Carter Page testifies he told Jeff Sessions about a 2016 trip to Moscow

Carter Page, President Trump's former foreign policy adviser, told CNN Thursday that during his more than six hours privately testifying in front of the House Intelligence Committee, he revealed that in June 2016, he told Attorney General Jeff Sessions he was taking a trip to Moscow.

Sessions was a senator at the time, and during Senate hearings in June and September this year, he denied knowing anything about Trump campaign surrogates communicating with Russians; he was specifically asked if Page met with Russian officials during the campaign, and he said, "I don't know." Page told CNN he mentioned the trip to Sessions in passing, following a dinner in Washington, and claims this jaunt had nothing to do with his role in the campaign. "Understandably, it was as irrelevant then as it is now," he said. "If it weren't for that dodgy dossier and all the chaos that those complete lies had created, my passing comment's complete lack of relevance should go without saying."

CNN spoke with another person familiar with the dinner, attended by members of Trump's national security team, who said Page greeted Sessions and told him he was going to Russia; Sessions said nothing and moved on to shake hands with someone else. Republican and Democratic lawmakers told CNN that Page's testimony on Thursday was "confusing" and "contradictory," and a transcript will be released to the public next week.

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