Ex-Trump campaign aide Carter Page sues over Russia probe surveillance

Despite the problems with the warrant applications, the scrutiny of Page, who was never charged with any wrongdoing, accounted for only a narrow portion of the overall investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russian Federation.

Carter Page, a former Trump aide surveilled by the FBI during the Russian Federation probe, says he's "hoping for real justice" after filing a $75 million lawsuit against the bureau, Justice Department and former FBI Director James Comey.

A discredited dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steel was used to obtain warrants to eavesdrop on Carter Page, an aide in the 2016 campaign of US President Donald Trump.

As a result of the government's unlawful actions, Page said that he has received death and kidnapping threats, has been unable to travel safely and freely, and has also sustained damage to his reputation and economic losses resulting from his inability to do business, in addition to experiencing pain and suffering. He also says that the defendants "provided false or misleading information" to the court to persuade it that there was probable cause to believe he was a Russian agent.

Page demanded damages of no less than $75 million.

The lawsuit makes serious claims, though a lot of them have already been litigated in one form or another.

The dossier helped trigger former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Democratic allegations that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russian Federation to defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

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In 2019, the Department of Justice released a report on various issues within the FISA process after looking further into the FBI's probe into President Trump's 2016 campaign. The investigation ultimately found no criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

The fallout from the investigation is ongoing.

Last spring, the DOJ launched yet another investigation into the Mueller probe, from U.S. attorney John Durham, to look into the surveillance of the Trump 2016 campaign, among other topics, which critics argued suggested the over-politicisation of the Justice Department.

The list includes ex-FBI director James Comey, ex-FBI agents Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty to falsifying evidence against Page.

On Thursday, the president pardoned Michael Flynn, his disgraced former national security adviser, who for a time cooperated with the Mueller team and who had previously pled guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his conversations with a Russian official during the transition process.