"U.S.-Russia relations has been dominated by misunderstandings throughout much of the past 70 years since the original McCarthy era," Carter Page said. | Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo Carter Page: 'Still awaiting the facts' on FBI surveillance of him

Former Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page said Monday that he wanted more information from the Justice Department before weighing in on a report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein approved an application to extend a secret surveillance warrant against him early last year.

In text messages, Page said he's waiting for the results of a Freedom of Information Act request he made to DOJ over any FBI surveillance involving him in 2016 and after.


"I'm still awaiting the facts," he said.

Page declined to discuss a report by The New York Times that a classified memo prepared by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee will reveal that Rosenstein, a Trump appointee, approved an FBI application for an extension of the surveillance warrant last spring.

The memo is at the center of a heated confrontation between House Republicans and the Justice Department, which could land on Trump's desk as early as Monday afternoon. Sources who have seen the memo say it alleges abuse of a surveillance program, known as FISA, to scrutinize Page. Republicans believe FBI officials obtained a warrant to spy on Page by relying in part on a disputed dossier of allegations that Trump had illicit ties to Russia. The dossier, compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, was funded by an opposition research firm that had been hired by the campaign of Hillary Clinton.

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The Times' report that Rosenstein signed off on the FBI's effort to extend the Page warrant — which a court also would have had to approve — has escalated concerns that he may be in House Republicans' cross hairs, though it also indicates that a Trump appointee believed there was reason to look into Page last year.

Last spring, Rosenstein appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to probe whether any Trump campaign associates aided Russia's effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, and the deputy attorney general oversees Mueller's probe.

Asked about Rosenstein's role in working to extend the warrant against him, Page pointed to a lawsuit he filed last year against news outlets that published allegations contained in the dossier, and he said he is awaiting a DOJ response as soon as this week.

"U.S.-Russia relations has been dominated by misunderstandings throughout much of the past 70 years since the original McCarthy era," Page said when pressed about Rosenstein. "I harbor no ill will towards anyone for past xenophobic biases and only hope that justice is eventually served."

