Why It Matters

Carter Page’s testimony is, in and of itself, unremarkable relative to the other issues pressing the Trump campaign. Prior to the release of this testimony, it was known that he had traveled to Russia while he was a part of the Trump campaign. It was also widely speculated and inferred that what he had previously stated, that the trip was not business related, was false and that he had met with Russian officials.

However, this testimony does have value in that it corroborates and adds to the already accepted-as-fact accusations against the Trump campaign, specifically in regard to Papadopoulos. Carter Page admitted to “discussing” Russia with Papadopoulos, a statement which adds backing to the notion that Russian collusion was more widespread throughout the Trump campaign than being limited to a single individual.

Finally, there is also the statement by Page that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights when questioned about his trip. This means that if Carter Page answered questions about Russia, he would be incriminating himself, which is important as it means that something criminal did occur — it just isn’t public knowledge yet.