Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page insisted Saturday that he didn't tell any Russian official any information that wasn't already publicly available.
"I was never, nothing I was ever asked to do or no information I was ever asked for was anything beyond what you could see on CNN," Page told CNN's "Smerconish" program. "Nothing I ever talked about with any Russian official extends beyond that publicly available, immaterial information."
The interview came a day after a CNN report Russia had tried to infiltrate President Donald Trump's campaign through its advisers, including Page, and on Saturday, Page centered on the word "tried."
"I've certainly seen a lot of tries going back for much of the last year, trying to put in false narratives over many many months," Page told CNN's Michael Smerconish. "There are certain questions I have, frankly speaking, just reading that report two weeks before Inauguration Day I might add, that makes me wonder whether this was just a political stunt."
Page continued that he believes that rather than focusing on Russia, the real story is "the bigger meddling … that was done against me and potentially others in the last year."
Friday night's CNN story changes the narrative that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, said Page.
"Now they're reeling things back and someone is saying out there the word tried, right?" said Page. "I've certainly seen a lot of tries going back for much of the last year, trying to put in false narratives over many, many months.:
On Friday, CNN reported that U.S. officials have stated that they do not know if Page knew that Russian agents were trying to use him or other Trump campaign staffers, because of the way the foreign spy services work.
Page said Saturday that the only "unwitting element" he's concerned about is the "unwitting media and the unwitting members of Congress" who accepted a "dodgy dossier" of information from Russia concerning Trump.
"[They] actually read it into the Congressional record, and potentially members of the government last year that were using this as part of a domestic political intelligence operation," said Page. "That to me is, there's certainly a lot of unwitting actions that were done last year, so let's see how things come out as we get more evidence. Again, there's been plenty of leaking and lying but we'll see how this all plays out."
Page was subjected to surveillance following a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant, claiming that there was probable cause to believe he'd committed a crime by working with Russian authorities. The former campaign adviser said Saturday there are a "lot of felonies and potential felonies" that were committed during the government's actions.
"That information you just cited, Michael, by definition, that leak is a felony," said Page. "You're not supposed to be talking about that."
Further, Page insisted that there was "no possibility of probable cause" that should have led to a FISA warrant.
"Going back to the dodgy dossier and all the times this was put out in the media by certain political operatives last year, there's certainly a lot of potential basis," said Page. "Again, there have been recent reports that I'm very grateful for that, yes, the dodgy dossier was indeed an element that was used in that warrant. So that will be really interesting and that's why I'm so excited about my Privacy Act lawsuit that we'll be moving forward with."
Page, though, denied meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak for more than a casual hello.
"I didn't actually spend any time with him," said Page.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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