Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page tiptoed around questions Thursday about whether he discussed sanctions with Russian officials, saying the topic might have been mentioned in conversations he had with the officials.
When asked in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos if he mentioned to Russian officials the possibility of President Trump easing sanctions after taking office, Page at first responded with a forceful denial of the allegations.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I never offered that. No, nothing along those lines. Absolutely not. I mean, it may — topics — I don’t remember.”
“We’ll see what comes out in this FISA transcript,” he added, referring to a reported FBI warrant obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor his communications.
{mosads}Pressed on the issue, Page acknowledged that “something may have come up in conversation.”
“I have no recollection, and there’s nothing specifically I would have done that would have given people that impression,” he added.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the FBI obtained a warrant under FISA last summer to monitor Page’s communications. The warrant was granted as part of the agency’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia.
The former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser denied in an interview on CNN on Wednesday that he acted as a foreign agent. The FBI first began looking into Page after he a met with a Russian spy in 2013.
Page volunteered last month to talk to members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees as part of their ongoing probes into Russian election meddling as well as Trump and his aides’ potential ties to Moscow.