=October 13, 2021 }}</ref>
=== Against Oath Inc. (Verizon Media) ===


Page's suit targeted Oath for 11 articles, especially one written by Michael Isikoff and published by Yahoo! in September 2016. The judge dismissed the suit on February 14, 2021, noting that "Page's arguments regarding Isikoff's description of the dossier and Steele were 'either sophistry or political spin'." He also said that Page "failed to allege actual malice by any of the authors, and that the three articles written by HuffPost employees were true".<ref name="Chase_2/14/2021">{{cite web | last=Chase | first=Randall | date=February 14, 2021 | title=Judge tosses Page defamation suit against Verizon company | website=[[ABC News]] | agency=[[Associated Press]] | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/judge-tosses-page-defamation-suit-verizon-company-75894421 | access-date=September 14, 2021 }}</ref>
In January 2022, Page lost an effort to revive the defamation case over Isikoff's article. Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. said "the article at the crux of the case—by Yahoo News reporter Michael Isikoff—was either completely truthful or, 'at a minimum,' conveyed a true 'gist,' even if it included some 'minor' or 'irrelevant' incorrect statements." [[Bloomberg Law]] reported that "The court dismissed as far-fetched Page's theories about a conspiracy among interconnected media and political figures to tarnish Trump by concocting the Russia investigation from thin air."<ref name="Leonard_1/19/2022">{{cite web |last=Leonard |first=Mike |date=January 19, 2022 |title=Carter Page Loses Bid to Revive Defamation Case Over Russia Ties |website=[[Bloomberg Law]] |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/carter-page-loses-bid-to-revive-defamation-case-over-russia-ties |access-date=January 20, 2022 }}</ref>

On May 16, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a defamation suit filed by Page.<ref name="Pappas_5/16/2022">{{cite web | last=Pappas | first=Leslie A | title=Justices Won't Hear Carter Page Defamation Suit | website=[[Law360]] | date=May 16, 2022 | url=https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1493615/justices-won-t-hear-carter-page-defamation-suit | access-date=May 16, 2022}}</ref>


=== Against USA, DOJ, FBI, and several officials ===
=== Against USA, DOJ, FBI, and several officials ===


On November 27, 2020, Page filed a $75 million suit against the United States, DOJ, FBI, and several former leading officials for the "defendants' multiple violations of his Constitutional and other legal rights in connection with unlawful surveillance and investigation of him by the United States Government." The defendants included James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Kevin Clinesmith, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Joe Pientka III, Stephen Soma, and Brian J. Auten.<ref name="Atkinson_11/30/2020">{{cite web | last=Atkinson | first=Khorri | date=November 30, 2020 | title=Ex-Trump Aide Files $75M Suit Over Russia Probe Surveillance | publisher=[[Law360]] | url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1332833 | access-date=February 13, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="CNS_11/27/2020">{{cite web | date=November 27, 2020 | title=Page v. Comey et al. Case 1:20-cv-03460-KBJ | agency=[[Courthouse News Service]] | url=https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/page-russia.pdf | access-date=February 13, 2021 }}</ref> The suit was dismissed on September 1, 2022, by United States district court judge [[Dabney L. Friedrich]], who wrote: "To the extent these allegations are true, there is little question that many individual defendants, as well as the agency as a whole, engaged in wrongdoing. Even so, Page has brought no actionable claim against any individual defendant or against the United States."<ref name="Gerstein_9/1/2022">{{cite web | last=Gerstein | first=Josh | title=Judge tosses suit from former Trump adviser over Russia surveillance | work=[[Politico]] | date=September 1, 2022 | url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/01/trump-russia-fbi-doj-00054593 | access-date=September 6, 2022}}</ref> The judge found "the agencies and officials can't be held liable for erroneous search warrant applications".<ref name="law360_11/27/2020">{{cite web | title=PAGE v. COMEY et al | website=law360.com | date=November 27, 2020 | url=https://www.law360.com/cases/5fc129c1628dc002934d5474 | access-date=October 7, 2022}}</ref>
On November 27, 2020, Page filed a $75 million (approximately ${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=75000000|start_year=2020}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) suit against the United States, DOJ, FBI, and several former leading officials alleging they violated "his Constitutional and other legal rights in connection with unlawful surveillance and investigation of him by the United States Government". The defendants included [[James Comey]], [[Andrew McCabe]], Kevin Clinesmith, [[Peter Strzok]], Lisa Page, Joe Pientka III, Stephen Soma, and Brian J. Auten.<ref name="Atkinson_11/30/2020">{{cite web | last=Atkinson | first=Khorri | date=November 30, 2020 | title=Ex-Trump Aide Files $75M Suit Over Russia Probe Surveillance | publisher=[[Law360]] | url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1332833 | access-date=February 13, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="CNS_11/27/2020">{{cite web | date=November 27, 2020 | title=Page v. Comey et al. Case 1:20-cv-03460-KBJ | agency=[[Courthouse News Service]] | url=https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/page-russia.pdf | access-date=February 13, 2021 }}</ref>
The suit was dismissed on September 1, 2022, by United States district court judge [[Dabney L. Friedrich]], who wrote:
{{blockquote|To the extent these allegations are true, there is little question that many individual defendants, as well as the agency as a whole, engaged in wrongdoing. Even so, Page has brought no actionable claim against any individual defendant or against the United States.<ref name="Gerstein_9/1/2022">{{cite web | last=Gerstein | first=Josh | title=Judge tosses suit from former Trump adviser over Russia surveillance | work=[[Politico]] | date=September 1, 2022 | url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/01/trump-russia-fbi-doj-00054593 | access-date=September 6, 2022}}</ref>}}


