{"id":29949,"date":"2017-05-18T04:48:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T04:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=29949"},"modified":"2017-05-18T04:48:06","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T04:48:06","slug":"payoffs-putin-trump-mccarthy-says-no-just-kidding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/politics\/payoffs-putin-trump-mccarthy-says-no-just-kidding.html","title":{"rendered":"Payoffs From Putin to Trump? McCarthy Says No, He Was Just Kidding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPayoffs From Putin to Trump? McCarthy Says No, He Was Just Kidding<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>
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\n\tDid you hear the one about the Russians paying off the future president of the United States? It seems House Republicans have.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTheir two highest-ranking members on Wednesday walked into a firestorm of their own making, negotiating the latest Republican headache after The Washington Post reported that Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader, said in a private session last year that President Trump, then a candidate, could be receiving payments from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin immediately intervened during the meeting and brought the conversation to a halt, according to a June recording reviewed by The Post, swearing his colleagues to secrecy amid laughter.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe New York Times has not obtained a recording and cannot appraise the tone of Mr. McCarthy’s original remarks. On Wednesday, he said he was just kidding.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“It’s a bad attempt at a joke; that’s all there is to it,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol. “No one believes it to be true from any stretch of fact.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe trouble began in June, with a meeting of Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was then, according to The Post, that Mr. McCarthy delivered his assessment, playful or otherwise: “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” Mr. McCarthy said. Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, is known as Mr. Putin’s most vigorous defender in Congress.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMr. McCarthy’s comments drew some laughter, according to The Post, prompting him to add, “Swear to God.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMr. Ryan then instructed other attendees not to share the conversation. “No leaks,” he said, according to The Post. “This is how we know we’re a real family here.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe paper reported that spokesmen for Mr. Ryan and Mr. McCarthy at first denied the exchange had taken place until being told that The Post would cite a recording.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Wednesday, Mr. McCarthy and aides to Mr. Ryan repeatedly sought to frame the episode as a stab at levity.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked whether he still has confidence in Mr. Trump, Mr. McCarthy replied, “100 percent.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBrendan Buck, a spokesman for Mr. Ryan, said the remarks were “clearly an attempt at humor.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians,” Mr. Buck said.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHis team pointed reporters to news articles detailing Mr. Ryan’s criticisms of Mr. Putin and Russia.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAt least one member of Congress does not seem to share those foreign policy views in full: Mr. Rohrabacher, long the chamber’s most unapologetically pro-Russian lawmaker.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHe said Wednesday that he had not taken offense at Mr. McCarthy’s remark, which he also interpreted as a joke.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“He sort of makes jokes like that,” Mr. Rohrabacher said.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHe added that Mr. McCarthy had reminded him of the exchange on Wednesday.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“You mean you misspoke? My gosh!” Mr. Rohrabacher recalled saying to Mr. McCarthy, feigning surprise. “Like I’ve never misspoke. I’ve been here 30 years.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSource:- https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/17\/us\/politics\/kevin-mccarthy-donald-trump-vladimir-putin.html<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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