Trump adviser details meeting
Page says Sessions, Lewandowski knew about Moscow trip.
A former WASHINGTON —
Trump campaign adviser told Congress he had a private conversation with a Russian deputy prime minister during the 2016 presidential campaign and that at least two members of the president’s team were aware, providing more details to what is publicly known about Moscow’s access to President Donald Trump’s circle, according to a congressional transcript released late Monday.
“I’ll send you guys a readout soon regarding some incredible insights and outreach I’ve received from a few Russian legislators and senior members of the Presidential administration here,” the former adviser, Carter Page, wrote in a July 8, 2016, email to campaign staff members after he spoke with Arkady Dvorkovich, the deputy prime minister.
The New York Times first reported that Page notified campaign officials about his meetings in Moscow, but the transcript, which is over 200 pages long, discloses the names of those advisers — Tera Dahl and J.D. Gordon — and the identity of the Russian official, Dvorkovich. Page’s testimony also revealed that more campaign staff members were aware of his July 2016 trip to Russia than had previously been disclosed, including Jeff Sessions, who is now the attorney general.
Page’s eight-hour testimony, under oath, to members of the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, came the same week as the first charges were announced in the special counsel’s investigation into ties between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials.
One of the three advisers charged, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. In court documents, it was disclosed that Papadopoulos communicated with people who had links to the Russian government, and that Trump campaign advisers were aware of his interactions.
Trump has asserted there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. But the details about interactions between his foreign policy advisers and Russians raise new questions.
Page had consistently maintained that his trip to Moscow was to give a speech at a university. His description to the House committee presented a different picture than he had given during numerous appearances in the news media and interviews with The Times in recent months.
“Were you being honest in your communication with the campaign?” the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, asked Page on Thursday. “Are you being honest in your testimony? Because it doesn’t seem possible for both to be true.”
Page said Trump advisers were aware of his July trip to Russia, including Gordon, Corey Lewandowski and Hope Hicks, who currently serves as the White House communications director. Page said he had mentioned his upcoming trip to Sessions, who at the time was a senior policy adviser to the Trump campaign. Page said he also told Sam Clovis, another campaign aide.