Carter Page Sues DNC and its Lawyers Over Trump-Russia Dossier
Former Trump Campaign advisor files defamation lawsuit for Steele dossier
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Former Trump Campaign advisor Cater Page is suing the DNC and its lawyers for defamation over their commissioning of the now-infamous Trump-Russia dossier.
Page filed the lawsuit in federal court in Oklahoma on Monday against the Democratic National Committee and two attorneys, Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann, from the DNC's law firm, Perkins Coie.
Also representing the Hillary Clinton Campaign, Perkins Coie is the firm that hired Fusion GPS to create the report - also known as the Steele Dossier after its author, former British spy Christopher Steele.
Fusion GPS, opposition research company co-founded by former Wall Street Journal journalist Glenn R. Simpson, was paid to investigate and "find" links between Donald Trump and Russia.
Perkins Coie partner Elias was the firm’s main contact to Fusion GPS, which was founded by Simpson and two other former Wall Street Journal reporters.
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According to the Daily Caller, Fusion GPS hired former British spy Christopher Steele to conduct the investigation, as part of the $1 million project.
The result was a 35-page dossier full of allegations that the Kremlin is blackmailing Trump and that the Trump campaign conspired with Russian operatives to influence the election.
Page, an energy consultant, features prominently in the dossier, though he vehemently denies its allegations.
In the report, which was provided to numerous journalists and the FBI, Steele alleged that Page was the Trump campaign’s back channel to the Kremlin for the purposes of conspiring to influence the election.
Steele cited anonymous sources who claimed that it was Page’s idea to release stolen DNC emails through Wikileaks.
The dossier also alleged that Page met secretly with two Kremlin insiders, Igor Sechin, and Igor Diveykin, during a trip to Moscow in July 2016.
Page has repeatedly denied meeting with either man.
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Steele and Fusion GPS briefed numerous reporters on the allegations about Page, though only Yahoo! News published a story on the topic prior to the election.
Page previously sued Yahoo’s parent company, Oath, Inc., over the article, which was published on Sept. 23, 2016.
The lawsuit was dismissed in May, but Page has appealed the decision.
The dossier’s claims about Page did not stop just with media stories.
The FBI relied heavily on Steele’s unverified report to obtain four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants against Page.
The first warrant was granted on Oct. 21, 2016, shortly after Page left the campaign.
The fourth and final warrant expired in September 2017.
