WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page’s attempt to revive a lawsuit against former FBI Director James Comey and others over their roles in a federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Page’s lawsuit focused on inaccuracies in warrant applications that sought permission from a judge to carry out surveillance on him as part of the probe. An investigation carried out by a Justice Department watchdog later found that the warrant applications were faulty.
Comey and seven others who served at the FBI at the time were all sued as individuals. Other claims brought by Page against the federal government were recently settled by the Trump administration and were no longer at issue in his appeal.
“No American should ever face covert and unlawful surveillance based on their political view,” a Justice Department spokesman said in a statement after the settlement was reached. “The investigation into Carter Page — a man never charged with a single crime — relied on inherently flawed and uncorroborated information, proving it was a political sham from the get-go.”
Trump, who has repeatedly denounced the entire Russia investigation into his 2016 campaign as a “hoax,” had defended Page and accused the FBI of acting politically in targeting him.
A federal judge had ruled that Page had waited too long to file his lawsuit, a finding that was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Page alleged the FBI officials and the government itself had violated various federal laws, although the only claims at issue in the Supreme Court appeal after the partial settlement were those made against Comey and the other individuals for allegedly violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Comey attorney David N. Kelley declined to comment on the settlement after it was revealed in a Supreme Court filing in April.
