Key facts
- The Supreme Court declined to hear Carter Page's appeal to revive a lawsuit against former FBI officials.
- Page, an adviser to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, accused the officials of unlawfully obtaining surveillance warrants.
- Lower courts had dismissed Page's lawsuit, citing a statute of limitations that began with a 2017 Washington Post article.
- The Trump administration previously settled other claims Page brought against the government for a reported $1.25 million.
- Page was never charged and denied improper communications with Russia.
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to consider an appeal by Carter Page, a former adviser to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, who sought to revive a lawsuit against former FBI officials. Page accused these officials of unlawfully obtaining surveillance warrants to monitor him during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Page filed his lawsuit in 2020, alleging he was a victim of unlawful spying. While the Trump administration agreed to a reported $1.25 million settlement for some of Page's claims against the government, his remaining claims against numerous former officials, including ex-FBI Director James Comey, former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, were dismissed by lower courts. Clinesmith had previously pleaded guilty to altering an email used to seek a wiretap warrant for Page.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the dismissal, ruling that Page's surveillance claim was subject to a three-year statute of limitations. The court determined this period began when Page first became aware of the FBI's surveillance, which it traced to an April 2017 Washington Post article about the operation. Page argued that the statute of limitations should have started when the government acknowledged unlawfully surveilling him, not when the news story was published. Page was never charged and has denied any improper communications with Russia.