Page Strikes Back
Carter Page, the American oil industry consultant who was tangentially and briefly associated with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, is calling out U.S. officials who may have been behind “highly damaging leaks” about him to the news media, alleging the leakers committed “felonies.”
In a letter to the House Select Committee on Intelligence and a follow-up email interview with Breitbart News, Page contended that the leaks come with a silver lining – he charges that the episode will expose the Obama administration’s use of false evidence to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) warrant to monitor his personal communications.
In the exchange with this reporter, Page maintained that “when the falsified FISA warrants against me are eventually revealed, the extent of illegal false evidence will show that there was never any probable cause but rather vindictive personal attacks used to justify the Clinton-Obama-Comey regime’s domestic political intelligence operation.”
On April 11, the Washington Post cited “law enforcement and other U.S. officials” stating that, as part of its investigation into alleged Russian collusion, the FBI obtained a secret FISA court order last summer to monitor Page’s communications.
The Post acknowledged it was reporting on leaked information, highlighting that the officials “spoke about the court order on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of a counterintelligence probe.”
The newspaper allowed that Page had not been accused of any crimes. It reported that the FISA court renewed the 90-day warrant on Page more than once, according to the officials.
The U.S. government has not responded to a Freedom of Information Act request from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) seeking information on why Page was surveilled. Page himself has appealed for public disclosure of the justification for what he refers to as the “illegitimate” FISA warrant.
In April, CNN reported that the controversial 35-page dossier on Trump compiled by a former British intelligence officer served as part of the FBI’s justification for seeking the FISA court’s approval to clandestinely monitor Page.
In his testimony earlier this month before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on FBI oversight, then-FBI Director James B. Comey repeatedly refused to answer questions about his agency’s ties to the dossier, including whether it was used in the Russia probe.
The partially discredited dossier contains wild and unproven claims that the Russians had information on Trump and sordid acts.
The document was authored by former intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who was reportedly paid by Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans to investigate Trump. Last month, Steele conceded in court documents that part of his work still needed to be verified.
The Steele document, which Page refers to as the “Dodgy Dossier,” makes the unsubstantiated claim that Page met with Russian officials as an envoy for the Trump campaign to discuss policy issues and topics related to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Page has steadfastly denied meeting any of the officials mentioned in Steele’s dossier and he says he never served as an envoy for the Trump campaign.
Brennan Says No Collusion Between U.S. And Russia
Former CIA Director John Brennan testified on Tuesday that after viewing all the evidence available to him on the Russia probe he is not aware of any collusion between Russia and members of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Brennan made that characterization more than once during his sworn testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. His comment was largely ignored by the news media.
In one case, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), asked Brennan specifically: “Did evidence exist of collusion, coordination, conspiracy, between the Trump campaign and Russian state actors at the time you learned of 2016 efforts?”
Brennan replied that he was aware of “contacts” between Russian officials and U.S. citizens involved in the Trump campaign, but he was not aware of any evidence of collusion.
Brennan stated: “I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign that I was concerned about because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals and it raised questions in my mind, again, whether or not the Russians were able to gain the cooperation of those individuals. I don’t know whether or not such collusion – and that’s your term – such collusion existed. I don’t know.”
Later in the hearing, Brennan conceded that “we see contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons all the time.”
However, he added, “It is when it’s in the context that there is something else going on – and so we knew, at the time, that the Russians were involved in this effort to try to interfere in our election.”
Meanwhile, in statements also largely unreported by the news media, Brennan testified on Tuesday that, in his assessment, recent news media leaks concerning classified information are “very, very damaging” to U.S. national security.
Brennan further testified that the FBI would be the appropriate agency to investigate any unauthorized leaks coming from within the White House.
Remember When Obama Set up A Back Channel With Iran?
Amid reports that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner allegedly talked with Russia’s envoy to the U.S. about setting up a back channel for communications, it may be instructive to recall that representatives for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign reportedly established a back channel with Iran.
The Washington Post, which broke the story about Kushner, cited communications from Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak to Moscow allegedly intercepted by U.S. intelligence officials. Russian diplomats are known to deliberately place misinformation in communications they believe are being monitored, the Post noted, allowing for the possibility that Kushner never actually asked for a back channel.
ABC News quoted two sources as saying the purported back channel that Kushner and Kislyak were allegedly discussing was supposed to focus on policy issues, including the war in Syria where Russia is highly influential.
In August 2014, Michael Ledeen, a former consultant to the National Security Council and U.S. Defense Department, penned a column at PJ Media stating Obama opened a back-channel to Iran during the 2008 presidential campaign. Ledeen said the back channel went through retired Ambassador William G. Miller, who also led the 1979 negotiating mission during the Iran hostage crisis. Ladeen wrote that Miller confirmed his back-channel involvement to him.