Denial? He was being evasive. He is a USNA grad and former intelligence officer. He worked as a banker in Moscow for a few years. IMO he has taken on this flaky persona as a way to avoid scrutiny and perhaps as the ultimate mole.
Using Carter Page as the entry into the Trump campaign thru a FISA warrant could be the perfect setup. He could act as the knowing "victim," and never be prosecuted. No one ever dreamed that Trump would be elected and all of this disclosed. There is something very strange about Page and his demeanor. He would not criticize Halper.
It's a good possibility. I would have suspected that by now, the drip-drip-drip of it all would mean that those who were involved would shut up and avoid speaking entirely. There are some who have pretty much disappeared but after the comments by Clapper and Yates and the tweet by Brenan this weekend, it's apparent that they are some who are still yapping away with abandon. Page doesn't impress me as being very street smart and one would assume if he was involved through the 'perfect setup', his handler would have put an ironclad muzzle on him long ago.
I'll grant this... there is enough uncertainty about this that Page is not to be trust.