National Security

Report: Former Trump Adviser Met With Russian Spies

Written by SK Ashby

Buzzfeed News and other outlets reported last night that former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page was targeted for recruitment by Russian spies and handed documents to them in 2013.

Page's named was apparently redacted in charges filed against three Russian spies in 2015 and his involvement in those cases was confirmed yesterday.

If you're curious what Russian spies think of their marks in America, behold this transcript:

"Male-1" is Carter Page

The court filing includes a colorful transcript of Podobnyy speaking with Sporyshev about trying to recruit Page.

“[Male-1] wrote that he is sorry, he went to Moscow and forgot to check his inbox, but he wants to meet when he gets back. I think he is an idiot and forgot who I am. ... He got hooked on Gazprom thinking that if they have a project, he could rise up,” Podobnyy said. “I also promised him a lot ... This is intelligence method to cheat, how else to work with foreigners? You promise a favor for a favor. You get the documents from him and tell him to go fuck himself.”

Did they get the documents they wanted from Page? It's not entirely clear, but Page did “provided documents to [Podobnyy] about the energy business" according to the charges filed against the spies.

I assume this is how they see virtually everyone in Trump's orbit. Easy marks.

It should be noted that the U.S. attorney responsible for charging the spies who met and communicated with Page was Preet Bharara. Bharara was fired by Trump last month.