Trump ex-adviser sues DNC
A former adviser to the Trump campaign is suing the Democratic National Committee in Oklahoma City federal court.
Carter Page accuses the DNC and law firm Perkins Coie LLP of spreading false information that he was a participant in Russia’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 election.
He is seeking compensatory, special and punitive damages for harm to his businesses and reputation. He is representing himself in the lawsuit filed Monday.
He complained the allegations have been seen by millions of people and have subjected him to public scorn, ridicule, hatred, contempt and death threats.
Page, 47, claimed in the lawsuit the death threats began after Yahoo in September 2016 reported U.S. intelligence officials were probing ties between him and the Kremlin. Page was an unpaid foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign at the time.
He claimed the accusations came from the now infamous dossier written by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. The Washington Post reported last year the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign helped fund the research that resulted in the dossier.
The FBI got a wiretap on Page in 2016 because of the accusations. President Donald Trump has pointed to the surveillance as proof a special counsel’s investigation into his campaign is a witch hunt.
“Witch Hunt Rigged, a Scam!” the president tweeted in July.
Page is managing partner of an Oklahoma City limited liability company, Global Natural Gas Ventures. In a separate legal filing, he told a judge his decision to file the lawsuit in Oklahoma City “is part of the extraordinary efforts I have had to continue taking to remain safe.”
He wrote that many of the threats he has experienced were in Washington and New York “where a greater proportion of people have accepted the false rumors that the defendant’s opposition research activities created.”
The DNC did not respond Monday to a request for comment.
Page unsuccessfully sued Yahoo’s parent company last year in federal court in New York. That case is on appeal.