I want to believe Carter Page but watching him on TV raises doubt on what his role in this was.
Near as I can tell, Carter page was an exceptionally low level nobody. He had, in the past assisted the FBI or perhaps the CIA in entrapping a Russian Oligarch. From there he possibly thought he was gaining access to levels above his pay grade. Speaking of his pay grade he was lured to London by Professor Halper in order to give a speech to some group about energy. The pay for that trip was $3,000. If Page was any kind of anybody he would not be making a special trip to London for $3,000. That’s an astonishingly low amount of money for somebody of any importance, and I think that the scale of that payment is rather indicative of how unimportant he ultimately was. His real importance was that he offered a Communications hop to members of the Trump campaign. That is why he was cultivated. Not for him nor his value, but because it would allow the CIA to surveil him and whomever he talked to, and it was known that he occasionally spoke to members of the Trump campaign. Because of that particular relationship, he could be surveilled and along for the ride would come surveillance of whomever he talked to within the Trump campaign.