Russia Used Trump's Advisers to Meddle in Election Campaign - FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that Russian spies used advisers of US President Donald Trump, including Carter Page, to infiltrate the election campaign, local media reported Saturday, citing unnamed US officials.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — According to the CNN broadcaster, the Russian side tried to use Trump's former adviser Page, while he could be unaware that he was in touch with Russian spies because of the way they operated.

The FBI suggested that Page could have been compromised by Russian intelligence after his speech at a university in Moscow in July 2016, in which he criticized US policy against Moscow, and raised concern that Russian agents could be in contact with Page both in Russia and in the United States, the broadcaster added.

On April 4, BuzzFeed News claimed that Page met Victor Podobnyy, a Russian intelligence operative who was charged in January 2015 by the US government for acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government, back in 2013 while working as an energy consultant. Page said he met Podobnyy at an energy industry event and merely exchanged contacts and innocuous information. On April 17, Page told the Washington Times that the dossier, containing information about his meetings with Russian businessman Igor Sechin and high-ranking Russian official Igor Diveykin, was "completely false" and "full of lies."

On April 12, The Washington Post reported that the FBI obtained a secret warrant last year in order to investigate Page over his alleged ties to Russia.

Moscow rejected having any secret ties to Trump and repeatedly refuted allegations of interference in the US elections. Trump has also rejected claims of undercover dealings with Russia.