Carter Page, a former Donald Trump campaign adviser, strongly denied he ever worked with Russian officials during the election, Fox News is reporting.
"Absolutely not," he told Fox News. "I did nothing that could even possibly be viewed as helping them in any way."
Asked whether he had worked with the Russians to hurt Hillary Clinton's campaign, he replied: "Absolutely not."
The Hill noted that Page is an oil industry consultant with admittedly deep business ties in Russia. He is one of the former Trump campaign aides accused of communicating with Russian officials during the president's election bid, according to the website.
Page claimed the "false narrative" about him was the result of "dirty politics."
In his interview with Fox News, Page revealed he did have a brief meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
"I said hello to him in passing, handed him my business card and never got a business card from him."
He was asked if he ever heard from the Russian ambassador again.
"Never," he said. Not a word."
Page said he never mentioned the encounter "out of respect for privacy for Ambassador Kislyak."
He also confirmed his trip to Russia in July 2016 to give a graduation speech. He acknowledged he told the Trump campaign he was going to Moscow, but as a private citizen. Page said he was not paid for the speaking engagement.
He declined to comment whether he had been contacted by the FBI, which is investigating Russian involvement in the election, but said he was anxious to publicly testify in front of Congress about his dealings.
"I would love to," he said.