Ex-Trump aide Carter Page alleges he had extensive contact with 'FBI informant' Stefan Halper before agency got eavesdropping warrant
- Former Trump aide Carter Page has come forward to claim he had more contact with alleged FBI informant Stefan Halper than previously reported
- He claims that he met Halper at a seminar overseas and kept in contact with him from July 2016 to September 2017
- He said he visited Halper's farm in Northern Virginia several times beginning in August 2016, after the Russia probe was launched
- Then on October 21, 2016, the FBI and DOJ obtained a surveillance warrant to monitor Page, but he was never charged with any wrongdoing
- Congressional investigators are also looking at texts between ex FBI agent Peter Strzok and Lisa Page as previously redacted names have been revealed
- A text sent by Strzok to Page on October 13, 2016 has come under renewed scrutiny because he asks 'who's playing games/scared covering'
New details have emerged involving the investigation into Russia's involvement in the 2016 presidential election.
Following the Mueller investigation, President Trump allowed for the declassification of key Russia records related to surveillance of the Trump campaign.
But Trump's former campaign aide and former foreign policy adviser Carter Page has come forward to claim that he had more contact with alleged FBI informant Stefan Halper than previously reported during a key period in the Russia probe.
Separately, the documents have led congressional investigators to renew their attention on a text sent by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok to FBI lawyer Lisa Page, questioning 'who's playing games' and 'who's covering', according to Fox.
Former Trump aide Carter Page (left), who was a focus of the Russian interference investigation for his Russia visits and contacts, has come forward to claim he had more contact with alleged FBI informant Stefan Halper (right) than previously reported
Page claims that he met Halper in July 2016 after receiving an invitation to an overseas seminar and they kept in contact for over a year through September 2017 after Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigation collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Page was a focus of the 2017 Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the election for his 2016 visits to Moscow and his Russia contacts.
Halper is an American academic and retired professor who is speculated to have met with the president’s advisers in 2016 and became an informant for the Russia probe.
Halper was working in the UK at Cambridge University where he gathered senior intelligence officials for seminars when he met with Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, another Trump aide, both suspected of dealing with Russia.
Page claims that during the Russia probe, Halper was a friend to him.
'During that period, amidst frequent terror threats [Halper] was one of the few people who would talk to me. He seemed understanding of my predicament and the incessant personal security risks that stemmed from the (Democratic National Committee) consultants' false reports,' Page said to Fox.
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He claims that he visited Halper's farm in Northern Virginia several times beginning in August 2016.
He said the visits started three weeks after Peter Strzok officially opened the FBI counterintelligence probe into possible Russian election interference in late July 2016.
Then on October 21, 2016, the FBI and DOJ obtained a surveillance warrant to monitor Page.
When asked if Page made it clear he wasn't working for Russia he said, 'I'm sure Russia came up. We talked international relations. It must have. ... I can't imagine anything I said could conceivably lead to a FISA.'
FISA means the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which allows for the surveillance of individuals with foreign intelligence information of suspected of espionage or terrorism.
Page was surveyed for over a year but was not charged with any wrongdoing. He’s since sued the DNC for defamation related to claims that he worked with Russia.
Congressional investigators are focusing their attention on a text sent by ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok to FBI lawyer Lisa Page, questioning 'who's playing games' and 'who's covering'
Text messages between ex FBI agent Peter Strzok, who once led the Russia investigation, and FBI lawyer Lisa Page have come under scrutiny yet again, this time because the redacted names have finally been revealed
This text sent by Strzok to Page on October 13, 2016 has come under renewed scrutiny because he asks 'who's playing games/scared covering'
Among the declassified Russia documents, a previously revealed text conversation between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page has come into focus as the redacted names have been revealed by Fox.
Peter Strzok led the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election but was removed when Robert Mueller became aware of his criticism of Trump contained in personal text messages between Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page who were having an extramarital affair.
The text sent on October 13, 2016 was sent out during a tense period before the FBI and DOJ secured a surveillance warrant for Page.
The text involves a senior FBI lawyer and FBI agent 'Gaeta' – who is believed to be a principal handler for the dossier and its author ex-British spy Christopher Steele, according to the outlet.
In it Strzok wrote to Page: 'We got the reporting on Sept 19. Looks like [Gaeta] got it early August. Looking at [Clinesmith] lync [internal messaging service] replies to me it's not clear if he knows if/when he told them. But [Steve] and [Kate] talked with [Spencer] they're both good and will remember. It's not about rubbing their nose in it. I don't care if they don't know. I just want to know who's playing games/scared covering. totally get it will never be provable.'
Based on Page’s 2019 closed-door congressional testimony Gaeta is believed to be a FBI agent who met with Steele in the summer of 2016, obtaining the first memos in early July.
Clinesmith is believed to be then FBI-lawyer Kevin Clinesmith. It’s not clear whether Steve and Kate refer to FBI or State Department employees.
The identity of Spencer is unknown and is of significant interest to congressional investigators who question whether he operated outside of the FBI and DOJ.
