Carter Page says he will plead the Fifth to Senate Russia investigators – By Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb (cnn.com) / Oct 10 2017
(CNN)Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page told CNN Monday he is going to plead the Fifth Amendment to keep from turning over a “vast array” of documents the Senate Intelligence committee requested, which he said is “beyond the charter” of the inquiry.
But Page demanded an opportunity to testify publicly before the panel, saying he offered to appear November 1 at the committee’s open hearing on Russian attempts to influence the election through social media.
The committee has not responded to his request. A Senate intelligence spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment.
Page has been demanding the government release information about his communications that were picked up during surveillance operations. The FBI obtained a warrant to monitor Page on suspicions he knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence activities on behalf of Moscow, according to an April report from The Washington Post.
Page contends that he does not want to be caught in a “perjury trap” since the government has more detailed records about his communications.
Page’s decision to plead the Fifth — which protects against self-incrimination — was first reported by Politico.
Earlier this year, Page told Senate investigators that he had “brief interactions” several years ago with a Russian official he said was a “junior attaché,” while he attacked the Senate probe in a May letter as a “show trial” into potential collusion between associates of President Donald Trump and Russians during the elections.
In May, Senate intelligence chairman Richard Burr told CNN that Page could face subpoenas if he does not cooperate, warning that the investigation was not “100% voluntary.”
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/politics/carter-page-pleads-fifth-senate-intelligence/index.html
PB/TK – The man wants a public hearing, then give him one. If the man wants to share the soapbox and grandstand with politicians in the court of public opinion then let it happen, but by stating he’ll “plead the fifth” only gives the skeptic public more juice to drink.
