The Russian government owns a majority stake in Rosneft and Russian President Vladimir Putin has considerable influence within the bank. Sechin is a longtime friend and loyalist to Putin. The Treasury Department sanctioned Rosneft and Sechin after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

A month after the election last year, Page met with a Russian man, an unnamed banker with Bank of America, and Andrey Baranov, Rosneft's head of investor relations.

Page also said he had "recently been in contact" with Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and other senior Justice officials.