Ex-Trump aide reaches $1.25M settlement with Justice Department
AP News • • world
Key Points:
- The Justice Department has agreed to a $1.25 million settlement with Carter Page, a former aide to President Trump's 2016 campaign, over claims of unlawful surveillance during the FBI's Russia investigation.
- Page's 2020 lawsuit accused the FBI and Justice Department of errors and omissions in their applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorized surveillance on him under suspicion of being a Russian agent.
- Page denied any wrongdoing and was never charged; his lawsuit was initially dismissed due to delays in filing, but the settlement was reached while his appeal was pending before the Supreme Court.
- The settlement addresses claims against the federal government but does not include lawsuits Page filed against individual former FBI officials.
- The surveillance issues were highlighted in a Justice Department inspector general report, leading to FBI reforms, but the investigation into Page was only a small part of the broader inquiry, which found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
