https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_between_Trump_associates_and_Russian_officials#Carter_Page
Carter Page[edit]
In a March 2016 interview, Trump identified Carter Page, who had previously been an investment banker in Moscow, as a foreign policy adviser to his campaign.[91] Page became a foreign policy advisor to Trump in the summer of 2016. During the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, Page's past contacts with Russians came to public attention.[92]
In 2013 Page met with Viktor Podobnyy, then a junior attaché at the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at an energy conference, and provided him with documents on the U.S. energy industry.[93] Page later said he provided only "basic immaterial information and publicly available research documents" to Podobnyy.[92] Podobnyy was later one of a group of three Russian men charged by U.S. authorities for participation in a Russian spy ring; Podobnyy and one of the other men was protected by diplomatic immunity from prosecution; a third man, who was spying for the Russia under non-diplomatic cover, pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent and was sentenced to prison.[92] The men had attempted to recruit Page to work for the Russian SVR. The FBI interviewed Page in 2013 "as part of an investigation into the spy ring, but decided that he had not known the man was a spy", and never accused Page of wrongdoing.[92]
Page was dropped from the Trump team after reports that he was under investigation by federal authorities over his Russian connections.[94] The FBI and the Justice Department obtained a FISA warrant to monitor Page's communications during October 2016, after they made the case that there was probable cause to think Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power (Russia). Page told The Washington Post that he considered that to be "unjustified, politically motivated government surveillance".[91] According to the Nunes memo, the 90-day warrant was renewed three times.
In February 2017, Page stated he had "no meetings" with Russian officials during 2016, but two days later said he "did not deny" meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Page's revised account occurred after news reports that revealed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had likewise met with Kislyak. In March 2017, Page was called on by the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating links between the Trump campaign and Russian government.[95][96] On March 9, 2017, Hope Hicks, a Trump spokesperson, distanced the campaign from Page, stating that Page was an "informal foreign policy adviser" who did "not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign."[97] In September 2017, Page filed a defamation lawsuit against the media company Oath Inc. for its outlets' reporting of his alleged meetings with Russian officials.[98]