What Happened

On Nov. 3, Carter Page, a former foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, testified before a house committee that he had traveled to Russia over the summer of 2016. While this is not new information, he did disclose that he did discuss the trip with other Trump campaign officials in more senior positions. Unlike previous questioning in regard to the trip, Page did admit to meeting with Russian officials during the trip and to discussing the possibility of positive US-Russia relations. Prior to this testimony, Page stated that the trip was unrelated to the Trump campaign and was instead of his own volition.

In addition, Page explained in a separate interview that he would “plead the Fifth,” meaning he would invoke his right to decline to answer certain questions where the answers might incriminate him, as a means of avoiding what he called a “perjury trap.”