Once a little-known foreign-policy adviser to the Donald Trump campaign, Carter Page has risen to national prominence over the past year, not only for his questionable Russian ties and curious fashion sense, but for a string of incredibly ill-advised and potentially self-incriminating interviews. After one such exchange, MSNBC host Chris Hayes even expressed concern for the self-styled “Russian energy expert”: “I genuinely hope, Carter, that you’re innocent of everything, because you’re doing a lot of talking,” he said. “It’s either admirably bold or reckless, but I guess we’ll find out.”

All of which makes Monday’s news surprising: according to Politico, Page declined to comment on a New York Times report alleging that the classified memo compiled by Congressman Devin Nunes’s office reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein improperly approved an application to extend surveillance of Page last spring. “I’m still awaiting the facts,” Page told the outlet via text, adding that he’s waiting for a response to his Freedom of Information Act request seeking information on any F.B.I. surveillance involving him in 2016 and after. When pressed, Page told Politico, “U.S.-Russia relations has been dominated by misunderstandings throughout much of the past 70 years since the original McCarthy era,” and added, “I harbor no ill will towards anyone for past xenophobic biases and only hope that justice is eventually served.”

Page’s uncharacteristic restraint may be tested on Monday night, when the House Intelligence Committee is expected to vote on declassifying the controversial Nunes memo, which allegedly proves that F.B.I. and D.O.J. officials sought to conceal the extent to which their surveillance of Page was influenced by the infamous Steele dossier (a document that Page himself has dubbed the “dodgy” dossier). That said, U.S. law enforcement’s interest in Page dates back to 2013, when Russian operatives sought to recruit him as a spy. The bureau never accused Page of wrongdoing, but according to F.B.I. documents, the Russians thought Page was “an idiot.”

Ex-press secretary Sean Spicer offered up a similar characterization of Page during an interview with MSNBC on Monday. When asked whether he believed that Page was acting as a Russian agent during the 2016 election, Spicer replied, “I don’t think Carter Page acted as anything but a clown.”