Former Trump Aide Carter Page Will Finally Testify Before Congress

Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page will finally come before congressional investigators next week after spending months dismissing their probe into Russia’s election interference as a “witch hunt.”

The House Intelligence Committee announced that Page will appear next Thursday for an “open hearing in a closed space.”

A committee spokesman told TPM that arrangement means that no press or public will be present, but that his testimony will be unclassified and that the transcript “could be released in the future.”

Page did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.

The energy consultant had fought with lawmakers for months over the terms of his appearance, penning long letters to the committee refuting comments made in public hearings on the Russia investigation that he also released to the media. Most recently, Page tangled with the Senate Intelligence Committee over documents and testimony requested as part of that panel’s probe.

NBC News reported that the committee ultimately subpoenaed him earlier this month. Asked about the report, Page sent TPM an all-caps response saying that he was “DEALING WITH MORE RELEVANT THINGS” like a defamation lawsuit he filed against several news organizations that reported on his contacts with Russian officials.

Those alleged contacts, which were surfaced in a still largely unconfirmed dossier compiled by a former British intelligence officer and commissioned by an unknown Republican client during the GOP presidential primary, are being probed by congressional and federal investigators.

The dossier reemerged in the news this week after the Washington Post reported that the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign continued to fund the research that resulted in the dossier during the general election.