The former Donald Trump campaign adviser who is reportedly being investigated over ties to Russia was brought into the Trump orbit last March by Sam Clovis, the co-chairman of Trump’s campaign who now serves as White House adviser for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Two Trump campaign officials confirmed the Clovis connection to The Daily Caller on Friday.
TheDC can also reveal that the Trump team issued a number of cease and desist requests to Page in recent months over concerns that he was misrepresenting his role on the campaign.
Page, the managing partner of Global Energy Capital, has been widely cited as a foreign policy adviser to Trump, the assumption being that he was in close touch with the Republican. But Trump and members of the administration have recently said that he does not recall ever meeting Page.
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The former Merrill Lynch banker was identified in a New York Times report last month as one of the former Trump advisers who is being investigated for possible contacts with Russian government officials. The full nature of the investigation is unclear, but federal investigators are said to have evidence of phone calls and contacts between former Trump campaign advisers and Russian government officials.
Though Trump & Co. have since downplayed Page’s role on the campaign, Trump was the first to publicly identify the energy investor’s advisory position.
Trump mentioned Page as one of several new advisers to his campaign in a March 21, 2016 interview with The Washington Post. Reporters immediately dug into Page’s background and quickly found business links to Russia.
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Louise Mensch, a former member of the British Parliament and occasional MSNBC analyst, has theorized that Page was introduced to the campaign through the then-Alabama senator. Mensch has also accused numerous members of the Trump team, as well as Trump, of engaging in espionage with the Russian government.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes picked up the Sessions theory in an interview with Page on Thursday. Hayes asked Page if Sessions was his conduit, but he denied it, saying that Sessions was not involved in his hiring.
Page declined a request from TheDC to identify his connection, saying that he did not “want to drag anyone down about so-called nefarious Russian connections.”
Though the two Trump campaign officials confirmed Clovis’ involvement in the Page matter, it is not clear how Clovis knew Page. The campaign officials did not know how the two met, and Clovis did not respond to a request for comment.
- Discussion
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Trump team issued three cease and desist requests to Carter Page for misrepresenting his role in the campaign https://t.co/0cj3M10241
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) March 3, 2017
@McFaul someone is trying to shut Page down and cover for the AG. There are many other reports that Sessions brought Page on.
— Michelle B. (@M_Bendall_) March 3, 2017
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