United States of America

DOJ Pays Carter Page $1.25M Over FBI Spying Suit

Was the Carter Page FBI surveillance a serious abuse of power or a justified investigation into real Russian ties?

Published APR 23

DOJ Pays Carter Page $1.25M Over FBI Spying Suit

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Above: Carter Page, a former foreign policy advisor to Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, on "The David Webb Show" at SiriusXM Studios in New York City on Jan. 14, 2020. Image credit: Slaven Vlasic/Stringer/Getty Images for SiriusXM

The Spin

Republican narrative

The FBI's surveillance of Carter Page was built on omissions, errors and discredited opposition research — and a $1.25 million taxpayer settlement proves it. An inspector general found serious problems with all four warrant applications, and FBI leaders admitted they never would have signed off had they known the full picture. An innocent man who was never charged with any wrongdoing got spied on anyway, and that's a serious abuse of government power.

Newsmax The Washington Times

Chuck Ross on X

Democratic narrative

The Page settlement is less a vindication than a political maneuver — the same administration using DOJ payouts to reward allies while refusing to settle lawsuits from Jan. 6 defendants. Page had documented contacts with Russian intelligence officers, and lower courts twice threw out his case. An FBI lawyer did plead guilty to doctoring evidence, but the broader Russia investigation uncovered real campaign ties to Moscow that had nothing to do with Page.

The Seattle Times The New York Times CNN