By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--May 18, 2017
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A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.Ooooooh ...scandalous! Kevin McCarthy admits that the press is right to regurgitate the DNC's strategic talking points! As the infantile, old-media, clowns probably say about once a week: this time they've got him ...for real! Except they don't. As usual, the sharks are disappointed to learn they've clamped down on a boot.
“I’ll guarantee you that’s what it is. . . . The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump,” McCarthy said with a laugh. Ryan asked who the Russians “delivered” the opposition research to. “There’s . . . there’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, drawing some laughter. “Swear to God,” McCarthy added. “This is an off the record,” Ryan said. Some lawmakers laughed at that.You'll notice that the words "laugh," "laughter," and "laughed" appear quite prominently. That's because they were joking. Now, you can argue that it's a stupid joke to make, especially given the 2016 political climate, and I'd agree with you. It may not be fair, but these people need to watch what they say. Why the entire GOP, from the top down, has such a hard time keeping its mouth shut is beyond me. They need to get it under control, immediately. When you're staring down the barrel of a million enemy guns, you don't start passing out ammo.
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