Carter Page has been a focus of the Special Counsel Investigation being led by Robert Mueller. It's been alleged that Page acted as a conduit between Donald Trump and/or Trump's associates and Russian officials during the 2016 Presidential Election.
Yesterday, the FBI released a version of a FISA warrant application regarding Carter Page. The document, although highly redacted, states, "The FBI believes that Page has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government," in addition to "there is probable cause that such activities involve or are about to involve violations of the criminal statutes of the United States."
Carter Page was a guest this morning on CNN's State of The Union. Jake Tapper pressed him several times regarding any current and past relationships with the Russian government. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis focusing on one of Page's prevalent nonverbal tendencies: Why is Carter Page so often in a state of near-constant smiling?
Some people have a strong tendency toward smiling - essentially a default reaction - when they're deceiving, attempting to deceive - or being confronted with accusations of wrongdoings. This behavior is usually a longstanding, conditioned response. It's a tic-like phenomenon - which typically begins in childhood.
Early in life, these "Default Smilers" learn that they're not very skilled at suppressing their smiles - particularly when it's out-of-context - such as in the midst of deceiving.
Duping Delight is a related phenomenon whereby a person takes pleasure - true joy-happiness - in the act of fooling another person or believing they have successfully pulled off a lie. Their smiling - which is often subtle and evanescent - when displayed out-of-context, gives them away.
Since Default Smilers have long-since learned they can't hide their guilt by suppressing their smile, instead, their psyches take the opposite tactic - they smile continually so that others will not be able to detect them breaking character. This is a bit like using excessive frosting trying to cover up a burnt cake.
Default Smiling often begins early in life as Duping Delight - but it then evolves into something else: an over-compensatory behavior in an effort to hide deception in plain sight.
Carter Page displays the additional signals of:
• Repeated/near constant blushing
• Prolonged blinking
• Hard swallows (e.g., during 6:12)
• Unstable vocal quality/shakiness
• Not answering Tapper's questions
• Hyperbolic denials
• Stuttering/stammering
• Hedging word choices
• Jaw confessionals (e.g., 4:55 [shown above], 6:11).
SUMMARY: Carter Page's nonverbal behavior during this interview indicates, that with high probability, he is lying - and that he has, in some significant capacity, collaborated with Russian government officials. He exhibits multiple deception tells. Intriguingly, his nonverbal state of near-constant smiling (default smiling) is a long-standing mechanism to compensate for his poor poker face (e.g., "If I'm always smiling, they won't be able to tell when I'm lying").
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See also:
Body Language Analysis No. 4325: Part II - Trump Putin Helsinki Summit Press Conference
Body Language Analysis No. 4323: Trump Putin Helsinki Summit Press Conference
Body Language Analysis No. 4321: Donald Trump and The Queen
Body Language Analysis No. 3949 (Re-posting): Donald Trump Shoves Montenegro's PM Dusko Markovic at NATO Summit
Body Language Analysis No. 4316: Sarah Paulson, The Met Gala, and Madonna
Body Language Analysis No. 4309: The Little Girl in Red, "Tender Age" shelters, and Empathy
Body Language Analysis No. 4264: Criminal Profiling • Sketch of Man Who Allegedly Threatened Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) Over Her Affair with Donald Trump
Body Language Analysis No. 4181: Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, "Verbal Sexual" Harassment, and NBC • Interview
Body Language Analysis No. 4087: Harrison Ford Accidentally Punches Ryan Gosling in the Face - Blade Runner 2049
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