Carter Page scheduled for House intel committee interview
Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, is scheduled to come before the House intelligence committee next week in its investigation into Russian meddling in the election.
Page, an energy industry consultant who Trump aides say played a bit part in the campaign, has come under scrutiny for reported contacts with Kremlin-allied Russian officials in 2016. He’s denied those contacts, but in recent days he also informed the Senate Intelligence Committee that he would plead the Fifth to avoid self-incrimination if it called him to testify.
It’s unclear whether he plans to cooperate with the House’s investigation on Thursday, when he’s due to testify. Page didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an advisory, the committee described the interview as “open” but slated to be held in a “closed setting.” An aide said that means Page’s testimony will be delivered without members of the public or press present, but, because the hearing is unclassified, a transcript may be made available later.
In May, Trump came to Page’s defense after reports suggested Democrats had delayed initial plans for Page to testify.
“So now it is reported that the Democrats, who have excoriated Carter Page about Russia, don’t want him to testify,” Trump said in a pair of successive tweets. “He blows away their … case against him & now wants to clear his name by showing ‘the false or misleading testimony by James Comey, John Brennan...’ Witch Hunt!”
Page, whose name came up repeatedly in a disputed dossier — compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele — is also suing news organizations for defamation for claiming he’s under intelligence community scrutiny for his trips to Moscow.