WASHINGTON ― Carter Page, who reportedly has had discussions with senior Russian officials about lifting economic sanctions, is no longer an adviser to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Sunday.
Members of Congress have been briefed on Page discussing sanctions relief with Russia, Yahoo News reported Friday. But Conway said she has not spoken to Page about these talks because he’s not part of the campaign anymore.
“Meaning he’s not part of our national security or foreign policy briefings that we do now at all, certainly not since I have become campaign manager,” Conway said.
It’s unclear when Page stopped advising the Trump campaign, but Trump called him an adviser during a March interview with The Washington Post. Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the GOP nominee, said last month that Page was an “informal foreign adviser” who “does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign,” Yahoo noted in its report.
If Page is in talks with Russian officials, “he’s certainly not doing it with the permission or knowledge of the campaign,” Conway said Sunday. She clarified that he is “certainly not authorized” to be talking to Russia on behalf of the Trump campaign.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.