Carter Page questioned by FBI in probe of Russian election meddling

— -- The FBI has conducted extensive interviews with one-time Trump campaign adviser Carter Page as part of the federal investigation into possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Page has confirmed to ABC News.

Page confirmed he met with FBI agents in a series of meetings in March to answer questions about whether he had served as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and Russian officials – an allegation he strenuously denied. The interviews were first reported by The Washington Post.

“Our frank and open conversations gave me confidence that there are still logical, honest individuals at the Bureau who respect civil rights and the Constitution, despite the recent devastating impact on our democracy by self-centered politicians at the top of the Clinton-Obama-Comey regime,” Page told ABC News Monday.

The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Then-candidate Donald Trump identified Page as a foreign policy adviser to his campaign, but both Page and Trump aides said later that the role never matured into deeper involvement and the campaign distanced itself from Page over time.

The New York energy consultant, who worked in Russia for several years, became the focus of attention after he delivered a speech at the New Economic School in Moscow in July 2016 advocating for better relations between the U.S. and Russia.

Page’s name also later appeared in the unsubstantiated “dossier” prepared by a former British intelligence agent who had been hired to gather information about possible Trump ties to Russia. The document included the claim that Page made contact with key Russian officials during that visit in July, an assertion he has repeatedly refuted.

In an interview with ABC News’ chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America” in April, Page wavered on whether he discussed easing sanctions against Russia with anyone in the Russian government during that trip.

“Something may have come up in a conversation,” Page said. “I have no recollection, and there’s nothing specifically that I would have done that would have given people that impression. … Someone may have brought it up….And if it was, it was not something I was offering or that someone was asking for.”Page told ABC News that in speaking with the FBI he hoped to put to rest the rumors about him.

“During my extensive discussions with the FBI agents … they acknowledged that I’m a loyal American veteran but indicated that their ‘management’ was concerned that I did not believe the conclusions of the fake January 6 intelligence report,” Page said, referring to the declassified report on Russian election meddling released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. “I told them that I learned the lessons from the intelligence failures [during the run-up to the Iraq War] which cost this country thousands of service members lives and over a trillion dollars.”

According to Page, the FBI interviews occurred before special counsel Robert Mueller took over the case following Trump’s sudden dismissal of FBI Director James Comey.