FBI Put Trump Adviser Under Surveillance Over Possible Russia Ties

Bombs dropped on and missiles fired into Syria, plus rising tensions over North Korea’s possible development of nuclear weapons, are shifting public attention from the continuing investigations of possible ties between the Russian government and the Trump for President campaign.

But those investigations are not going away. Press reports today indicate that Carter Page, a Trump adviser during the campaign, was the target of an electronic eavesdropping warrant obtained last year by the FBI. The bureau’s sleuths apparently were looking for evidence that Page was in contact with Russian agents.

Eavesdropping warrants, which allow authorities to monitor phone calls and other communications, are among the government’s most closely held secrets. They are issued by a special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), which meets in private and publicly announces only annual totals of the number of warrants requested and granted.

Last year, Trump described Page, who has worked as an investment banker in Moscow, as one of his foreign policy adivsers. Hope Hicks, a campaign spokesperson, later said Page’s work for the Trump effort was strictly informal.

Page has not been charged with any crime. He told Politico on Tuesday that after hearing rumors he was under surveillance, he was pleased to read details of the FBI’s activity.

Page said the warrant “shows how low the Clinton/Obama regime went to destroy our democracy and suppress dissidents who did not fully support their failed foreign policy. It will be interesting to see what comes out when the unjustified basis for those FISA requests are more fully disclosed over time.

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