The Senate sent a revealing list of demands to Carter Page about his Russia ties
Page, an early foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign team, volunteered to be interviewed by the committee in March as part of its investigation into Russia's election interference - and whether any collusion occurred between Trump's associates and Kremlin officials.
The committee, which is led by Republican Sen. Richard Burr and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, asked Page to make himself available for a "closed interview with designated committee staff to be scheduled for a mutually agreeable time," according to the letter, a copy of which Page sent to Business Insider.
Spokespeople for Burr and Warner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In advance of that interview, the letter asked Page to provide "a list of all meetings between you and any Russian official or representative of Russian business interests which took place between June 16, 2015, and January 20, 2017," including "the date, location, all individuals present, and complete copies of any notes taken by you or on your behalf."
Trump announced his presidential campaign on June 15, 2015, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2017.
Additionally, the letter requested that Page submit "all communications records such as email or text messages, written correspondence, and phone records, of communications which took place between June 16, 2015, and January 20, 2017, to which you and any Russian official or representative of Russian business interests was a party."
The letter also asked Page to provide a fuller look into whether anyone else on the Trump campaign may have spoken to, or about, Russians or Russia. It requested "all communication records ... related in any way to Russia, conducted between you and members and advisors of the Trump campaign," as well as "a list of all meetings of which you are aware between any individual affiliated with the Trump campaign and any Russian official or representative of Russian business" between June 16, 2015 and January 20, 2017.
The letter was dated roughly four days after reports surfaced that, more than three months into the committee's investigation, it hadn't issued any subpoenas or requested any key documents such as emails, memos, and phone records from members or associates of the Trump campaign, according multiple media outlets.
According to Yahoo, Burr had "failed to respond to requests from the panel's Democrats to sign letters" asking for such documents. Burr's signature appears on the letter to Page.
Page issued a lengthy response to the letter, a copy of which he provided to Business Insider.
"Although you set a range of suggested deadlines for the various extensive administrative tasks on your list over the coming weeks, I instead decided to initially get back to you today on the National Day of Prayer," Page wrote to the Committee in a letter dated May 4.
"Having survived the hate crimes committed against me by the Clinton/Obama regime which were in some part pursued due to my Roman Catholic faith ... finding strength through prayer in my church and by myself has remained a core source of support throughout this ongoing comically fake inquiry," he said.
Page went on to address the committee's requests, which he referred to as "cumbersome chores."
He wrote that while he remains "committed to helping the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in any way that I can ... please note that any records I may have saved as a private citizen with limited technology capabilities will be minuscule in comparison to the full database of information which has already been collected under the direction of the Obama administration during last year's completely unjustified FISA warrant that targeted me for exercising my First Amendment rights."
The FBI obtained a FISA warrant last summer to monitor Page's communications, The Washington Post reported early last month. Page's trips to Moscow and contact with at least one Russian official last year are now reportedly under FBI investigation.
"As a lone individual, I can assure you that my personal administrative capabilities pale in comparison to the clerical juggernaut represented by the numerous staff in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the US government which have heretofore been allegedly involved in this unscrupulous surveillance for many months on end," Page wrote.
Page has previously told Business Insider he thought the FISA requests were "unjustified." But the government's application for the FISA warrant targeting Page, The Post reported, has been renewed more than once, and "included a lengthy declaration that laid out investigators' basis for believing that Page was an agent of the Russian government and knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence activities on behalf of Moscow."