The Senate Intelligence Committee hinted on Friday that it may have to subpoena records it requested last week from former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said in a joint statement that they had learned that Page may not cooperate with a request for a variety of communications and financial records that they want to look at as part of the committee’s probe of Russian meddling in the election.
In March, Page offered to testify publicly before the committee. But on Thursday, the energy consultant suggested that he may not be willing to cooperate fully with the intelligence committee’s records request.
“Three days ago, Carter Page told Fox News he was cooperating with the Committee’s investigation into Russian activities surrounding the 2016 Election,” Burr and Warner said in a statement. “Today we have learned that may not be the case.” (RELATED: Here’s What The Senate Intel Committee Wants From Carter Page)
In their letter to Page last Friday, Burr and Warner invited him to a closed meeting. But first, they wanted Page to provide any records of correspondence he had with Russian government officials, Russian businessmen and the Trump campaign between June 15, 2015 and Jan. 20, 2017, the date of Trump’s inauguration.
In his response Thursday, Page called the committee’s request “cumbersome chores.” He also pointed to the reports that the FBI obtained a surveillance warrant against him last September to argue that the federal government already has the information being sought by the committee.
Asked by The Daily Caller on Friday whether he plans to release the requested records, he said: “Let’s see what happens.”
Burr and Warner indicated that they will seek other means to obtain the information, a not-so-subtle hint that a subpoena is in the offing.
“Should Mr. Page choose to not provide the material requested by those dates, the Committee will consider its next steps at that time,” they said.
“The Committee will continue to pursue its inquiry into issues surrounding Russia’s involvement in the 2016 Presidential election; it is our expectation that Mr. Page will live up to his publicly-expressed cooperation with our effort.”
The New York Times reported that the committee has issued similar records requests to other Trump campaign advisers who are at the center of the FBI’s investigation. The list includes Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn.
The committee has already started conducting interviews as part of its investigation. CNN reported last week that 27 interviews have been conducted so far.