WASHINGTON — The Trump administration agreed to pay former Trump campaign aide Carter Page $1.25 million to settle his claims arising from FBI surveillance warrants obtained during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The settlement was disclosed in a Supreme Court filing by Solicitor General D. John Sauer.

Sauer wrote that the government and Page had agreed to resolve his claims against the United States. The brief was submitted in response to Page's appeal of a lower court decision dismissing his lawsuit against the Justice Department, the FBI and eight named individuals. The deal pertains only to a claim Page raised under the PATRIOT Act and does not cover claims brought under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act against individual former FBI officials.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the settlement reflected concerns about the surveillance. "No American should ever face covert and unlawful surveillance based on their political views," the spokesperson said. "The investigation into Carter Page — a man never charged with a single crime — relied on inherently flawed and uncorroborated information, proving it was a political sham from the get-go."

The spokesperson also said: "The targeting of American citizens for political purposes constitutes a severe violation of civil liberties. This Department of Justice is committed to dismantling the weaponization of government and today's settlement represents one of many initiatives to provide justice to those abused by rogue actors."

Page served as an informal foreign-policy adviser to President Trump during the 2016 campaign. The FBI obtained four warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to electronically surveil him as part of its investigation into Russian meddling and alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. One warrant was issued in October 2016, and three renewals followed in 2017.

According to the Justice Department's inspector general, the FBI made 17 errors and omissions across the initial application and the three renewals. The inspector general criticized the FBI for relying on opposition research memos prepared by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, which contained allegations about then-candidate Trump that have not been proven. The FBI later acknowledged that it should have ended the surveillance earlier.

Page filed his lawsuit in November 2020, alleging that the surveillance was unlawful because the warrant applications were false and misleading. U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich dismissed the suit in 2022. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the dismissal in 2024, ruling that the statute of limitations barred his assertions against the federal entities and FBI personnel.