Supreme Court Rejects Carter Page Appeal After $1.25 Million Settlement — Carter Page Appeal Rejected
Carter Page appeal rejected on Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive his lawsuit over secret surveillance during the FBI’s Russia investigation. Page, a former aide to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, had sought to continue claims against James Comey and other former officials after settling with the U.S. for $1.25 million.
Page’s lawsuit against James Comey
The lawsuit alleged “unlawful spying” during a probe into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign had conspired with Russia to affect the election. Page denied any improper ties to Russia and was never charged with wrongdoing. The case centered on surveillance applications submitted in 2016 and 2017 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to eavesdrop on Page on suspicion that he was an agent of Russia.
A government watchdog report was harshly critical of the surveillance applications used in Page’s case. Former FBI and Justice Department leaders who signed off on the surveillance later said they would not have approved it had they known the extent of the issues. The FBI said it had taken more than 40 corrective steps aimed at improving the accuracy and thoroughness of applications.
Lower courts and the settlement
Lower courts had already tossed out the lawsuit, in part because Page had not sued the people who carried out the surveillance. Page settled with the Trump administration in April while his Supreme Court appeal was pending, one month after a roughly $1.2 million settlement with Michael Flynn. That left the former Trump campaign aide with a narrowed legal path even before Monday’s ruling.
Scrutiny of Page accounted for only a narrow portion of the broader FBI Russia investigation. Robert Mueller concluded that Russia had interfered on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 campaign and that the campaign welcomed the assistance, but Mueller’s team said it did not find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and Russia.
What Monday’s ruling leaves
The Supreme Court’s refusal leaves Page without a revived route in his challenge to the surveillance applications used against him. His case now stands with the lower court dismissals already in place, and the record left by the dispute remains tied to the surveillance process rather than any criminal charge against Page himself.