==See also==
==See also==
Line 129: Line 157:
* [[Rick Gates (political consultant)]]
* [[Rick Gates (political consultant)]]
* [[Roger Stone]]
* [[Roger Stone]]
* [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections]]
* [[Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia]]
* [[Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia]]
* [[Durham special counsel investigation]]


== Publications ==
== Publications ==
Line 146: Line 174:
* [https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/95-carter-page-fisa-documents-foia-release/full/optimized.pdf FISA warrant on Carter Page, redacted]
* [https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/95-carter-page-fisa-documents-foia-release/full/optimized.pdf FISA warrant on Carter Page, redacted]
* [https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/FISC%20Declassifed%20Order%2016-1182%2017-52%2017-375%2017-679%20%20200123.pdf FISA declassified Order Regarding Handling and Disposition of Information on Carter Page]
* [https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/FISC%20Declassifed%20Order%2016-1182%2017-52%2017-375%2017-679%20%20200123.pdf FISA declassified Order Regarding Handling and Disposition of Information on Carter Page]
* {{cite web |last=Afkhami |first=Artin |title=Timeline of Carter Page's Contacts with Russia |publisher=[[New York University School of Law|Just Security]] |date=February 5, 2018 |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/46786/timeline-carter-pages-contacts-russia/ |access-date=August 12, 2019}}


{{Mueller special counsel investigation}}
{{Mueller special counsel investigation}}
{{authority control}}
{{authority control}}

* https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf


{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Carter}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Carter}}

Latest revision as of 15:29, 27 November 2024

Carter Page
Page in 2017
Personal details
Born
Carter William Page

(1971-06-03) June 3, 1971 (age 53)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUnited States Naval Academy (BS)
Georgetown University (MA)
New York University (MBA)
SOAS, University of London (PhD)
Fordham University (LLM)
OccupationInvestment banker
Foreign policy analyst
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1993–98 (Navy)
1998–2004 (Navy Reserve)
Rank Lieutenant

Carter William Page (born June 3, 1971) is an American petroleum industry consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign.[1] Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy Capital, a one-man investment fund and consulting firm specializing in the Russian and Central Asian oil and gas business.[2][3][4]

Page was a focus of the 2017 Special Counsel investigation into the many suspicious[5][6] links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies and Russian interference on behalf of Trump during the 2016 presidential election.[2] In April 2019, the Mueller report concluded that the investigation did not establish that Page coordinated in Russia's interference efforts.[7][8] In December 2019, the Inspector General for the Department of Justice, Michael E. Horowitz, issued a report on his inquiry into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign and its ties to Russia. Horowitz found fault with specific aspects of the FBI's conduct, including omissions of facts and false statements to the FISA court when applying for a warrant to conduct surveillance on Page.

