Transcript of ex-Trump adviser Carter Page's testimony on 2016 Russia trip released

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Carter Page testimony confirms contacts with Russians

Catherine Herridge reports on the contents of the hearing transcript released by the House Intelligence Committee.

A former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump has testified that he had contact with a high-level Russian official while on a trip to Russia last year.

In a transcript released Monday by the House Intelligence Committee, Carter Page, who was a foreign policy adviser to Trump when he was a candidate, told the committee he “briefly said hello to” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich when he traveled to Russia for a speech.

Page also told the panel he had informed some members of the Trump campaign about the trip, and he had planned to share information with them about what he had learned.

Page often has been contradictory about whom he met on the trip, but his testimony Thursday during a lengthy, behind-closed-doors appearance was under oath.

Page said during his testimony Thursday that he informed then-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions about a trip he made to Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

His testimony Thursday also contradicted previous comments by Jeff Sessions, now U.S. attorney general in the Trump administration, who was a top Trump campaign surrogate in 2016.

In July, Sessions told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he didn’t know whether Page had traveled to Russia.

Page said he had no personal information about Russian election interference.

Page testified Thursday without a lawyer present. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked why he had not handed over documents to the House committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the election, Fox News previously reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.