Carter Page Cast as a Russian Agent
■ The claim
Yahoo News reported that U.S. intelligence officials were probing whether Trump adviser Carter Page had opened private channels with senior Kremlin officials, including talk of lifting sanctions. In April 2017 the Washington Post reported the FBI had obtained a FISA warrant on the basis that Page was acting as an agent of Russia, and he was widely portrayed as a suspected Russian agent.
■ What actually happened
Page was never charged. The DOJ Inspector General found at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the four Page FISA applications, including that the FBI left out that Page had been an approved operational contact for the CIA from 2008 to 2013. FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith inserted the words 'not a source' into a CIA email used for the final renewal and pleaded guilty in August 2020 to making a false statement. DOJ told the FISA court that at least the last two warrants lacked sufficient predication and were not valid. The Yahoo story drew on Steele's information and was itself cited in the FISA application; Page's defamation suit against Yahoo was dismissed, so it was not retracted.
■ The proof
DOJ OIG report (Dec. 2019) listing 17 significant errors; Clinesmith guilty plea (Aug. 19, 2020); declassified FISC order (Jan. 2020) recording DOJ's concession that two authorizations were not valid.
■ Original reporting
- Yahoo News (Michael Isikoff): U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin (Sept. 23, 2016)https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html
- The Washington Post: FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor former Trump adviser Carter Page (Apr. 11, 2017)https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html
■ Corrections, findings & records
- DOJ Inspector General: Crossfire Hurricane / FISA review (Dec. 2019)https://oig.justice.gov/reports/review-four-fisa-applications-and-other-aspects-fbis-crossfire-hurricane-investigation
- U.S. Attorney (D. Conn.): FBI attorney admits altering email used for FISA application (Aug. 19, 2020)https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/fbi-attorney-admits-altering-email-used-fisa-application-during-crossfire-hurricane
- FISA Court declassified order on the Page applications (PDF, Jan. 2020)https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/FISC%20Declassifed%20Order%2016-1182%2017-52%2017-375%2017-679%20%20200123.pdf
- Lawfare: FISC declassifies order about Carter Page FISA applicationshttps://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/fisc-declassifies-order-about-carter-page-fisa-applications
- WHYY: Top Delaware court rejects Page's defamation case against Yahoo, HuffPost (Jan. 2022)https://whyy.org/articles/top-delaware-court-rejects-ex-trump-advisers-defamation-case-against-yahoo-huffpo
■ Wayback Machine copies
Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.
- Archive copy: Yahoo News (Michael Isikoff): U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin (Sept. 23, 2016)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html
- Archive copy: The Washington Post: FBI obtained FISA warrant to monitor former Trump adviser Carter Page (Apr. 11, 2017)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html
■ Grade
UNPROVEN: Reported as established fact but never corroborated. Not proven false, either. How we grade →