In 2019, the Justice Department determined the last two of four FISA warrants to surveil Page were invalid.[9][10] Page has filed four lawsuits;[further explanation needed] all were dismissed by courts.

In December 2019, Rosemary Collyer, a senior U.S. district judge and one of four FISA Court judges who approved a warrant authorizing the wiretapping of Page, issued an order saying the FBI "provided false information to the National Security Division (NSD) of the Department of Justice, and withheld material information from NSD which was detrimental to the FBI's case, in connection with four applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for authority to conduct electronic surveillance of a U.S. citizen named Carter W. Page".[11]

Life and career

[edit]

Carter Page was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 3, 1971,[12] the son of Allan Robert Page and Rachel (Greenstein) Page.[13][14] His father was from Galway, New York, and his mother was from Minneapolis.[15] His father was a manager and executive with the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Company.[16]

Education and military service

[edit]

Page was raised in Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated from Poughkeepsie's Our Lady of Lourdes High School in 1989.[13] Page graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the United States Naval Academy in 1993; he graduated with distinction (top 10% of his class) and was chosen for the Navy's Trident Scholar program, which gives selected officers the opportunity for independent academic research and study.[17][18][19] During his senior year at the Naval Academy, he worked in the office of U.S. Representative Les Aspin as a researcher for the House Armed Services Committee.[20] He served in the U.S. Navy for five years, including a tour in western Morocco as an intelligence officer for a United Nations peacekeeping mission, and attained the rank of lieutenant.[20][21] In 1994, he completed an MA degree in National Security Studies at Georgetown University.[20] After leaving active duty in 1998, Page was a member of the Navy's inactive reserve until 2004.[21]

Further education and business

[edit]

After leaving the Navy, Page completed a fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations, and in 2001 he received an MBA degree from New York University.[17][22] In 2000, he began work as an investment banker with Merrill Lynch in the firm's London office, was a vice president in the company's Moscow office,[3] and later served as COO for Merrill Lynch's energy and power department in New York.[18] Page has stated that he worked on transactions involving Gazprom and other leading Russian energy companies. According to business people interviewed by Politico in 2016, Page's work in Moscow was at a subordinate level, and he himself remained largely unknown to decision-makers.[3]

After leaving Merrill Lynch in 2008, Page founded his own investment fund, Global Energy Capital, with partner James Richard and a former mid-level Gazprom executive, Sergei Yatsenko.[3][23] The fund operates out of a Manhattan co-working space shared with a booking agency for wedding bands, and as of late 2017, Page was the firm's sole employee.[2] Other businesspeople working in the Russian energy sector said in 2016 that the fund had yet to actually realize a project.[2][3] The building which contains Page's working space is connected to Trump Tower by an atrium, a fact Page referenced when describing his work for the 2016 Trump campaign in a 2017 letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee.[24]

Page received a PhD degree from SOAS, University of London in 2012, where he was supervised by Shirin Akiner.[2][17] His doctoral dissertation on the transition of Asian countries from communism to capitalism was rejected twice before ultimately being accepted by new examiners.[25] One of his original examiners later said Page "knew next to nothing" about the subject matter and was unfamiliar with "basic concepts" such as Marxism and state capitalism.[26] He sought unsuccessfully to publish his dissertation as a book; a reviewer described it as "very analytically confused, just throwing a lot of stuff out there without any real kind of argument."[2] Page blamed the rejection on anti-Russian and anti-American bias.[26] He later ran an international affairs program at Bard College and taught a course on energy and politics at New York University.[27][28] In more recent years, he has written columns in Global Policy Journal, a publication of Durham University.[3] In 2022, he earned an LLM (cum laude) from Fordham University School of Law.[29]

