Carter Page's Surveillance: How And When It Started

Carter Page, a former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign, came under FBI surveillance in 2016. This was due to his alleged ties to the Kremlin and Russian officials, as well as his suspected role as a foreign agent. The surveillance was authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and continued for approximately one year. Page has since claimed that the FBI ruined his life and that there was no basis for the surveillance.

Carter Page was a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign

Page was a focus of the 2017 Special Counsel investigation into the suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials, as well as Russian interference in the 2016 election. He was the subject of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant in 2014, two years before he became a foreign policy adviser to Trump. In March 2016, the FBI spoke to Page about his contacts with Russian intelligence. He was forced to step down from his role as a foreign policy adviser to Trump in the summer of 2016 after it was revealed that he had links to Russia and Vladimir Putin.

Shortly after Page's resignation, the FBI was granted a warrant to surveil his communications based on the suspicion that he had been contracted as a spy for the Russian government. This surveillance was partly based on information from the Steele dossier, which alleged that Page had met with a senior Kremlin official during a trip to Moscow in July 2016. Page has denied these allegations and claimed that the FBI surveillance ruined his life. He has filed four lawsuits, all of which were dismissed by the courts.

In April 2019, the Mueller report concluded that the investigation did not establish that Page coordinated with Russia's interference efforts. However, there were unanswered questions about his actions and motives, as his activities in Russia were not fully explained. Page's name appeared repeatedly in the Steele dossier, and by the end of January 2017, he was under investigation by multiple agencies, including the FBI, CIA, and NSA. Despite this, Page was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Page has been described as having pro-Russian sentiments and has praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Over the years, his dealings in Russia caught the attention of US government officials, who suspected he might be working as an agent of Moscow. Page himself has denied being an agent of a foreign power, and other lawmakers have defended the FBI's decision to surveil him.

Page was put under surveillance by the FBI in 2016

Carter Page was put under surveillance by the FBI in 2016. He was a foreign policy adviser on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign. Page was the focus of a 2017 Special Counsel investigation into suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials, as well as Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Page was put under surveillance due to his ties to Russia, which included a trip to Moscow in July 2016, where he gave a speech at the New Economic School. During this visit, he was suspected of meeting with Russian officials.

The surveillance was authorised by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) in October 2016. The FBI believed that Page had been targeted for recruitment by the Russian government and was acting as an agent of a foreign power. Page was also suspected of being contracted as a spy for the Russian government. The surveillance continued for around a year.

Page has since claimed that the FBI surveillance ruined his life, stating that it drove his girlfriend away and brought his consulting business to a halt. He has also said that there was no basis for him to be put under surveillance.

The surveillance was conducted due to Page's ties to Russian officials

Carter Page, an American petroleum industry consultant, was put under surveillance by the FBI in 2016. This was due to his alleged ties to Russian officials and his role as a foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign.

Page was a focus of the 2017 Special Counsel investigation into the suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials. He was suspected of coordinating with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.

Page had several contacts with Russian intelligence operatives, including Victor Podobnyy, whom he met in 2013. Page shared his views on the energy industry and provided Podobnyy with documents about the energy business. Podobnyy reported to a fellow Russian intelligence officer that Page was enthusiastic about business opportunities in Russia but an "idiot".

In 2013, Page also wrote a letter to a book publisher stating that he 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. Page later downplayed this role, claiming that he only sat in on some meetings.

In March 2016, Trump named Page as part of his foreign policy team, despite Page's lack of experience. This decision drew attention to Page's connections with Russia and raised concerns about his loyalty.

In June 2016, Page travelled to Moscow and gave a commencement address at the New Economic School. During his trip, he met with several Russian officials, including Andrey Baranov, Rosneft's head of investor relations. Page claimed that these interactions were brief and that there was "no substantive content" discussed.

In July 2016, Page met with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention. Page continued to deny publicly that he had met with any Russian officials during the campaign.

In September 2016, Yahoo News reported that U.S. intelligence agencies were investigating whether Page had engaged in private communications with senior Russian officials, including discussions about potentially lifting economic sanctions. This report led to Page's departure from the Trump campaign.

The FBI obtained a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to surveil Page's communications and read his emails. The warrant was renewed three times, indicating that the FBI believed there was probable cause to suspect Page of acting as a foreign agent.

Page has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the surveillance ruined his life, impacting his business and personal relationships. He has filed multiple lawsuits related to the surveillance, all of which have been dismissed.

The FBI obtained a warrant to surveil Page's communications and read his saved emails

The FBI obtained a warrant to surveil Carter Page's communications and read his saved emails in October 2016. This was granted by the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and was based on the suspicion that Page had been contracted as a spy for the Russian government. Page had visited Moscow in July 2016 and given a speech at the New Economic School, during which he was critical of the US. While Page said he was travelling in a personal capacity, the school cited his role in Donald Trump's campaign in advertising the speech.

Page was a foreign policy adviser on the Trump campaign and had established ties to Russian officials. He was also a former Merrill Lynch investment banker who had worked in the company's Moscow office for three years. He later founded Global Energy Capital, a firm focused on energy sectors in emerging markets, and advised on transactions for Gazprom and RAO UES, a pair of Russian entities.

The warrant to surveil Page was renewed three times, with the surveillance continuing until around October 2017. In total, four applications were made by the FBI under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a 1978 law that created a court to oversee requests from federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies when they wanted warrants to surveil foreign agents suspected of committing espionage or terrorism within the US.

The FBI believed Page had been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government and was collaborating with them to undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election. Page denied being a foreign agent and cast the information laid out in the documents as "spin".

The surveillance continued for roughly a year

The surveillance of Carter Page continued for roughly a year, from October 2016 through to the summer of 2017. Page was a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign.

Page was put under surveillance by the FBI due to his ties to Russia, which included his work with Kremlin-controlled Gazprom, his past work in Moscow, and a pro-Russia speech he gave in Moscow during the campaign. The FBI believed Page had been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government and was collaborating with them to undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

The surveillance was authorised by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and was based on four 90-day warrants, which were renewed three times. The surveillance was also approved by multiple levels of the FBI, Justice Department, and FISA court judges.

Page has since claimed that the FBI surveillance ruined his life, stating that it cost him business, income, and his girlfriend. He has also sued the FBI and Justice Department for damages, though these lawsuits have been dismissed.

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