Senate Intel Committee finally goes hard after Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page
All along, former Donald Trump campaign adviser and alleged Russian intel asset Carter Page has publicly asserted his eagerness to go along with any requests to testify in the Trump-Russia scandal investigation. But last week the Senate Intel Committee called Page on his bluff. And based on his response, it turns out he was indeed bluffing. Subpoenas are probably about to come, and based on Page’s response, he’s clearly not happy.
The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr and Mark Warner respectively, put out a bipartisan joint statement today, calling out Carter Page for hedging on his willingness to cooperate, and asserting that “The Committee will continue to pursue its inquiry into issues surrounding Russia’s involvement in the 2016 Presidential election; it is our expectation that Mr. Page will live up to his publicly-expressed cooperation with our effort.”
Although the word ‘subpoena’ wasn’t used in the committee’s statement today (link), it didn’t need to be; it’s the typical next step whenever a material witness refuses to cooperate with a Congressional investigation. Precedent suggests that if the committee issues a subpoena to Page and he refuses to comply, a judge would then have to rule on whether Page is legally required to comply.
Carter Page has publicly admitted that he met with with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the Republican National Convention while he was a Donald Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, after changing his story repeatedly. He’s also admitted that he had dealings with three Russian spies who were ultimately busted in 2014, though he insists through all of this that he was never complicit in any Russian spying or illegal activity. It sounds like we’re about to find out one way or the other. Help fund Palmer Report