Foreign policy and ties to Russia

[edit]

In 1998, Page joined the Eurasia Group, a strategy consulting firm, but left three months later. In 2017, Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer recalled on his Twitter feed that Page's strong pro-Russian stance was "not a good fit" for the firm and that Page was its "most wackadoodle" alumnus.[30] Stephen Sestanovich later described Page's foreign-policy views as having "an edgy Putinist resentment" and a sympathy to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's criticisms of the United States.[2] Over time, Page became increasingly critical of United States foreign policy toward Russia, and more supportive of Putin, with a United States official describing Page as "a brazen apologist for anything Moscow did".[4] Page is frequently quoted by Russian state television, where he is presented as a "famous American economist".[3]

In August 2013, Page wrote, "Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda."[31] Page described his role differently in 2018: "I sat in on some meetings, but to call me an advisor is way over the top."[32]

Also in 2013, Evgeny Buryakov and two other Russians attempted to recruit Page as an intelligence source, and one of them, Victor Podobnyy, described Page as enthusiastic about business opportunities in Russia but an "idiot".[2][28] "I also promised him a lot," Podobnyy reported to a fellow Russian intelligence officer at the time, according to an FBI transcript of their conversation, which was covertly recorded. "How else to work with foreigners?" Podobnyy added.[28][33][34]

Page was the subject of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant in 2014, at least two years earlier than was indicated in the stories concerning his role in the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump.[35] 2017 news accounts about the warrant indicated it was granted because of Page's ties to Buryakov, Podobnyy, and the third Russian who attempted to recruit him, Igor Sporyshev.[36]

Trump 2016 presidential campaign

[edit]

Trump announced Page as a foreign policy adviser in his campaign on March 21, 2016.[37] On September 23, 2016, Yahoo News reported U.S. intelligence officials investigated alleged contacts between Page and Russian officials subject to U.S. sanctions, including Igor Sechin, the president of state-run Russian oil conglomerate Rosneft.[4] Page promptly left the Trump campaign.[1][38] Upon his departure, Trump campaign communications director Jason Miller said of Page, "He’s never been a part of our campaign. Period." Another campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, stated, "we are not aware of any of his activities, past or present." [39]

Shortly after Page left the Trump campaign, the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained another warrant from the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) in October 2016 to surveil Page's communications and read his saved emails.[40][41] To issue the warrant, a federal judge concluded there was probable cause to believe that Page was a foreign agent knowingly engaging in clandestine intelligence for the Russian government.[42] The initial 90-day warrant was subsequently renewed three times.[43] The New York Times reported on May 18, 2018, that the surveillance warrant expired around October 2017.[44] The FBI did not use a so-called "filter team" to prevent irrelevant information from being seen by investigators, and it was later determined that use of such a team is not required.[41]

In January 2017, Page's name appeared repeatedly in the Steele dossier containing allegations of close interactions between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.[45][46][47][48] By the end of January 2017, Page was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.[49] Page was not accused of any wrongdoing.[50]

The Trump Administration attempted to distance itself from Page, saying that he had never met Trump or advised him about anything,[2] but a December 2016 Page press conference in Russia contradicts the claim that Page and Trump never met.[51] Page responded to a question about his contact with Trump saying, "I've certainly been in a number of meetings with him and I've learned a tremendous amount from him."[52] The Mueller Report found that Page produced work for the campaign, traveled with Trump to a campaign speech and "Chief policy adviser Sam Clovis expressed appreciation for Page's work and praised his work to other Campaign officials".[53][54]

In October 2017, Page said he would not cooperate with requests to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee and would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.[55] He said this was because they were requesting documents dating back to 2010, and he did not want to be caught in a "perjury trap". He expressed the wish to testify before the committee in an open setting.[56]

