The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in his attempt to revive a lawsuit against former FBI Director James Comey and other senior FBI officials over surveillance conducted during the 2016 Russia investigation.
Page, who served as a foreign policy adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016, sued Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and others over the use of wiretaps authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Justice Department’s inspector general later found that the FBI made 17 “significant errors and omissions” in its initial warrant application in 2016 and three renewal requests.
Lower courts rejected Page’s lawsuit, finding that a three-year statute of limitations barred his claims against the individual FBI officials. A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., affirmed that decision in 2024. Page appealed to the Supreme Court in December 2025, but the justices rejected the appeal in a brief order with no comment, according to CNN. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson did not participate in the deliberations.
Page had argued that the statute of limitations clock should begin when the inspector general’s report was released in 2019, not when the underlying surveillance occurred. He sued in November 2020, contending that the appeals court decision created a “Catch-22” where such claims would “either be dismissed as too speculative or as time-barred.” The Supreme Court’s rejection effectively ended that argument.
The case involved only part of Page’s litigation. In April 2026, the Trump administration settled with Page for $1.25 million, but that settlement covered only his claims against the federal government and the FBI as an institution, not the individual officials. The settlement also pertained only to claims under the PATRIOT Act, not those alleging FISA violations, according to CBS News.
Page’s surveillance became a focal point in debates over the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation. The inspector general’s report found that the FBI relied heavily on opposition research memos prepared by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, known as the “Steele dossier,” which contained unproven allegations about Trump. The FBI later acknowledged it should have ended its surveillance of Page earlier, according to CBS News.
Sources
- CNN — Supreme Court declined to hear appeal, statute of limitations ruling, Page’s arguments about Catch-22
- CBS News — Settlement details, FISA warrant errors, inspector general findings on Steele dossier, FBI acknowledgment
- AP News — Supreme Court rebuffed appeal, settlement background
- Reuters — Statute of limitations details
- The Hill — Supreme Court denial of bid to continue suit
