House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told House Speaker Paul Ryan a year ago he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was paying off Donald Trump, according to a report Wednesday evening.
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said during a private discussion on Capitol Hill, according to a Washington Post report of the June 15, 2016, conversation. McCarthy was referring to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who has a reputation for defending Putin and Russia.
“Swear to God,” McCarthy added.
McCarthy, Ryan and others had just left talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who had informed them of Moscow’s method of financing populist politicians to hurt Eastern European democracies.
Ryan interjected and cut off McCarthy from continuing with his thoughts and made those at the meting promise never to share it with anyone else. For nearly a year, no one did.
“No leaks … This is how we know we’re a real family here,” Ryan told members, according to the report.
Ryan’s office pushed back Wednesday over the context of McCarthy’s comment.
“This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians,” said Ryan’s spokesman Brendan Buck. “What’s more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russia’s interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity.”
It’s not clear who leaked the recording of the conversation, but failed independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, then the House Republican Conference policy director said he heard the comment.
“It’s true that Majority Leader McCarthy said that he thought candidate Trump was on the Kremlin’s payroll. Speaker Ryan was concerned about that leaking,” McMullin told the Washington Post.
During the campaign, Trump promised to bring the U.S. and Russia together. He is being investigated by the House and Senate intelligence committees, as well as the FBI, for any collusion with Moscow during the election.
