interview by ben smith. ben, allie worked for you at buzz feed. she was working on a number of sensitive stories. what was the story that got us to this point? well, that s actually one of the really remarkable and strange elements of this indictment. it s for lying to the fbi. story is a great story which nobody has challenged a word or a comma of, about contacts between carter page, the trump adviser, and a couple of those agents and russian intelligence. if you read i think people who are interested in this should read that story really closely. the sourcing in that story is really clear. there was an indictment filed in the southern district of new york in 2015. you could have gone down in 2015 and taken a look at it. last year and now to take a look at it. russian spies are talking about
that the american oil executive and his unusual behavior. you read it and think that might be carter page in fact if you were to read it. the other source in the story is carter page saying, yes, that was me. you re saying why did the government go hunting after a leaker when page admitted he was this person? i don t understand why they would be going hunting for a leaker. why should this be an emergency and keep it from the american people. this story was a couple of years at this point. last year. did you know at that time when allie was writing for buzz feed that she was in a relationship with a staffer? it s not appropriate for me to comment. i would also say this by the way is a conversation the department of justice wants us to be having. you think they want us to focus on the romantic relationship and whether it s appropriate? i don t see why else there
arrested, james wolfe. he denies that he gave any reporter any classified information and watkins also denies that wolfe fr gave him classified information but watkins and wolfe were in a romantic relationship for several years. that s part of the complication here. she said she disclosed that relationship to her employer, first buzz feed and politico, but it makes it a messier story. but let s take that to the side for a moment. the spectacle for a moment to the side and focus on the substance. we re seeing the continuation of aggressive tactics, first utilized by the obama administration against the press, now by the trump administration, by seizing phone records and text message records to try to find out who s talking to reporters. this raise sz really begs the question about how many other journalists may be under similar surveillance. lots to get to here so i m joined now for an exclusive