Lewandowski Fiercely Denied Russia Trip Knowledge; Carter Page Testimony Says Otherwise
It would seem that either Corey Lewandowski or Carter Page is lying about how much the former knew about the latter’s connections with Russia.
Over the past few months, the former campaign manager has done plenty of interviews and TV hits where he disputed the notion that Donald Trump or his team have connections to Russia. During an interview on Fox News back in March, Lewandowski profusely denied ever meeting Page and said that the former staffer was trying to inflate his importance after backing Trump’s successful campaign.
“I’ve never met or spoken to Carter Page in my life,” Lewandowski said to Judge Jeanine Pirro. “He had no formal role in the campaign, he had no role whatsoever in the campaign, he had nothing to do with the campaign.”
As it were, Page’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee was released last night, and it shows that the former Trump campaign foreign policy consultant faced a multitude of questions about his links to Russian officials. Page was especially grilled about a trip he took last year where he met with government officials in Moscow.
Page testified that he briefly met with Lewandowski in January 2016, during which time he was directed to speak with Sam Clovis.
Page testimony that he met Lewandowski at Trump Tower in Jan. 2016. Lewandowski introduced him to Sam Clovis, and rest is history. pic.twitter.com/bigzkkaeMm
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) November 7, 2017
Clovis, who recently withdrew his bid to become the Agriculture Department’s chief scientist, has also come under scrutiny recently as part of Robert Mueller‘s special counsel investigation into Russia’s activities last year. As Page’s hearing continued, he said that he informed Lewandowski, Clovis, Jeff Sessions, Hope Hicks, and J.D. Gordon of his plans to travel to Russia.
Even though Lewandowski previously claimed that he never authorized Page’s trip, Page disputed that by saying he has an email of Lewandowski giving him clearance as long as it was “not affiliated with the campaign.”
Corey Lewandowski told me in March interview he didn’t give Page an OK to travel to Moscow. Page testified he did, and he has the email. pic.twitter.com/aMS73pZF4H
— Steve Reilly (@BySteveReilly) November 7, 2017
So, it seems we have some mixed messages about how much Lewandowski really knew about Page and his travels last year.
[Image via screengrab]
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