Former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against the Democratic National Committee and the law firm Perkins Coie over the use of an unsubstantiated dossier that was used to obtain surveillance warrants against him.
“The defendants are private actors who used false information, misrepresentations and other misconduct to direct the power of international intelligence apparatus and the media industry against a private individual,” Mr. Page’s attorneys wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
A DNC spokeswoman called Mr. Page’s claims “baseless” and similar to a previous lawsuit that was dismissed last year.
Perkins Coie did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Page alleges the DNC, Perkins Coie and its partners commissioned a salacious and unverified dossier to “further their political dossier. The dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele was funded by the DNC and Hilary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign through Perkins Coie.
The FBI used that dossier to secure Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants to monitor Mr. Page.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said last month in a scathing report that the FBI failed to disclose to the FISA court exculpatory evidence that countered the narrative weaved by Mr. Steele. FBI officials also failed to tell the court it had concerns about the truthfulness of the dossier, Mr. Horowitz concluded.
“Defendants developed a dossier replete with falsehoods about numerous individuals associated with the Trump campaign — especially Dr. Page,” his attorney wrote in the filing Thursday. “Defendants then sought to tarnish the Trump campaign and its affiliates (including Dr. Page) by publicizing false information.”
Mr. Page’s attorneys allege the defendants misrepresented his connections to Russians to create “the false impression that Dr. Page — a law abiding American citizen who served his country honorably in the United States Navy and in the private sector — was in fact an agent for a foreign power, Russia.”
Mr. Page previously filed a defamation suit in Oklahoma in October 2018, but the court dismissed the suit last year because neither he nor the DNC had ties to the state.
Thursday’s lawsuit was filed in Illinois because Perkin Coie’s Chicago office was where Fusion GPS coordinated with work the DNC.
The lawsuit is seeking financial damages but does not specify an amount.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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