On July 21, 2018, the Justice Department released a heavily redacted version of the October 2016 FISA warrant application for Page, which expressed in part the FBI's belief that Page "has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government",[57] as well as that Page had been the subject of targeted recruitment by Russian intelligence agencies.[58] The application also said that Page and a Russian intelligence operative had met in secret to discuss compromising material (kompromat) the Russian government held against "Candidate #2" (presumed to be Hillary Clinton) and the possibility of the Russians giving it to the Trump campaign.[59] Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Joseph diGenova, who was under consideration to join Trump's legal team in 2018,[60] argued before and after release of the Mueller Report that the FISA warrants to surveil Page were obtained illegally.[61] Other observers opposed diGenova's view, pointing out that the warrants were approved by four different judges, all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents.[62][63]

The FBI applications to the FISA court to wiretap Page were partly founded on the Steele dossier,[64] and the dossier "played a central and essential role"[65]: vi  in the FBI applications to the FISA court to wiretap Page.

In 2019 the Justice Department determined the last two of four FISA warrants to surveil Page were invalid.[9][66]

House Intelligence Committee testimony

[edit]

On November 2, 2017, Page testified[67] to the House Intelligence Committee that he had kept senior officials in the Trump campaign such as Corey Lewandowski, Hope Hicks, and J. D. Gordon informed about his contacts with the Russians[68] and had informed Jeff Sessions, Lewandowski, Hicks and other Trump campaign officials that he was traveling to Russia to give a speech in July 2016.[69][70]

Page testified that he had met with Russian government officials during this trip and had sent a post-meeting report via email to members of the Trump campaign.[71] He also indicated that campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis had asked him to sign a non-disclosure agreement about his trip.[68] Elements of Page's testimony contradicted prior claims by Trump, Sessions, and others in the Trump administration.[69][71][72][73] Lewandowski, who had previously denied knowing Page or meeting him during the campaign, said after Page's testimony that his memory was refreshed and acknowledged that he had been aware of Page's trip to Russia.[74]

Page also testified that after delivering a commencement speech at the New Economic School in Moscow, he spoke briefly with one of the people in attendance, Arkady Dvorkovich, a Deputy Prime Minister in Dmitry Medvedev's cabinet, contradicting his previous statements not to have spoken to anyone connected with the Russian government.[75] In addition, while Page denied a meeting with Sechin as alleged in the Steele dossier, he did admit he met with Andrey Baranov, Rosneft's head of investor relations.[76] The dossier alleges that Sechin offered Page a brokerage fee from the sale of up to 19 percent of Rosneft if he worked to roll back Magnitsky Act economic sanctions that had been imposed on Russia in 2012.[76][77] Page testified that he did not "directly" express support for lifting the sanctions during the meeting with Baranov, but that he might have mentioned the proposed Rosneft transaction.[76]

Mueller report findings

[edit]

When the Mueller Report was released in April 2019, it described Page's testimony about his role in the 2016 Trump campaign and connections to individuals in Russia as contradictory and confusing, and his contacts with Russians before and during the campaign as tangential and eccentric.[78] He was not charged with any crimes, though the report indicated there were unanswered questions about his actions and motives: "The investigation did not establish that Page coordinated with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election." However, with incomplete "evidence or testimony about who Page may have met or communicated with in Moscow", "Page's activities in Russia – as described in his emails with the [Trump campaign] – were not fully explained."[79][80]

Horowitz Report findings

[edit]

In December 2019, Michael E. Horowitz, the Inspector General for the Department of Justice, concluded an investigation into the circumstances of the FBI's investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign and its ties to Russia, codenamed Crossfire Hurricane.[81] On December 9, 2019, US Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified to Congress that the FBI showed no political bias at the initiation of the investigation into Trump and possible connections with Russia.[82][83][84] However, he also stated in a Senate hearing that he could not rule out political bias as a potential motivation.[85][86][87][88] Horowitz said he had no evidence the warrant problems were caused by intentional malfeasance or political bias rather than "gross incompetence and negligence",[89] adding his report was not an exoneration: "It doesn't vindicate anybody at the F.B.I. who touched this, including the leadership."[89][90]

