U.S intelligence officials are reportedly investigating Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page after he met with Russian officials and discussed the possibility of lifting economic sanctions against Russian businesses if Trump is elected.
Page reportedly met with a Russia businessman who had sanctions placed on him and, alarmingly, he also met with the Russian official responsible for gathering intelligence on U.S. elections.
From chief investigative reporter for Yahoo News Michael Isikoff:
Page met with Igor Sechin, a longtime Putin associate and former Russian deputy prime minister who is now the executive chairman of Rosneft, Russian’s leading oil company, a well-placed Western intelligence source tells Yahoo News. That meeting, if confirmed, is viewed as especially problematic by U.S. officials because the Treasury Department in August 2014 named Sechin to a list of Russian officials and businessmen sanctioned over Russia’s “illegitimate and unlawful actions in the Ukraine.” [...]
U.S. intelligence agencies have also received reports that Page met with another top Putin aide while in Moscow — Igor Diveykin. A former Russian security official, Diveykin now serves as deputy chief for internal policy and is believed by U.S. officials to have responsibility for intelligence collected by Russian agencies about the U.S. election, the Western intelligence source said.
If confirmed, this would follow a long pattern of Page publicly attacking U.S. foreign policy while promoting Russian interests. Intelligence officials initially began monitoring Page after he criticized the Obama administration at events in Moscow (pictured above).
For their part, the Trump campaign is playing dumb. Trump spokesman Jason Miller told Yahoo News that Page has "no role" with the campaign, but Trump himself has named Page as one of his advisers.
Page has investments in Russia's state-owned gas company, Gazprom.