A former campaign adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump has said allegations that he worked with the Russian government during the 2016 U.S. election are a "joke."
The FBI believes Carter Page was "collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government" at that time.
The FBI released documents on July 21 related to the surveillance of Page as part of its probe into whether the aide conspired with the Russian government to interfere in the presidential election.
"I've never been an agent of a foreign power by any stretch of the imagination," Page told CNN on July 22. "You talk about misleading the courts. It's just so misleading. It's literally a complete joke."
In a tweet on July 22, Trump claimed that the documents confirmed with "little doubt" that intelligence agencies misled the courts that approved the wiretapping.
Referring to the Page documents, he said: "As usual they are ridiculously heavily redacted but confirm with little doubt that the Department of 'Justice' and FBI misled the courts. Witch Hunt Rigged, a Scam!"
The heavily redacted 412-page release shows the FBI believed "Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government."
Page has not been charged with any crime. He left the Trump campaign in September 2016 after reports surfaced about his meetings with Russian contacts.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement on July 21 that "these documents provide clear evidence of 'Russia's coordination with Carter Page,' a high-ranking Trump campaign official, 'to undermine and improperly and illegally influence the 2016 US presidential election.'"
