RantCrush Top 5: May 18, 2017

Last night, reports came out that Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told his colleagues in June that he thinks Putin “pays” Trump. “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” he said according to an audio recording. House Speaker Paul Ryan then interrupted him and told the Republicans present to not “leak” anything. Right before McCarthy’s comment, he and Ryan had met separately with Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladi­mir Groysman. Groysman had apparently talked them about Russia’s strategy to fund foreign populist politicians in order to disrupt democratic institutions.

The Joke wouldn’t have been funny if there wasn’t a hint of truth that McCarthy thought Trump/Rohrabacher carried Putin’s water https://t.co/uXSCNPNAbS

— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) May 17, 2017

McCarthy said the comment was “a bad attempt at a joke.” But that story is being decried as somewhat suspect–when first pressed, McCarthy’s spokesman Matt Sparks denied that the congressman ever made such a comment and called it “absurd.” The “joke” explanation only came after it was made clear that there’s a recording out there.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.