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| Who is Carter Page, Trump's ex-adviser at the center of the memo furore? | Who is Carter Page, Trump's ex-adviser at the center of the memo furore? |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The memo describes how the FBI conducted surveillance on Page, who was a foreign policy adviser on Trump’s campaign | The memo describes how the FBI conducted surveillance on Page, who was a foreign policy adviser on Trump’s campaign |
| Tom McCarthy in New York | Tom McCarthy in New York |
| Fri 2 Feb 2018 20.20 GMT | Fri 2 Feb 2018 20.20 GMT |
| Last modified on Fri 2 Feb 2018 21.09 GMT | |
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| He is the mysterious aide who just won’t go away: at the center of the furore over a controversial memo Donald Trump green-lit for release on Friday is Carter Page, who once served as a foreign policy adviser on Trump’s presidential campaign. | He is the mysterious aide who just won’t go away: at the center of the furore over a controversial memo Donald Trump green-lit for release on Friday is Carter Page, who once served as a foreign policy adviser on Trump’s presidential campaign. |
| The so-called Nunes memo, named for House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes, describes how the FBI sought and received a warrant to conduct surveillance on Page, whom the bureau had been following since at least 2013, owing to his contacts with Russian intelligence operatives. | The so-called Nunes memo, named for House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes, describes how the FBI sought and received a warrant to conduct surveillance on Page, whom the bureau had been following since at least 2013, owing to his contacts with Russian intelligence operatives. |
| The memo was written by aides to Republican Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a staunch defender of Donald Trump and member of Trump’s transition team. The committee is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, but the inquiry has devolved into a partisan fight about the separate FBI investigation, now led by special counsel Robert Mueller. | The memo was written by aides to Republican Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a staunch defender of Donald Trump and member of Trump’s transition team. The committee is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, but the inquiry has devolved into a partisan fight about the separate FBI investigation, now led by special counsel Robert Mueller. |
| As of Thursday morning, the public does not know the memo’s specifics, only its broad contours. The memo reportedly revolves around a wiretap on Carter Page, a brief adviser to the Trump campaign and a figure on the FBI’s radar for years. According to reports, the memo criticizes investigators who applied for the wiretap, saying they used material provided by a former British agent, Christopher Steele, without sufficiently disclosing their source to the judge. Steele was employed by a freelance research firm, which in turn had been hired by Democrats. The memo criticizes these omissions; it is not clear whether it mentions other factors that led to the investigation, such as how Australian officials tipped off American counterparts to suspicious remarks from another Trump aide, George Papadopoulos. | As of Thursday morning, the public does not know the memo’s specifics, only its broad contours. The memo reportedly revolves around a wiretap on Carter Page, a brief adviser to the Trump campaign and a figure on the FBI’s radar for years. According to reports, the memo criticizes investigators who applied for the wiretap, saying they used material provided by a former British agent, Christopher Steele, without sufficiently disclosing their source to the judge. Steele was employed by a freelance research firm, which in turn had been hired by Democrats. The memo criticizes these omissions; it is not clear whether it mentions other factors that led to the investigation, such as how Australian officials tipped off American counterparts to suspicious remarks from another Trump aide, George Papadopoulos. |
| The memo also reportedly criticizes the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, for approving continued surveillance of Page. Rosenstein is the justice department official with authority to fire Mueller should he find evidence of misconduct. Rosenstein has said he has not seen any such evidence. The president, said to dislike Rosenstein, could fire and replace him. | The memo also reportedly criticizes the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, for approving continued surveillance of Page. Rosenstein is the justice department official with authority to fire Mueller should he find evidence of misconduct. Rosenstein has said he has not seen any such evidence. The president, said to dislike Rosenstein, could fire and replace him. |
| The FBI has argued against the memo’s release, saying: “We have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.” Democrats have written a rebuttal and sided with the bureau against Republicans, who largely support the release. The president has told lawmakers he “100%” supports the memo’s release, and has reportedly told associates that he believes the memo will help discredit the special counsel investigation into Russian interference, his campaign’s potential role in it, and any attempts to obstruct justice. | The FBI has argued against the memo’s release, saying: “We have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.” Democrats have written a rebuttal and sided with the bureau against Republicans, who largely support the release. The president has told lawmakers he “100%” supports the memo’s release, and has reportedly told associates that he believes the memo will help discredit the special counsel investigation into Russian interference, his campaign’s potential role in it, and any attempts to obstruct justice. |
| Alan Yuhas | Alan Yuhas |
| Page, a native of Poughkeepsie, New York, who made trips to Moscow during the campaign and the presidential transition, has been described as an energy consultant and businessman with an interest in foreign policy. | Page, a native of Poughkeepsie, New York, who made trips to Moscow during the campaign and the presidential transition, has been described as an energy consultant and businessman with an interest in foreign policy. |
| Page was also described by a Russian intelligence agent who was trying to recruit him as an asset for Moscow in 2013 in another way: “idiot”. | |
| “He wants to meet when he gets back,” the agent, Victor Podobnyy, said in a conversation recorded by US intelligence. “I think he is an idiot and forgot who I am. Plus he writes to me in Russian [to] practice the language.” | “He wants to meet when he gets back,” the agent, Victor Podobnyy, said in a conversation recorded by US intelligence. “I think he is an idiot and forgot who I am. Plus he writes to me in Russian [to] practice the language.” |
| In eight hours of testimony before Nunes’s committee late last year, Page flatly denied the accusation that he had colluded with Russia in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, though he admitted communicating with senior Trump campaign officials about a July 2016 trip to Moscow in which he met with at least one top Russian government official. | |
| Page told congressional investigators that the meeting was short and inconsequential. He also downplayed his role in the Trump campaign, saying he did not know Trump personally but learned from studying him on video. | Page told congressional investigators that the meeting was short and inconsequential. He also downplayed his role in the Trump campaign, saying he did not know Trump personally but learned from studying him on video. |
| “I’ve never met Donald J Trump in my life, I’ve learned a lot from him, and I got great insights from that, from listening and studying the information that he – that he’s provided in public forums,” Page said. | “I’ve never met Donald J Trump in my life, I’ve learned a lot from him, and I got great insights from that, from listening and studying the information that he – that he’s provided in public forums,” Page said. |
| Page, 47, is a graduate of the US Naval Academy with an MBA from New York University. He speaks Russian and got to know the country as an employee of Merrill Lynch’s Moscow office from 2004 to 2007. | Page, 47, is a graduate of the US Naval Academy with an MBA from New York University. He speaks Russian and got to know the country as an employee of Merrill Lynch’s Moscow office from 2004 to 2007. |
| Page has said he does not believe Russians tampered with the US election and dismissed the notion of any collusion between the campaign and Moscow. He has said the attention over his campaign activities has ruined his career and derailed his life. | Page has said he does not believe Russians tampered with the US election and dismissed the notion of any collusion between the campaign and Moscow. He has said the attention over his campaign activities has ruined his career and derailed his life. |
| But Page’s own account of Russian contacts during the campaign, and his admission that he discussed those contacts with top Trump aides, has not only contradicted Trump’s denials of any contacts but also fueled suspicions of coordination of some kind. | But Page’s own account of Russian contacts during the campaign, and his admission that he discussed those contacts with top Trump aides, has not only contradicted Trump’s denials of any contacts but also fueled suspicions of coordination of some kind. |
| Trump-Russia investigation | Trump-Russia investigation |
| Donald Trump | Donald Trump |
| FBI | FBI |
| Russia | Russia |
| US politics | US politics |
| House of Representatives | House of Representatives |
| profiles | profiles |
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