Horowitz did fault the FBI for overreaching and mistakes during the investigation. These included failing to disclose, when applying for a FISA warrant to surveil Page in October 2016, that he had provided the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) details of his prior contacts with Russian officials, including an incident the FBI indicated made Page's conduct suspicious.[81][91] In June 2017, FBI received written confirmation from the CIA that Page was an "operational contact" (a source who reported information from routine activities in foreign countries) of the CIA from 2008 to 2013. However, FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith illegally doctored the email from the CIA liaison by inserting the words "and not a source", before forwarding it to another FBI agent who provided the written material for the fourth FISA application, which was submitted later in the month.[90][92][81][93][91] According to the Horowitz Report, if the FISA court judges had been informed of Page's CIA relationship, his conduct might have seemed less suspicious, although the Report did not speculate on "whether the correction of any particular misstatement or omission, or some combination thereof, would have resulted in a different outcome."[81][94] Horowitz referred Clinesmith to prosecutors for potential criminal charges.[95] On August 14, 2020, Clinesmith pleaded guilty to a felony for making a false statement by altering the email.[96][97] On January 29, 2021, Clinesmith was sentenced to 12 months federal probation and 400 hours of community service after pleading guilty in August to making a false statement.[98]

In a December 10, 2019, interview on Hannity, Page indicated that he had retained attorneys to review the Horowitz Report and determine whether he has grounds to sue.[99]

In December 2019, the Justice Department secretly notified the FISA court that in at least two of the 2017 warrant renewal requests "there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause" to believe Page was acting as a Russian agent.[100]

In a subsequent analysis of 29 unrelated FISA warrant requests, Horowitz found numerous typographical errors but just two material errors, which were determined not to impact the justifications for the resulting surveillance.[101]

Senate Intelligence Committee findings

[edit]

The Republican-controlled Committee released its final report on 2016 Russian election interference in August 2020, finding that despite problems with the FISA warrant requests used to surveil him, the FBI was justified in its counterintelligence concerns about Page.[102] The Committee found Page evasive and his "responses to basic questions were meandering, avoidant and involved several long diversions."[102] The Committee found that although Page's advisory role in the Trump campaign from March 2016 to September 2016 was insignificant, Russian operatives may have thought he was more important than he actually was.[102]

Claim that Steele Dossier was "a significant portion" of FISA application

[edit]

On April 18, 2017, CNN reported that, according to U.S. officials, information from the dossier had been used as part of the basis for getting the October 2016 FISA warrant to monitor Page.[103][104] The Justice Department's inspector general revealed in 2019 that in the six weeks prior to its receipt of Steele's memos, the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team "had discussions about the possibility of obtaining FISAs targeting Page and Papadopoulos, but it was determined that there was insufficient information at the time to proceed with an application to the court."[65]: 101 

The role of evidence from the dossier in seeking FISA warrants soon became the subject of much debate. How much of the evidence was based on the dossier? Was it a "significant portion"[105] or only a "smart part" of the FISA application?[62]

In February 2018, the Nunes memo alleged FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's testimony backed Republican claims that the "dossier formed 'a significant portion' of the Carter Page FISA application".[105] McCabe pushed back and said his testimony had been "selectively quoted" and "mischaracterized".[105] He also "denied having ever told Congress that the [FISA] warrant would not have been sought without information from the dossier".[106]

Before the Crossfire Hurricane team received dossier material on September 19, 2016, they had already gathered enough evidence from their own sources to make them seriously consider seeking FISA warrants on Carter Page, but they needed a bit more, and, because their own sources "'corroborated Steele's reporting' with respect to Page",[107] the mutually independent corroborations gave them more confidence to make that decision.

