© 2026 ABC News

Page told ABC News Saturday he was stunned by the allegations, which he has repeatedly maintained are false.

“I’m having trouble finding any small bit of this document that rises above complete ignorance and/or insanity,” he said in a text message response to questions about the surveillance request.

The documents show the warrant applications were submitted and approved at least through June 2017, with the June 2017 application signed by FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The release of the document comes in the wake of a lengthy partisan disagreement in congress over allegations that the FBI abused its powers when seeking to secretly monitor someone who was once associated with the Trump campaign -- though the campaign later distanced itself from Page.

Republicans who saw the full classified documents have previously alleged that surveillance of Page was improperly based on information gathered by Christopher Steele, a former British agent who gathered intelligence on alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russians. But the highly redacted documents released Saturday indicate that Steele’s information was just one of many reasons the FBI was concerned about Page.

\"PHOTO:
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Rep. Devin Nunes talks during the House Intelligence Committee hearing on "Chinas Threat to American Government and Private Sector Research and Innovation Leadership," July 19, 2018.
>

Steele was working for a research company that, while initially hired by Trump’s Republican political opponents, was later funded by a Democratic Party law firm.

Rep. Adam Schiff, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said he believes the documents “affirm that our nation faced a profound counterintelligence threat prior to the 2016 election.”

“Even in redacted form,” Schiff said, “the initial FISA application and three renewals underscore the legitimate concern FBI had about Page’s activities as it was investigating Russia’s interference; DOJ’s transparency with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court about a specific source; and that DOJ followed proper procedures in receiving approval from four different judges.”

In recent months, Republicans have insisted the FBI did not adequately disclose the political motivations behind the research. But in the documents released Saturday, the FBI said it “speculates” that those behind the research were “likely looking for information that could be used to discredit Candidate 1’s campaign.”

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