Poor Carter Page

Page is one of a handful of former Trump campaign hands reported to be under federal scrutiny for his ties to Russia—putting him in the company of Mike Flynn, Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, figures much more central to the scandal—and he claims he’s being stonewalled by congressional Democrats who don’t want him to clear his name in an open hearing. [...] He’s given numerous TV interviews and frequently blasts out to a list of reporters lengthy letters beseeching Congress for a date to testify in public.

  TPM

They obviously don't appreciate his importance.

Page told TPM that his openness is not an act of self-promotion or the result of naiveté.

Oh, no, no, no. I wasn't suggesting that. At all.

The 46-year-old oil-and-gas analyst was a footnote on Trump’s campaign, brought on as a national security adviser in March 2016 to bolster what was then a nonexistent foreign policy team.

You might feel like asking what an oil-and-gas analyst knows about national security. I won't stop you. But please also ask why he was REALLY brought in to join a foreign policy team if there was no foreign policy team.

Though he stayed on for only five months, Page has played a disproportionately large role in the multiple probes into the contacts Trump’s campaign associates had with Russian operatives.

Yeah, I bet. I'd be a little curious about why he was in the Trump campaign myself.

The New York Times reported that his July 2016 visit to Moscow, where he delivered a speech promoting improved U.S.-Russia relations, actually prompted the FBI to launch its initial investigation.

[...]

Federal investigators are reportedly looking into his professional ties to Russia, as well as allegations that surfaced in a largely unverified dossier compiled by a former British intelligence officer that accused Page and other Trump associates of being involved in a “well-developed conspiracy of cooperation” with the Kremlin.

[...]

Former FBI director James Comey is Neidermeyer, the abusive ROTC leader from the frathouse comedy film “Animal House,” while he invariably refers to the Obama administration as the “Clinton-Obama-Comey regime.”

I'm sure that helps his cause.

He said he takes inspiration from a Marine he met at a Wounded Warrior Project fundraiser, who’d accepted an invitation to visit former President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas after losing his arm in Iraq. Page said when he asked the veteran how he felt while visiting the politician who launched the war that cost him a body part, the veteran replied, “I’m just doing my job. I’m doing the right thing.”

“It’s the same exact thing here,” Page said of his pushback against the various Russia investigations.

Exact same thing.

Well, he could lose an arm and a leg in this deal.  His business is already losing money.

And he said it “goes without saying” that the investment management firm that he runs from a Midtown Manhattan co-working space, Global Energy Capital LLC, has lost business as a result of the investigations.

[...]

“It’s not really worrying about the personal price you pay; it’s more about the broader mission and the national security of the U.S., right?” [he said.]

A hero.

He said he feels certain that Democrats will be held responsible for what he calls the “crimes” and “civil rights violations” committed against him by issuing an “illegal” FISA warrant. Much of the cloud over him could be dispelled if he was allowed to testify publicly, Page insisted, complaining that congressional Democrats were trying to control the narrative of the investigations by only allowing witnesses who have “information that might look questionable” to appear in open session.

Okay, maybe not a hero. Maybe a nutjob.

The Navy veteran periodically scanned the perimeter of the Starbucks from under the rim of a faded New York Yankees hat, lowering his voice to ensure no potential eavesdroppers could hear what he had to say. Page wouldn’t discuss his personal life except to acknowledge that he has never married, saying he doesn’t want anyone he names to end up on one of those “wire diagrams” mapping out the connections the Trump team has to Russian operatives.

[...]

“There’s nothing to hide,” Page said, reiterating that he sat for over 10 hours of interviews with FBI agents without a lawyer present and is relying on unnamed “volunteers” for legal advice.

Are none of them telling him to shut up?

A little background from September 2016, when Page suddenly became radioactive...

Trump in March included Carter Page — an investment banker who had worked in the Moscow branch of Merrill Lynch for several years — on a list of foreign policy advisers.

But Friday, after Yahoo News reported that Page was being investigated for allegedly meeting with Kremlin officials over the summer, a Trump campaign spokesman denied that Page had ever been part of the campaign.

“Mr. Page is not an advisor and has made no contribution to the campaign,” the campaign’s communications director Jason Miller said in an email to The Hill. “I've never spoken to him, and wouldn't recognize him if he were sitting next to me.”

  The Hill

I believe that's what Trump said about his friend Felix Sater. Or was it Tevfik Arif? I get these Russian gangsters mixed up.

Presented with a statement from a campaign spokesperson in August that characterized Page as an “informal adviser,” albeit one who “does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign,” Miller doubled down.

“He’s never been a part of our campaign. Period,” he said.

[...]

The Trump team's attempt to distance itself from Page comes after Yahoo quoted a congressional source saying that Page’s talks with Russian officials were being “actively monitored and investigated.”

Dropped like a hot potato.  The fate of more than one Trump campaign crook.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.