The IG report described a changed situation after the FBI received Steele's memos and said the dossier then played a "central role" in the seeking of FISA warrants on Carter Page[65] in terms of establishing FISA's low bar[108] for probable cause: "FBI and Department officials told us the Steele reporting 'pushed [the FISA proposal] over the line' in terms of establishing probable cause."[65]: 412 [109]

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe mentioned the dossier's role in the start of the investigation and the FISA warrant:

'We started the investigations without the dossier. We were proceeding with the investigations before we ever received that information,' McCabe told CNN. 'Was the dossier material important to the [FISA] package? Of course, it was. As was every fact included in that package. Was it the majority of what was in the package? Absolutely not.'[110]

According to Ken Dilanian, "The so-called dossier formed only a smart part of the evidence used to meet the legal burden of establishing 'probable cause' that Page was an agent of Russia."[62]

In summary, the dossier formed a "smart part"[62] of the evidence, "not the majority",[110] yet, like the proverbial "last drop", it was just what was needed to push them "over the line"[65] to make that decision. That's how it "played a central role"[65] in the seeking of FISA warrants on Carter Page.

Lawsuits

[edit]

Against DNC and Perkins Coie

[edit]

In October 2018, Carter Page unsuccessfully sued the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Perkins Coie, and two Perkins Coie partners, for defamation.[111][112] The lawsuit was dismissed on January 31, 2019. Page said he intended to appeal the decision.[112][113]

On January 30, 2020, Page filed another defamation lawsuit (Case: 1:20-cv-00671, Filed: 01/30/20) against the DNC and Perkins Coie, naming Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann as defendants.[114] The suit was dismissed.[115]

Against Oath Inc. (Yahoo! News and HuffPost). Filed by Carter Page

[edit]

On February 11, 2021, Page lost a defamation suit he had filed against Yahoo! News and HuffPost for their articles that described his activities mentioned in the Steele dossier. The judge said that Page admitted the articles about his potential contacts with Russian officials were essentially true.[116]

Page's suit targeted Oath for 11 articles, especially one written by Michael Isikoff and published by Yahoo! News in September 2016. The judge dismissed the suit on February 11, 2021,[117] noting that "Page's arguments regarding Isikoff's description of the dossier and Steele were 'either sophistry or political spin'." He also said that Page "failed to allege actual malice by any of the authors, and that the three articles written by HuffPost employees were true".[118] Page was represented by attorneys John Pierce[119] and L. Lin Wood, who was denied permission to represent Page because of his actions in the attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election in favor of President Donald Trump.[120]

In January 2022, Page lost an effort to revive the defamation case over Isikoff's article. Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. said "the article at the crux of the case—by Yahoo News reporter Michael Isikoff—was either completely truthful or, 'at a minimum,' conveyed a true 'gist,' even if it included some 'minor' or 'irrelevant' incorrect statements." Bloomberg Law reported that "The court dismissed as far-fetched Page's theories about a conspiracy among interconnected media and political figures to tarnish Trump by concocting the Russia investigation from thin air."[121]

On May 16, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a defamation suit filed by Page.[122]

Against USA, DOJ, FBI, and several officials

[edit]

On November 27, 2020, Page filed a $75 million (approximately $87 million in 2023) suit against the United States, DOJ, FBI, and several former leading officials alleging they violated "his Constitutional and other legal rights in connection with unlawful surveillance and investigation of him by the United States Government". The defendants included James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Kevin Clinesmith, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Joe Pientka III, Stephen Soma, and Brian J. Auten.[123][124]

The suit was dismissed on September 1, 2022, by United States district court judge Dabney L. Friedrich, who wrote:

To the extent these allegations are true, there is little question that many individual defendants, as well as the agency as a whole, engaged in wrongdoing. Even so, Page has brought no actionable claim against any individual defendant or against the United States.[125]

See also

[edit]

Publications

[edit]
  • Page, Carter (2020). Abuse and Power: How an Innocent American Was Framed in an Attempted Coup Against the President. Regnery Publishing. ISBN 978-1-68451-121-1.

References

[edit]
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