President Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said on Tuesday that his “memory has been refreshed” in regard to his interactions with Carter Page, who notified him last year that he intended to travel to Russia.
Lewandowski previously denied that he ever met with or spoke to the campaign foreign policy adviser, who testified to the House Intelligence Committee last week that he met with Russian government officials during a trip to Moscow last year and that he made campaign officials, including Lewandowski, aware of the trip.
“Now, my memory has been refreshed, but to be clear, from what I understand and what I recall, that email was sent on June 19 of 2016, so about 18 months ago,” Lewandowski said on Fox News Tuesday night. “It also happened to be Father’s Day on a Sunday, and it also happened to be the day prior to me being terminated from the campaign.”
{mosads}
“So with all due respect, there were many other things on my mind that day other than trying to understand why a volunteer was telling me he may or may not be traveling outside the country.”
The former Trump campaign manager also said that he felt no need to reconcile the fact that Page notified him of the Russia trip with his past statements that he had never spoken to Page, saying that “to the best of my knowledge, I don’t know Carter Page.”
“When a low-level volunteer decides that they want to take a trip overseas and doesn’t report to me or work for the organization, what jurisdiction would I potentially have of telling him or her they can or could not travel overseas?” Lewandowski said.
“All I was clear about was, if you are going to travel please do not pretend to be part of the campaign and say you are part of the campaign, because you are not.”
Page’s testimony revealing that he met with Russian officials during his trip to Moscow and that he told the campaign about the visit appeared to contradict past statements from campaign officials, including current Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that they were never made aware of any contacts between campaign advisers and Russia.
Whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign is key aspect of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Moscow’s role in the election.