Cover courtesy of Regnery Publishing
In his new book — soon to make the Fox News/opinion circuit — former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page details his 2016 trip to Russia to deliver a commencement speech at the New Economic School (NES), which later became a subject of keen interest to the FBI.
Between the lines: On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released the final volume of its Russia report, which revealed Page “was likely a subject of interest to Russian officials during the 2016 election, given that he was the only member of the Trump Campaign's foreign policy advisory team publicly identified as a Russia expert.”
- The report stated that Page's invitation to speak at the Russian school "was extended because of the Russian sponsors' perception of his role in the Trump campaign.”
Excerpt:
"Shlomo Weber, a professor of economics in Russia and at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, invited me to speak to the graduating class of 2016 at the New Economic School in Moscow—an event independent of my work with the campaign." ...
"I ran the invitation by Corey Lewandowski to make sure that the campaign didn’t see any issues with it and suggested that perhaps Donald Trump might want to speak in my place. It was a well organized venue in which the candidate could display his foreign policy credentials. Presidential candidates often use foreign trips to showcase what they would look like as America’s head of state abroad." ...Corey replied to my email: “If you want to do this, it would be outside of your role with the DJT for President campaign. I am certain Mr. Trump will not be able to attend.”...
"For inviting me to give the speech, Shlomo Weber would later be interrogated by the FBI at “Madeline’s Cafe” [sic] in Dallas. The following July he joined a long list of other academics, many holding American passports, who would be interrogated about their interactions with the infamous Carter Page."— Carter Page in his forthcoming book, " Abuse and Power: How an Innocent American Was Framed in an Attempted Coup Against the President"
Go deeper: Read the full excerpt